Revelation of the Daleks: Part One

In a sense Revelation of the Daleks is the final classic Doctor Who story. After this it would be placed in a hiatus and would return living on borrowed time. Always moments away from cancellation.

It has a starry cast. Alternative comedian Alexei Sayle is the stung casting. It includes Eleanor Bron, William Gaunt, Trevor Cooper (father of Daisy May Cooper) and wearing a copper coloured wig Clive Swift.

The latter would return as the tourist guide in the festive special, The Voyage of the Damned. A quarter away into the 21st century, that episode remains one of the highest rated dramas on British television.

You see what I did there. From cancellation to escalation!

Revelation of the Daleks has the Doctor visiting the planet Necro to attend the funeral Arthur Stengos. Only it is a trap by Davros to lure the Doctor.

The series marked the return of Graeme Harper as director. Wintry weather and snow meant that the planet had an atmospheric and bleak look.

However the Doctor and Peri do not seem to do much than wander about. There is a bit of bickering between the two.

Instead the guest cast are a set of well drawn characters. Some are grotesque others just do black comedy.

I will be honest as an avid whovian.

This is possibly one of the weakest story lines that I have seen.

It just seemed like the whole process was a chore.

There are not many good points tho marvel over and well it is disappointing.

Not much more to say and to be honest I can understand why there was a hiatus. The story of the daleks is a great one to say the least. But this was not so. It just dragged on and well we know the great Dalek stories that have been written and this was not so. It pains me to say this but I am saddened at the lack of effort put into this episode.

This is easily one of the best stories of the 6th Doctor in the 2 seasons Colin Baker portrayed him on screen. There are a lot of good ingredients in this 2 part adventure. Unfortunately this was at the worst period of the show's history because seasons 22 to 24 were made with low production values and a childish pantomime feel as if it was treated like a throw away kids TV romp like Rentaghost with camp silliness and zany stories. I loved Rentaghost as a kid but while Doctor Who should be fun it requires a more serious science fiction treatment in my opinion. Family audience does not need things to be done any less intelligently or seriously than a show for purely adult audiences. Season 22 added in a dark, violent, harshness that was totally at odds with that childish feel of the production and while a darker, more serious feel would have been a huge improvement if done well, it is thrown in alongside the pantomime campness giving a jarring uneven result. Even though this is among the best stories in seasons 22-24 it still suffers from some of the issues this era of the show were hampered by. Showrunner John Nathan-Turner has to take much of the blame for these issues as do BBC bosses who were treating the show with disdain. Thankfully this story rises above others of this era.

This story is directed by Graeme Harper who had previously directed one of the show's finest adventures The Caves of Androzani but that was a gritty, serious action adventure whereas Harper himself describes the material he had to deal with in Revelation of the Daleks as 'surreal and weird' and he was unable, in my opinion, to overcome some of the shortcomings of this period of the show. He certainly added value to the adventure with some nice directorial touches but but while I do think it is good, I feel there are a number of issues and do not hold it in as high regard as some fans.

The gaudy, camp sets, costumes and unimpressive music do not help but more of an issue is some of the acting. The ongoing characterisations of the Doctor and his companion Peri during this season were not at all likable. Director Harper and writer Eric Saward give a few better moments for them both than usual but there are still grating scenes of the Doctor's pompous, egotistical rudeness (his ego is even commented on in the script) and treating Peri like an unloved pet. Colin Baker sadly failed to make the Doctor remotely endearing at this point. Peri herself is always annoying this season and Nicola Bryant's acting is poor. In addition we get an awful performance from Jenny Tomasin as Tasambeker and pretty poor Dalek voices which along with the camp pantomime feel of some of the action holds it back from its potential. Alexei Sayle as the DJ character is over the top and the death scenes of all the victims of extermination or murder are almost all quite poorly acted. The other problem is the cheap effects, worst of all the ridiculous statue of the Doctor which makes for one of the lamest cliffhangers in the show's history as it unconvincingly falls onto the Doctor clearly showing it is polystyrene.

On the plus side, this story is better than most at this time as it has a strong plot with the cool idea of Davros manipulating a cryogenic facility to create new Daleks and gain power. Terry Molloy is good as Davros (though I prefer Michael Wisher and Julian Bleach) and performs the role with more subtlety than some other appearances. The Daleks have some menace with the idea of converting those wanting cryogenic freezing and the body horror element and clear casing used in scenes is an interesting addition. With better Dalek voice performances it would have been improved but it is still good. The second half of the second episode is really good in terms of Davros and Dalek action with the reveal of the real Davros, the blowing off of a hand, the confrontations with Kara (nicely performed by Eleanor Bron) the Doctor and Orcini (played well by William Gaunt) and the arrival of the rival Daleks.

Clive Swift is a fine actor and plays the slimy Jobel well although he is somewhat let down by the poor acting of Tomasin in their exchanges. The silly aspects of production and acting stop this from being the classic it could have been for me but it is a good adventure. The dark, serious elements of the story had great potential which partially are successful on screen and the exciting final quarter of the story makes up for some of the underwhelming parts of the adventure.

My ratings for this story: Part 1 - 7.5/10, Part 2 - 8/10, Overall 7.75/10.

Season 22 overall was the lowest point of the show's history for me at this point although season 23 would turn out similarly flawed and Season 24 managed to be clearly even worse. A very disappointing season of the show. Average rating 5.69/10.

Where to even begin, Revelation of the Daleks is a massively rich story, with so much content packed in. Personally I think the series benefited from having the forty five minute running time, it allowed more time for plot development, allowing the story to progress without the need for cliffhangers.

First of all, the tone, if is unbelievably dark, and ranks with Frontios for being one of the biggest nightmare causes in the show's history. The scene of the Dalek being created was harrowing.

Colin was fantastic, compassionate, funny and strong, the peek of his powers, he and Bryant by now were superb. We have a batch of fabulous characters, Jobel, Kara, Orcini and Bostock, all terrific. Only Tasambeker jars somewhat for me.

I love the production values, music, Colin looks terrific in the blue cloak, much more serious looking, it really suited him. Terry Molloy is marvellous as a money grabbing, older, slightly humorous Davros, I love how needs money to build the Daleks, nobody has ever mentioned cash before.

It's a classic. 10/10

I've quite liked all of Eric Saward's scripts so far and this one was no different. Whilst I do quite like the daleks I sometimes feel the constant Doctor/dalek battles are a little tiresome. It needs a writer to use the daleks well but in a slightly different context. Here the daleks themselves barely appear and it is all about Davros. He has yet another plan to essentially be the emperor of the daleks and exploits the locals to achieve it.

The Doctor and Peri appear very little in the story too. It's all about the story's own cast. Two bodysnatchers entering the facility, a ruthless business woman forced to deal with Davros and the assassin she hired to kill him. The vast majority of the cast are excellent, especially Terry Molloy who has nailed Davros by this point. And Alexei Sayle as the DJ is wonderful and really adds something fun to the story.

There are a few negatives things to the story though. The first part is rather slow as all the plot points are built up and it has an unnecessarily brutal ending. There's a big cast here but hardly any of them actually survive to the end. Overall all thought it is a good story and one of the best Sixth Doctor stories so far.