Revelation of the Daleks

This is simply a superlative mix of black humour, horror, science fiction and Doctor Who. I cannot praise this story enough. It is a very different story from any other story thus far in Doctor Who’s history. It’s macabre and dark throughout, has a wonderfully measured performance by Terry Molloy as Davros, is expertly shot and directed, has a chilling atmosphere and a lot of very well written and played double acts.

It’s just about my favourite story of all, and is truly a polar-opposite to ‘Timelash’. The characters are rich and well considered, it fills out the two episodes very well, there are NO TARDIS SCENES. I can’t even think of a story recently with no TARDIS scenes, perhaps ‘The Power of Kroll’ is the most recent story some 5 years earlier. The locations chosen could not have been more perfect, and the snow – which was a surprise to the production team, actually really adds to the atmosphere of the tale. What can I say but ‘bravo’ to Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant (her best story easily to this point) Eric Sawar, Terry Molly and most of all, Graeme Harper. Roger Limb also gets a big tick for his score.

Davros tries to get ahead.

We have some utterly wonderful characters. Elenor Bron as Kara heads an all-star cast which includes William Gaunt and Alexi Sayle bringing the ‘DJ’ character to life with changing accents, changing costumes and his ‘rock n’ roll’ beam which destroys Daleks. The best character though is Jobel, played by Clive Swift who simply is perfect in the role of this self-aggrandising womaniser who despite being old and fat and wearing a dreadful toupee loves himself and is always checking his reflection in the mirror. His death scene is utterly wonderful and it fills the audience with a feeling of justice being served. He is pursued by Tasembeeker, played by Jenny Tomasin. I hear some people think she was dreadful in the

Speaking of heads - Stengos

part. I thought she was perfect. I thought that her portrayal of the character was true. Which is all you can ask for. Perhaps people are upset that she wasn’t six foot, blond and a model. She comes across as kind of simple. Eric Saward didn’t feel that she captured what he had planned, but, at the risk of being on the wrong side of the debate, I thought she did a fantastic job. It’s very difficult to play a character that is talked down, badly treated and degraded.

Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, despite a somewhat less role for both, have their best story both individually and as a team. They seem to get

Wonderful eerie scene at the beginning of the story.

on that goodness, there are some touching moments with the mutant in the snow in the first episode. There’s a little bickering, but toned right down. I enjoy being challenged by the Doctor, and have developed a strong liking for Colin Baker over this season despite moments which have gone a little far.

The story is NOT a Dalek story, despite the presence of plenty of Daleks. It is a story about Davros, which is nice because Molloy really does give a fine performance here, much more coloured and multi-dimensional than the one in ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’. It’s great to see a story where it hasn’t
But it’s not 100% perfect. There’s a dodgy statue that falls on the Doctor at the end of the first episode. There is also… ummm… there must have been something else I wasn’t happy with. Something? Anything?

Clive Swift (black apron) as Jobel

been about the Daleks finding him to help them out of a sticky situation, but to see what he gets up to when left to his own devices. The crux of the plot is that he has been selling a protein to starving planets, giving him the ironic tale of the ‘Great Healer’, which is in fact made from the remains of people who came to the planet Necros (not so subtly named) to be cryogenically frozen until a cure for their disease was found. It’s a very confronting and macabre tale, not really one for the kids. As I am not a kid, but in fact several hundred years old, I don’t really give a fig!

Maybe not.

10/10