s02 e10 The Dalek Invasion of Earth

In which the Doctor and his companions thwart the...well...Dalek Invasion of Earth.

Review: 
Between a crowd-surfing Dalek and Barbara running over a Dalek in a fire truck, this is easily in the top 20 episodes ever.

Important Firsts:

• First returning villain
• First companion to leave the show
• LAST appearance of Susan (for 19 years, anyway)

Musings:

• We get a fairly unique pre-intro title screen showing some Dalek saucers hovering over London along with some spooky alien music.
• I LOVE that of all the aliens in the Whoverse, it is the Daleks that get the classic "flying saucer" design.  It's also cool how consistent the ship design has remained over the years.
• After she falls off a rusty bridge like an idiot, The Doctor tells Susan that she needs "a jolly-good smack-bottom."
• The crew wonders if they are in contemporary London, but don't seem overly bothered by that sign behind the TARDIS.
• Look at this picture and tell me why Ian and Barbara are not boning.
• The Dalek's employ some vaguely cyberman-like constructs called "robomen".
• Susan and Barbara get separated by a collapsing staircase. 
• Some refugees take in Susan and Barbara and ask them if they have any relevant skills, since everyone must pull their weight.
• "I cook," says Barbara.
• "I eat," says Susan.
• Ian and the Doctor escape some robomen by diving into the river.
• And actually, everything seems to be going pretty well until OMFG.
• The Daleks do not yet recognize the Doctor yet, though according to the Doctor, this actually happens earlier than their last meeting.  A million years earlier, apparently.
• However, the Doctor sure as hell recognizes the Daleks, and you can already see his hatred for them growing. He tells them off pretty good.
• The Daleks wear some funky-ass backpack that allows them to operate off of metal floors by collecting static electricity out of the air or something.
• One of the Earth scientists refers to the Dalek shells as being made out of "Dalekanium", which is the first time it is called by this name.
• The Daleks are lead by a black Dalek, which is the first time we see a Dalek of a different color, and is basically the beginning of the end.
• Some guy with brainy-specs makes some sort of anti-dalek grenade.
• It's not really an invasion, actually, it's an occupation.  The Daleks already control the whole planet.The Dalek's master plan involves using a huge bomb to remove the Earth's core and replace it with a powerful drive system so that they can pilot the planet around the galaxy.   This, of course, is absolutely ridiculous.
• "Daleks," says Barbara "Everything they touch turns into a horrible sort of nightmare."
• The world's baddest baddass confronts some Daleks.
• This goes poorly.
• If I'm not mistaken, the Tenth Doctor recalls the events of this story in "The Stolen Earth"
• Actually, there are a lot of awesome references between the two stories.
• "Maybe everything will be all right!"
• No, Susan.
• A pretty epic battle in front of the Dalek saucer, with the humans wielding anti-dalekanium grenades.  It doesn't go super well, but allows some prisoners to escape.
• The Daleks use stupid-looking bombs.
• Barbara escapes in a fire truck.  You already know where this is going.
• Susan begins to fall in love with David, a dude who is probably right for her.
• Ian escapes back to the river.  This goes less well than expected.
• Susan and David take their relationship to the next level.
• Susan says "I never felt there was any time or place that I belonged to. I've never had any real identity."
• David replies: "One day you will. There will come a time when you're forced to stop travelling, and you'll arrive somewhere."
• And then next they OH DEAR GOD.
• Continuing his streak of hiding in stupid places, Ian is accidentally sealed inside a bomb.
• And then dropped off a cliff.
• Even after watching, I am a little unclear how he survives.
• Some slave miners revolt, and a Dalek celebrates by crowdsurfing. 
• In the end, David asks Susan to stay, but she says that no, her place is with her grandfather.  The Doctor, however, has different plans for her.
• Actually, you should just watch this, because it's pretty moving.
• Okay, I have to admit, I like the scene re-scored and smeared in Murray Gold tripe, despite the anachronism. 
• And yes, loathe as I am to admit it, I will miss Susan.  She really grew on me in the end.  In enjoyed the theme of her becoming more and more independent.
• The Doctor never does return in the series, although they will be briefly reunited in "The Five Doctors," albeit without retaining a memory of those events.  There is also an Eighth Doctor novel in which he returns, but I haven't read it.
• I try not to think about how vastly Susan will outlive David.
• On the other hand it may be a moot point, since Susan was presumably killed along with every other Time Lord in the Time War.  The saddens me more than I would have thought.
• Apparently Carol Ann Ford left the show because she was unhappy with the direction that the character was going.  Gee, I wonder why.