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.