The one where the Daleks play dead, the Doctor plays the recorder, and everyone else plays right into the trap.
Short Synopsis
The newly regenerated Doctor, Ben, and Polly land on Vulcan (no, not that Vulcan — Star Trek wasn’t watching). There, they discover Daleks pretending to be obedient servants, while a colony of humans makes increasingly terrible life choices. Spoiler: the Daleks were lying.
Extended Storyline
Ben and Polly, still reeling from the Doctor’s shocking transformation, aren’t entirely convinced that this scruffy, recorder-tooting stranger is the same Time Lord they knew. Frankly, neither is the audience. But when the TARDIS lands on the human colony of Vulcan, the new Doctor proves his credentials by promptly stumbling into a murder mystery.
The body of an Earth examiner is discovered, which gives the Doctor the perfect chance to wander around in his clothes, claim his identity, and investigate the colony. It’s a bold move — impersonating a dead man before the body’s even cold — but it works because everyone else is too distracted by the shiny alien artifacts lying around.
Said artifacts turn out to include a capsule full of Daleks. Of course, the humans think these “machines” could be useful servants, because apparently nobody in the year 2020-whatever has heard of the words basic caution. Despite the Doctor’s frantic warnings, the colonists eagerly revive the Daleks, who immediately turn on the charm: “I am your servant!” they chant, in the same tone as a butler who’s secretly planning to stab you with the silverware.
Polly watches in horror as the colonists fawn over their new “helpers,” while Ben sulks because the Doctor doesn’t seem like the proper Doctor anymore. The Doctor, meanwhile, spends much of the story glaring at the Daleks, muttering about how they’re evil, and occasionally blowing his recorder in frustration, which is either endearing or maddening depending on your tolerance for woodwinds.
Naturally, the Daleks waste no time in manipulating everyone. They build an army, copy themselves endlessly, and bide their time until they can flip the switch from “servant” to “slaughter.” The humans, divided by political squabbles, never notice what’s happening until the corridors are filled with “EX-TER-MIN-ATE!” and a growing pile of bodies.
The Doctor, finally stepping up, sabotages the Daleks’ power source, forcing them to self-destruct just as they’re on the verge of conquering the colony. The Daleks collapse in heaps, shouting “I am your servant!” one last time like the world’s worst customer service agents.
Ben, now convinced this really is the Doctor after all, breathes a sigh of relief. Polly, who always believed him, just gives him a look that says “told you so.” And so begins the Second Doctor’s era — less of a grandfatherly guide, more of a mischievous trickster, but still the only one in the room who actually knows what’s going on.