Revelation of the Daleks

 

“Mr. Jobel. I love you. I’m risking my own life talking to you like this.”
”You’ve spent too many hours alone in this preparation room. Someone as impressionable as you should lavish a little more time on the living instead of fantasising with the dead”
”Look you’ve got to get away from here I could help you!”
”And do what? Do you honestly think I could possibly be interested in you? I have the pick of the women. I would rather run away with my mother, than own a fawning little creep like you. – Tasembeker and Jobel

Revelation of the Daleks, by total contrast to the proceeding story is a strong and well thought out story. The atmosphere of the tale is as bleak as they come. A funeral planet plays host to Davros’ new race of Daleks, sporting rather lovely ivory and gold livery. The script penned by Eric Saward was inspired by the books ‘Soylent Green’ and ‘The Loved One’, so already you know there’s thought here.

Rather stupidly it was BBC policy at the time to not allow script editors to pen scripts whilst in their job. Saward got around this by writing and submitting the story during his time off. It’s a pity he couldn’t pen more stories as the quality of this one really could have kept Who alive had more stories been like it. So, does the death of 20th Century Who owe itself to red tape?

The story takes place on Necros, a planet catering for those ‘resting in suspended animation’. The internment location is a place called Tranquil Repose, a deliberately tacky name under the eye of the quite creepy Mr. Jobel. His complex relationship with Tasembeker is borrowed from the pages of ‘The Loved One’. The performances of Clive Swift ( ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ ,‘Voyage of the Damned’) and Jenny Tomasin (‘Upstairs Downstairs’, ‘Emmerdale’) evoke that of a previous romantic engagement. Tasembeker of course is still chasing after Jobel long after he has rejected her, as such his death is one that is beautifully presented, the opening of the toupé as he falls represents the exposure of the little man as he is brought down by the very woman he publicly belittled. It’s a beautiful piece of television carried off with flair.

A rather similar relationship within the serial is that of Kara and Vogel. At first their relationship would appear altogether more straightforward, that of a business team, however it soon becomes apparent that Kara has altogether more benevolent plans for the galaxy, and her interactions give small hints there may be a romantic entanglement involved. Hugh Walters’ (‘Survivors, ‘Heartbeat’ ) performance is masterful. The role of Vogel is one that could easily stay in the background, but Walters brings in a backstory between his character and Kara that even Saward admits to not having thought of when penning the script. His performance adds an extra layer of depth to an already brilliant serial. The death of Vogel was carefully considered by Walters, as he commented in a 2005 documentary:

“You had to find a relationship between them to get it to work. Eleanor and I managed some sort of subtext going on, ‘Did he love her, did he not?’ Y’know, what was going on between them? […] I had to be killed by the Daleks, and I said to Graeme (Harper) “Well, what do I do?” and he said “Oh it’s like an electric charge going through you, so shiver a lot, shake a lot, wave your arms a lot and we’ll do the rest in post production.” So I did that on the shoot and then tried to get it to go slow motion after it, turning to Eleanor and looking at her sort of thinking “I love you” and “Why did this have to happen to me?”. And then tried to do as slow a fall as possible and try to fall into some sort of artistic pose at the end” – Hugh Walters.

Kara acts as the perfect foil to Davros character. Her makeup gives a startling yet also very attractive look to her, whilst at the same time her character is very cold and calculated. Her scheme involving Orcini is beautifully executed and gives a compelling piece of Drama whilst leaving the Doctor and Peri out of the loop, which oddly makes the tale more compelling as a result.

Davros, played for a second time here by Terry Malloy becomes less of an adjunct of the Daleks and evolves into his own character. His dialogue is elevated beyond mere megalomaniac shouting to altogether more playful conversation as he tries to extort more money out of Kara to keep funding his new Daleks. It’s a pleasure to see this new facet of his character as it makes the whole thing seem more three dimensional and is easily the strongest of Malloy’s three performances as Davros.

The script is infused with dark humour, whether it be from Grigory, Davros or Jobel, the entire thing is underlined with black comedy, making for a more unsettling and adult piece of television. In Grigory’s case it’s his way of coping in terror, as the character is fundamentally an unwilling coward who’s been strung along in this and who’s death is ultimately quite unfortunate and evokes a level of sympathy from the audience. In Jobel’s case however it makes an argument for the acclimatisation to the scenario of death, as he makes fun of the President’s wife, which in being highly disrespectful, shows he both has been working amongst the dead for a long time and further reinforces his character as an egotist.

A somewhat unexpected character for me was that of the DJ, played by the instantly recognisable Alexei Sayle (‘The Young Ones’), the character plays as a counterfoil to the intensely dark atmosphere of Tranquil Repose, by offering a colourful song and dance, as well as some more gossip-like humour, such as his interactions with George on his birthday. There is also a wonderful joke within his character, as it transpires all along he’s being paid to talk to thin air.

All that text and hardly a word about the principle characters, that’s how deep this story is. The Doctor and Peri’s relationship evolves in this story as the two are less argumentative (though there are still hints of confrontation in the nut roast roll scene), this serial is most constructive in introducing a softer interaction between the two, such as the Doctor’s consolation to Peri over the DJ’s death. This serial also sees an honest attempt to hide Colin Baker’s costume, as Saward felt the coat in particular was fundamentally unsuitable for a drama series, hence the blue cloak.

This serial is to my way of thinking not just the strongest the Sixth Doctor had to offer, but also one of the strongest stories of Doctor Who, yet in a recent poll this episode didn’t even rank in the top 30. Maybe people just can’t accept a Colin Baker story could be this good.

Planet of the Daleks

“Shortly after entering the TARDIS, the Doctor fell into a deep coma. His respiration was very shallow, his skin icy to the touch. I could find no trace of pulse or heartbeat, and his breathing had apparently ceased” – Jo

Shortly after having been shot by the Master, the Doctor send out a distress call to the Timelords and collapses. Seeking help, Jo ventures onto the planet the TARDIS has landed on to find some very unusual plant life that seem to ejaculate concrete. How odd…

Bravely Jo ventures on, recording on the ships Dictaphone, I mean log of everything she sees on her wander. Meanwhile the Doctor has come round and is puzzled as to why the automatic oxygen supply has been activated if the air outside is breathable…

The Krafayis isn’t the only invisible monster out there. Meet the spiridons, indigenous species of… Spiridon. Yeah, this serial really does lack a lot of creativity in it. For the most part the idea of the serial is rather flimsily constructed. The main plot line is the Daleks, one of the most powerful species in the universe, are seeking invisibility, but their experiments end up in the death of the Daleks.

The Thals are possibly one of the worst characters in Who history. Constantly talking in lines straight out of a B-Movie, such as referring to Spiridon as ‘space trash’, the dialogue in the script is truly cringe worthy, giving the feel of a military space opera constructed on a shoestring budget. Oh wait, that’s what this episode is. One of the worst verbal slips in a script I have ever heard though has to come in the form of “It’s this job, it doesn’t allow for human weakness.” Hu… HUMAN WEAKNESS? COMING FROM A THAL? WHAT THE FUCK? It’s almost as if Terry Nation was deliberately taking the piss with this one.

The story doesn’t do much in the drama department either, the first episode spends it’s time working up suspense at the reveal of the Daleks, which was already done in the title sequence. Again. The lure of viewing figures at the expense of the story really is a sad truth when it comes to Doctor Who. As such it makes the scenes of revealing the Daleks and Cybermen or any other recurring villain you care to mention worthless as you’ll have known about it months in advance.

The Daleks are more cardboard cut outs now than in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, in which they were literally cardboard cut outs. The classic pepper pots lack any form of menace in this story as they generally bumble abut shouting and at one point paralyzing the Doctor more because he’s a main character than him being a useful asset to them. As such the Doctor must effect a vertical escape, to which a Dalek chases them up the shaft, using an anti-gravity disc, ignoring the fact that it had already been established, or at least hinted that Daleks could levitate.

To try and clamber some suspense back Jo is infected with the spores of an evil plant that encompasses you in a fungal concrete for no particular reason. It just does. It’s only forty minutes of lying around being useless before she’s saved and diving into veg crates however.

The science of the serial is just as flimsy as the plot, as before stars burning cold there was planets with ice lava. I’m not kidding. They’ve taken the concept of magma and reversed it so that it’s bone chillingly cold. This forms a useful moment of concern as the main characters are trapped in a vent with the … cold lava fast approaching.

Overall it’s a piss poor entry by Mr. Nation. He’s got the science wrong, the Daleks wrong and forgotten the Thals were Thals. All these stupid errors make me wonder if this was penned by Terry or by his 5 year old son in crayon on the wall.

The Big Bang.

"I just don't want her joining one of those star cults. I don't trust that Richard Dawkins" - Aunt Sharon

The finalé gives us something the Doctor Who has been missing in a finishing episode since 2005, something with big implications that's also small and intimate, which this episode gives in spates.

"Oh, and when you're done, put my screwdriver in her top pocket"

Moffat gives us a deluge of delicate strands woven together to form a clever story. We begin by wondering what on earth is going on, why is the Doctor wearing a fez and why is Amy alive and in the pandorica? As the story progresses though we see everything come together, which seems a neat contrast, as the universe is falling apart the story is perfectly forming itself. Of course this then allows the haunting apparition of the seemingly dead Doctor to make an appearance, so just as everything seems like it's going to be tickety. Sorry, can't do.

"Restore. Restore. RESTOOOOOOORE"

Last week the Cybermen were given Moffat's sinister magic wand, this week it's the Daleks. The issue with the Daleks is they've never really been scary, yet in this episode there is an air of menace to them. Possibly helped by the fact they're partly fossilised, but mainly it draws on their artificial nature and plays on how simple the effect of having the eye stalk slowly begin to glow can be. We're also treated to the sheer malevolence of River Song as she mercilessly teases a begging Dalek, making a bizarre yet satisfying turnaround.

"Is he magic?"

And after her brilliant performance in The Eleventh Hour my favourite child star makes a return. Caitlin Blackwood was again a treat in this episode, and plays her role on a perfect pitch, and even gets a museum full of anachronistic monsters to play with, which sadly aren't apparent in the episode, but such treats as Nile Penguins are on display. Just to ram home the universe is fucked.

"Something old, something new, something borrowed... something blue."

I'm sorry but the above line is hands down ingenious. And that's what makes me love this episode, the cleverness of it all. Under Davies we'd get a bunch of psychobable which meant the Doctor could fix the universe with his screwdriver, but instead we have a sincere attempt to try and make this insane situation plausible. The idea behind using the TARDIS to spread the saved molecules of the universe through time and space is a much better attempt then saying rerouting the clempix matrix of the pandorica might stimulate the bilflab enzymes of the fabric of the universe causing a zigboobon reaction which should make everything fine again, as we might have got under the old regime. Indeed Moffat isn't even happy with having everything the way it was, instead giving Amy a Mum and Dad and finally giving her her wedding.

"Did I tell you I stole it? Well, borrowed. I was going to give it back one day."

The Doctor's trip through time was the emotional highlight of the episode, giving the Doctor his chance to say goodbye to everything and reflect, not only on the past series, but goes way back to before we met Billy Hartnell in a junk yard in 1963. His final scene with Amelia is sweet and touching, as we see a touch of despair mixed in with the acceptance of his fate. I also couldn't help but get giddy when I realised it wasn't just a wardrobe malfunction in Flesh and Stone, and for once, the Who conspiracy theorists were right!

Next up is Christmas with his or her majesty and an Egyptian on the Orient Express. In space. But we can't wait till then, we've got three and a half decades and a movie to cover...

Dalek

"YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS! YOU. MUST. BE. DESTROYED!" - Last of the Daleks #1

The Daleks first true outing on screen since 1988 was hotly anticipated, and almost didn't come about. Thankfully the icon of the series was revived and updated, making this Dalek far more vicious than it's grey cousins.

The episode begins mundanely enough half a mile underground in a bunker in Utah. It would seem someone has been collecting alien artefacts, as on display are statues, milometers, a stuffed Raxacoricofalapatorian arm and the Ninth Doctor's sole encounter with a Cyberman. Before long the protagonists are seized and held at gunpoint, to be taken to Mr. Spoiled brat Van Statten, the antagonistic turd of the episode.

"I know what you deserve. Exterminate!"

One thing that flummoxes me about this episode is the mystery they try to give over the Dalek, inventing an pseudonym for the Dalek (Metaltron), and enshrouding it in a dark room, when we've already found out what was in the cage thanks to the title sequence. Futility aside it is a tense moment, perhaps more for the fact you know what's coming.

Eccleston throws out a furious performance against the Dalek that comes as a contrast to all the previous Doctor's more abiding mood toward the pepper-pots. It's clear from this encounter however there are no second chances, as the Doctor rages at his enemy, mocking it;s inability to kill anything. The mood of the scene soon changes to grief as the two combatants reflect on the loss of their species, mocking one another in the process. One more brutal contrast to the previous eight Doctors is number nine's deliberate attempt to inflict harm, giving gravity to the war the two species fought.

"My race is dead. I shall die alone"

Rose meanwhile carries on the tradition of the bumbling companion nicely by sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. That said her motivations of compassion make a fitting contrast to the Doctor's anger, and we see the deception of the Daleks, as this one begins an emotional campaign to try an coax, successfully, a compassionate hand from Rose. Thus hell is unleashed.

"I am contaminated!"

The Dalek's menacing the bunker brought about the rejuvenation of the Daleks, as a few new tricks are unleashed on us, such as it's ability to regenerate by absorbing a heavy amount of power and of course that swivelling midsection, which seems to have disappeared recently for some reason. All the same the biggest change in this Dalek was it's absorption of the human factor, though rather than playing trains, this Dalek is having a bit of a mid-life crisis, which ultimately results in the touching scenes at the end, with the Dalek only wanting the sunlight. Indeed it allows us to see both how innocent a Dalek can be, and how dark the Doctor can go, arming himself ready to kill it. We all knew a Dalek could make you scream, no one however knew they could make you cry as well.

The Pandorica Opens

As River would say: SPOILERS!

"You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the universe!"
"You wouldn't answer your phone!" - The Doctor and River Song

Hooray for an excellent first part to the series finalé! The opening moments act as a sort of more creative synopsis to the series than a more affordable and resolutely dreary clip show, in the first scene we're treated to a relentlessly brutal depiction of Vincent's madness, screaming and writhing next to a painting. A message for the Doctor.

Vincent gets more brutal

This genuine Van Gogh makes it's way to the cabinet war rooms, whereby our old friend Winston makes a call to the TARDIS. Unfortunately he gets it a bit wrong and ends up calling Stormcage, the detention centre where River is being held. This prompts her to act on the poor new lad who's just started work there and make her escape, bumping into Liz 10 along route.
This episode's opening scenes therefore make a great contrast to it's ending, the first 7 minutes make for a light hearted, farcical trip down memory lane that doesn't disappoint to conger up memories of the past episodes. Of course Who conspiracy theorists were labelling a return of various other characters like Mo and Craig. Fortunately we didn't have to endure this.




Anyway, we've been wanting to know what the cracks in the universe mean and finally we get an answer. The TARDIS is going Bye-bye. At some point the TARDIS is going to explode and rip asunder the universe. But when and how we don't know, and of course it must be linked with the Pandorica, because otherwise why would every monster the series has ever known be interested in it?



They're all out to play in this one. I told you the Daleks would be back. What I didn't expect though was an alliance with the lot of them. One thing that gets me now is the number of Cybusmen that keep popping up in our universe. All the same it is sort of explained why they're here but still, it's starting to irritate me slightly. I wanna see Mondas Cybermen. Though whilst I'm on the tin men, let's talk scary.

"You will be assimilated"

The Cybermen are back and are once again scary. I mean that was creepy. Cybermen at their relentlessly best. And as a geek I couldn't help but get giddy when the famous Borg Motto was appropriated. Moffat does justice to the classic creatures by bringing some Terminator terror to the table. God I love alliteration. Anyway the whole scene was possibly my favourite from the episode, with a writhing head, skulls popping out and decapitated bodies roaming around poorly lit tombs, what more can a man want? Discounting Beer.

"Don't raise your voice and don't look surprised, just listen"

River in this episode turns super sleuth, with a nice bit of added mystery when the TARDIS gets flung forward to next Saturday and River begins her investigation of Amy's ransacked house. In it she makes a horrifying discovery that everything she's just witnessed is straight out of the books on her bedside table. As the TARDIS starts to take off again, she realises she's in peril as something else seems to be controlling it. The whole scene is gloriously eerie, playing on the fears of ghosts and abandoned houses, and reinforces the Doctor's point. If she's all alone, why does she have a big house all to herself?

"One minute I was dead, the next I was Roman. It's all very distracting"

Is it my imagination or does he get cuter each episode? Never mind, just me. Okay Rory is back and has to deal with the reality his girlfriend has forgotten him. Wait till he finds out he's an Auton. Yes like a Daily Mirror Page 3 girl reunion an army of plastic has descended on the Doctor, all with the purpose of being jail keeper, for as it turns out, the Doctor told us what the Pandorica was in the first 10 minutes. A pity then he didn't listen to himself.

Another one down
And in following tradition now for who yet another companion gets bumped off. Adric was doing it before it was cool. It makes for a bitter sweet ending, as the drama of the TARDIS exploding around River and as we see the Doctor locked away for eternity, Amy dies and so does the Universe. But don't think her death is as permanent as it seems...

Remembrance of the Daleks

“Humans have such a propensity for self-deception matched only by it's ingenuity when trying to destroy itself.” - The Doctor.

Remembrance is another oddly apt title as it would be the last to feature the Daleks until 2005 (spoofs and spin-offs not withstanding), and even still upon their return wouldn't feature Ivory colouring until 2010 so looking back on this is a solemn occasion.

“I have a dream”

The episode begins in 1963, a momentous year, and also the birth of Doctor Who. His seventh such incarnation takes centre stage with his protégé Ace and some decidedly anachronistic ancestor to the ipod. In Coal Hill High some spooky shit is going down and the first thing to catch the Doc's eye is a van with a coat hanger on the roof.

“Daleks are such boring conversationalists”

This episode is beautiful in it's groundings as something basic and urban. It's not badly constructed corridors or wonky spacescapes but a school and a Café in Inner London. What lends to the feel of this episode is for the first time a proper go at a redesign has been achieved with the Daleks. place of plungers are golden cups with slats for working machinery, a more functional eye-piece (though it doesn't stop a bad-ass baseball bat) and finer little details like sharper angles and new head lamps. The 60's props meanwhile have all been painted grey and are a faction of 'renegade' Daleks who have somehow gotten the lower hand since their last story. To the outside this all ends up looking a little like war of the BBC props - old vs. new, with an explosive conclusion.

“See? Every action has it's consequences...”

This tale also makes good use of the Doctor's character, and sets about redefining his mystery and authority. In this episode there is a particularly touching exchange between the Doctor and a man tending to the Café whilst the owner is away. During this they discuss what would have happened to history if the sugar trade had never started, using this 'what if?' scenario to try and come to a decision on what his next move against the pepper pots from hell should be. Sadly a little bit got cut off this scene when it comes for the Doc to pay for his tea, he accidentally pays with a coin from the future, looking back through the window with mystery.

“Is a massive deception, yes”

This story also makes a good effort at handling the military, as we whovians know by now all the military ever do when they get involved is add to the body count, so the Doctor duly gets them out of the way by telling them they needed to focus on Coal Hill rather than where the real fighting was going on, much to Ace's admiration when she realises what he's doing.

“Unlimited Rice Pudding!”

And just when you thought you'd gotten away from Davros for the first time since the Third Doctor, sorry, can't happen. This time He's decided to cut his head off and stick it in a Dalek with a huge head. Though we are lead to assume Davros is the battle computer until the more startling truth unveils itself. Still no idea how Davros grew his body back though, but Davies decided he'd sooner not try and explain and instead skipped an episode.

Victory of the Daleks.

Behold! A new Dalek paradigm. - Last of the Daleks # 1,349

What the fuck is this?!

Okay, the first 17 minutes are at the pace a good episode should be, not too much going on but it sets the scene nicely. Also the Ironsides, or Daleks to you and me are at their best, conniving and scheming silently, harking back to the days of Power of the Daleks, deception being their main role here. key element to the story was the Doctors unrestrained rage of the Daleks "YOU. ARE. MY. ENEMY. And I am yours. You are everything I despise", bringing back the fury the Ninth Doctor brought to the table and taking it that step further, it's no wonder the Daleks fear him. I'd fear anyone with a spanner that big.

Alas the biggest mistake with this one is making it a single episode. You cannot do a story with this much in it in such a limited time scale. After The Doctor's testimony is accepted Gatiss rushes to jam in as much as he can. Laser firing space faring spitfires anyone? What the fuck are you smoking Gatiss?! This said I've never been a fan of his work, League of Gentlemen being a second rate comedy and The Unquiet Dead and The Lazarus Experiment both floundering at the bottom end of their respected series. This time he's been handed a British icon, and if you were sick of the Daleks before, you'll be vomiting buckets now.

The Newly redesigned Daleks are an abomination to the god-given gift of sight and show in no uncertain terms the vastness of the mistakes you can make on a bad LSD trip. The new Daleks come fresh from fucking a bag of skittles and are shamelessly ready for a merchandising explosion. Indeed you too can have your very own Dalek, complete in yellow, orange, red, blue or white. Confidential's comments remind me of the design inspiration called on for the Sixth Doctor's costume. which is essentially he would marry a Hawaiian shirt if he could, so everyone else must love them. In the case of the new big-ass (and yes, they do have bulbous bottoms) Daleks, both Gatiss and Moffat quite like the 60's film Daleks (which ironically are considered an abomination to the continuity of the series)and so deduce that these things are a fitting successor to their vastly more visually appeasing predecessors. One thing that really gets me is the new Daleks are supposed to have real eyes in the socket. I'm sorry but did it look remotely like an eye? More like a bell-end with a pen torch jammed down it.

Revolting remakes aside, the story offers very little substance and merely acts to establish Gatiss has sinned against nature yet again and set up the Daleks for the series finale. Come on, we all know it's happening. The only good bit of the episode was the establishment the events of The Stolen Earth have been erased from Amy's memory, which is full of promise but given this they'll likely cock it up. The Daleks reveal they created their 'creator' was a nice touch, I was expecting some psychic shit. The Jammy dodger bit was good I suppose, but once again the Daleks prove they bring out the worst writing in anyone, with clichés and plot-holes aplenty, this is easily the weakest fare we've been given for the series so far.