DALEKS: The Secret of the Mountain
Written by David Whittaker and Terry Nation
Illustrations by R. Jennings, J. Woods, A.B. Cornwell
First Published in The Dalek Book 1964
Main Characters: The Daleks, Jeff, Mary and Andy Stone
Summary:
Suddenly, the daleks have disappeared off Venus. After a meeting with Vel Karneen, the Supreme Commander of the Space Army, Jeff and Andy wander along the Winston Dam for inspiration. Jeff notices that the Churchill Mountains, all three peaks of which are normally the same height, have changed and the middle peak is now higher than the other two. They borrow a copterjet from Vel but land it at the foot of the mountains so as to avoid detection. They start to climb up and, when they eventually stop for a rest, Andy discovers that the ground is unnaturally hot. They discover a secret passageway behind a boulder and follow it into the heart of the mountain. There they find the daleks ordering their slaves to put the last touches to a fleet of ships and amongst the slaves they spot Mary. Jeff causes a distraction by shorting out the electricity in the hollowed mountain and, as the slaves escape, the dalek fleet emerges from the top of the mountain. Vel Karneen’s fleet do battle in the skies and the dalek ships are destroyed. Reunited with their sister, the Stone family smile as the daleks have been driven off Venus for good…
Length:
Seven pages, about two thirds of which is text.
Illustrations:
Five in total. The first shows Jeff and Andy wandering along the dam, noticing the change in the Churchill Mountains. The second is a small illustration showing the discovery of the hidden tunnel. The third is a full-page illustration showing Andy and Mary amongst the slaves, loading barrels of oil and the fourth is another small illustration showing the dalek ships emerging from the top of the mountain. The final illustration, occupying about two thirds of a page, shows the final dalek ship being shot down.
Fitting In:
The story forms part of the dalek saga in The Dalek Book and follows on from the comic strip The Oil Well.
Continuity:
It’s stated at the start that large numbers of daleks have retreated to “other Universes”.
A large proportion of the daleks still seem to rely on static as the roadways inside the mountain are all metal. The Dalek rockets are black with white zig-zags on.
Venus seems terribly patriotic with the Winston Dam and the Churchill Mountains. The Winston Dam is the only source of electricity for the whole of Venus. Originally the whole area had been an ocean and the waters were high enough to cover the Churchill Mountains.
Venus is home to silver Venusian weed grass and singing fish.
The buttons on Jeff’s tunic are made of metal
Locations:
The Churchill Mountains on Venus.
Comments:
The Dalek invasion of Venus just looks plain silly now. Just exactly why the daleks suddenly retreated so completely isn’t really explained and their wiring system in the mountain base is just so lame (if one thing is shorted then absolutely everything goes out) to make you wonder how they even managed to leave Skaro in the first place. Jeff and Andy finding Mary in the base is now pushing it on the coincidence front and the daleks’ reliance on slave labour, given they presumably hollowed out the mountain with their own tools, is a little difficult to swallow. Just how the daleks are able to push large boulders around with their sucker arms is beyond me and, as the story that ends the daleks’ occupation of Venus, “The Secret of the Mountain” seems a bit of an anti-climax.
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