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Why I like the Spiridons

What is better than invisible aliens? Well, purple invisible aliens, obviously.

The planet Spiridon is home to aggressive plants, invisible inhabitants, and a metric crap-ton of Daleks. Why so many Daleks? Like Telos, Spiridon has natural refrigeration, perfect for storing an army in cryostasis until you need them. Taking advantage of it is but a matter of applying the standard Dalek MO - moving in with superior fire power, enslaving a handy workforce, and exterminating everything else that moves. And a few things that don't. And anything blue you can find, just in case.

(your friendly neighborhood dalek. Now with added invisibility!)

The Spiridons that we meet are therefore all miserable slaves of the Daleks. It is therefore unclear how we should react to them. They occupy the traditional role of bad guys - capturing our heroes, standing around looking (well...) sinister, and most importantly, serving the Daleks. On the other hand, they are very obviously the victims here. They are being worked pretty much to death and are clearly suffering. So do we sympathize with them or fear them? It doesn't help that one of them befriends Jo and is actively trying to oppose Dalek rule. A luxury most Spiridons don't have.

What most Spiridons do have is fuzzy purple coats. Presumably to keep warm on a planet with natural refrigeration and vast underground resevoirs of Liquid Nitrogen. And why are they purple? BECAUSE WHY NOT. Right? Easily the best looking purple aliens I've ever seen. It can be a difficult color to work with. They're also invisible. Why does an alien need to be both invisible and purple??? Because it's awesome, that's why. An invisible alien has several advantages: it's harder to find, it's creepy and terrifying, and you never have to design what it looks like. In fact, given this, I'm honestly surprised we don't get more invisible monsters - particularly in Doctor Who! The closest thing I can recall off the top of my head is Skagra's invisible space ship in "Shada." And, of course, the invisible Daleks in this episode. Not only are invisible things inherently cool, they make for really good reveals. Invisible monster + spray paint = UNEXPECTED DALEK! Insomuch as you can fail to expect a Dalek in an episode called "Planet of the Daleks." It's still an amazingly effective reveal. And similarly, after all the weirdness that inhabits this particular planet, when the one heroic Spiridon becomes visible in death, it's actually a huge shock to see that he looks ...pretty human. The sudden recognition serves to deepen the impact of his death, completing the shift from villains to victims.

One might ask how the Daleks managed to enslave a people they couldn't see. It is never explained, but I might guess that they see into spectra that we do not - perhaps it's a trade-off for lacking all depth perception. But it is sufficient that the Spiridons themselves are clearly cowed by the Daleks, so much so that they don't quite read as good guys. But one way or the other, it's in situations like this that I like the Daleks best - when they're a minority, backgrounded even, and just desperately putting on a show and hoping nobody will notice that they can be easily overcome. And the Spiridons do this by occupying the foreground, keeping the episode from being yet another "Daleks shoot everything" plot.

But mostly, I love that they're invisible. And I love even more that they're purple.