Destiny of the Daleks - Episode 4

The ending of the previous episode was a good one because it was a companion in peril but done in quite a clever way. Once the episode starts it turns out that one of the Movellans hand not set the bomb to go off which seems to be a bit of a cop out. Something struck me as I was watching this episode and it was a DVD that was on my shelf that’s above my computer, another thing that struck me was the relationship between the Daleks and Davros. Considering how the Daleks treated Davros, its funny how there hasn’t been anything said between the two. I know there wasn’t a Jeremy Kyle or a Jerry Springer Show in 1979 but I wonder what was said to get Davros to forgive and forget.

There is a bit where David Gooderson is giving a speech to his Daleks and I thought that this was the first time that he has really shone in the role. He gives a slightly more human performance than Michael Wisher did as there was a different tone in his voice. Sadly the mask is still a problem because during his scene with the Doctor you can see Gooderson’s skin through the mouthpiece. Also there is a bit of that wobbling that was seen in a previous episode and these two things are what I remember when I think about Gooderson’s performance as Davros. I haven’t really wanted to compare his performance with Wisher’s but I think that as the first person to play the role, Wisher is always going to be the person to beat.

We get another scene between the Doctor and Davros which is better than their first encounter. It ends with a certain amount of comedy and it’s the first time since the opening episode that comedy has been noticeable. The Doctor uses Davros’ own hand to set off the Daleks with the bombs on and that is the way that the Daleks and Davros are defeated. It’s not the greatest end to their involvement in a story but I suppose it was an effective way and that is what the story needed. It’s weird to think that it will be another couple of years before the Daleks return. Nowadays we are use to Daleks appearing every series but the Daleks wouldn’t appear until 1984 and that must have felt like an eternity to people watching in 1979.

Todays episode has been a strange one because it hasn’t felt like a final episode should but it wasn’t a disappointment. I enjoyed it and yet I don’t really know why. It’s fair to say that Destiny is not as good as Genesis. The story worked but it wasn’t at the sort of level that I would expect a Dalek story would. It’s also fair to say that Terry Nation was working on auto pilot when writing this story as it doesn’t have any of the energy that his previous offerings have had.

Destiny of the Daleks - Episode 3

Todays episode is where Davros get involved in the story after seemingly being killed by the Daleks. There is a problem from the get go because of the style that David Gooderson is talking. I would have thought that he would try and mimic Michael Wisher but no, also they could have done something to make Gooderson’s voice sound different because they could have hidden his normal voice. Also the mask he is wearing seems to be the one the Michael Wisher wore and as a result it doesn’t look right. The mouth is the only active part of Davros’ face and it barely moves when he’s talking. Also when Gooderson moves he wobbles from side to side which just looks silly.

It’s quite funny that the Doctor effectively kidnaps Davros and the period of the episode where they are alone. It’s not quite as good as the scenes they had in ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ but it still fits in with this story. There is a funny moment when the Doctor tells the Daleks to ‘spack off’. Clearly he was just trying to say back off but its funny they kept it in. I don’t quite get why the Doctor goes to the trouble taking Davros if he’s just going to hand him back to the Daleks.

Seeing Daleks walk around on Skaro is a huge development because in the very first Dalek story they couldn’t even leave their city but now they are walking around (albit with some strategically place cameras). The quarry stuff is quite good and even though I know that it’s a quarry, I can believe (via the sound effects) that this is a cold and miserable planet and also that we are on Skaro.

After being quite good in the previous episode, its sad that Romana doesn’t get to do very much in this episode. It seems she just leaves the Doctor and ends up in a tube that has a bomb in it and that forms the cliffhanger. It’s a good cliffhanger but I wish that she could have done something interesting as opposed to what she ended up doing. I think this shows that the second incarnation of Romana isn’t going to be any different than the previous incarnation. This was another good episode but there are things that happen that just take the shine off it. It’s not the greatest Terry Nation script that he has ever produced for the show but its an interesting one and one that is slightly let down by production values. If this weren’t a Dalek story then I would probably be more positive or negative than I am being but when it’s a Dalek story then I expect something slightly more engaging than what is on at the moment.

Destiny of the Daleks - Episode 2

If you tell someone not to move then chances are they wont move and so you don’t need to repeat saying that phrase. It still bothers me that the Daleks feel the need to repeat. Clearly Terry Nation thought that it would be a great way to end the previous episode but I think that it just didn’t work. This is the episode where the Daleks really get into the story and their first piece of action is to interrogate Romana. They are quite cross which is presumably why they are repeating things. Sadly something that is quite obvious as well as their mood is the state of them. Sadly the Daleks here have seen better days and look in relatively bad condition with scuff marks and bits missing.

After she is interrogated by the Daleks, Romana becomes quite active and is the one that is trying to escape from the Daleks. She even goes to the trouble of pretending that she’s dead to fool the Daleks and be buried before surfacing and putting the rocks just before the Doctor finds her ‘grave’.

The Daleks have a plan and its revealed in this episode, they are drilling for something and its not to mine the core of the planet and use it as a giant spaceship. They are after Davros who was last seen in ‘Genesis of the Daleks’. Sadly its not Michael Wisher playing the role but instead David Gooderson. Things start off well with Davros’ return but problems will surface in next episode. The idea of using him moving his hand as the cliffhanger is a great one.

Tyssan is the one that made Romana fall down the hole in the previous episode. He is played by Tim Barlow who is profoundly deaf but it doesn’t show. His performance in this episode is quite good. There is something about him that makes him seem quite a solid character and yet he seems like he would fall over if there were a gust of wind. The Movellan’s are a bit rubbish if I am being honest (and I have no reason not to). I just think that its hard to believe that they could pose any kind of threat. It’s hard to fathom whether it’s due to their attire or just the performances that make me think this and I know that they are robots but still it is possible to have charismatic robots, I mean Kryten is a good example and ok this story was shown about a decade before Kryten would appear on Red Dwarf but you get the point.

There is a moment I have seen a thousand times and its when the Doctor is talking down to a Dalek trying to get it to come and get him and its used to highlight the fact that Daleks had trouble going up stairs or going up different levels. Obviously any Doctor Who fan with half a brain would know that they have always been able to go up stairs and it seems odd that the Daleks creator would show up such a flaw. Its made even worse when the flaw isn’t really a flaw but something that wasn’t possibly due to the technology of the period.

This is a much stronger episode than the first one. I think the performances are better and more importantly the humour has been reigned back a lot and it meant that the story could take centre stage and the performances from Tom Baker and Lalla Ward and the other supporting characters meant that I enjoyed it and I am feeling much better about this season as a result. Whether this continues remains to be seen.

Destiny of the Daleks - Episode 1

The seventeenth season of Doctor Who is one of change because out goes Anthony Read as the Script Editor and in comes Douglas Adams. Considering that I wasn’t a huge fan of ‘The Pirate Planet’, I am somewhat concerned that this season of Doctor Who isn’t going to be as good as previous seasons. This episode also sees Lalla Ward debut as Romana. After spending six episodes playing Princess Astra, its now time for Ward to try and be a new version of Mary Tamm. I am surprised that Tamm didn’t get to do a regeneration scene. This story also sees the Daleks and Davros return for the first time since ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ which was way back in Tom Baker’s first season. Terry Nation also returns to writing duties for the first time since ‘The Android Invasion’ back in December 1975.

The DVD for this story allows me to watch it with CGI effects which is always a good thing. The first bit of CGI comes when the Movellans ship arrives and drills its way into the ground. Speaking of the Movellans they look quite striking but I can’t make my mind up about them and I am sure that something will stand out in future episodes but at the moment my opinion is up in the air.

The opening scene is the regeneration scene where we see several versions of Romana which leads to some people to whinge that she’s wasted several regenerations which isn’t necessarily the truth but it does show what the tone will be in future stories. I have always assumed that Graham Williams’ tenure was more comedic than past producers but watching this opening episode I realise that the fault for the humour should go to Douglas Adams who didn’t seem too bothered that there was too much humour.

When the Doctor and Romana land on Skaro (obviously they don’t know that they are on Skaro at this point) It’s quite different to the one we saw in Genesis. There is a lot more green grass around and its not as foggy as it was then. I am guessing that this story was filmed during the summer because the sunny weather does make the quarry scenes seem a lot nicer than perhaps was intended.

Lalla Ward doesn’t get one episode before she is put in peril as she falls backwards. Here falling down leads us to what I think is one of the best cliffhangers for a while. The sight of Daleks breaking through  a glass wall telling Romana not to move. They repeat the phrase “Do Not Move” about half a dozen times yet Ward stays firmly on the spot so its perhaps not the best opening return for the greatest baddies in Doctor Who. That said I thought that this was quite a good opening episode and despite the rather unnecessary comedy moments I thought that things were set up nicely and the lack of supporting character makes it seem like a claustrophobic episode (even though there is more than a brief moment outside).