| DESTINY OF THE DALEKS by Terry Nation |
| Story 104 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on a rocky, barren planet with high radiation. The Doctor is partially buried by a rockfall, and by the time Romana can get help to him, he disappears. She falls down a shaft, and is taken prisoner by the Daleks. Meanwhile, the Doctor has been rescued by the Movellans and taken to their ship. They are at war with the Daleks. An escpaed prisoner, Tyssan is brought in by the Movellans, as the Doctor suspects he knows what the Daleks are searching for. He goes into the city, meeting Romana along the way, who escaped from a slave duty by faking death. Tyssan tells them they are on Skaro. Sure enough, the Doctor discovers the Daleks' objective : Davros. The Movellans have to change tack - they wanted the advantage the Daleks were looking for, but Davros will never help them, so they decide to use the Doctor instead. He refuses, so they threaten Romana. The Doctor realises the Movellans are machine creatures, and their war has reached an impasse, hence the need for elements that would give an advantage. The Movellans plan to destroy Skaro, but the Doctor helps Tyssan stage an attack on the Movellan ship. Davros sends some Daleks to blow up the Movellan ship, but the Doctor detonates them before they can succeed. Tyssan takes Davros back to Earth for trial. |
| Review:- Having thwarted the Black Guardian, the Doctor added a Randomiser to the TARDIS. It took him straight (probably) to Skaro. Well, another useful atribute for the TARDIS, then... A return for the Daleks is an overdue surprise. Having last been seen back in their early days in Genesis of the Daleks, here we find them deep into a war with the Movellans - a war where they are doing badly. So, they attempt a desperate stunt, and seek their creator - Davros. So far so good? Well, sort of. The Movellans are an impressive new race, with their mysterious strength and intelligence, and it is interesting to show the Daleks on the ropes for once. The backstory that develops over this and subsequent Dalek adventures at least gives their conquest a sense of background, rather than seemingly random stories. The other development is, of course, the return of Davros. It's quite a surprise, really, because the end of the preceding Dalek tale suggested that he was very dead - indeed, if anyone was going to believe him to be dead, it would be the Daleks themselves, who killed him. Or maybe that was just what we were supposed to think? Perhaps he was just stunned, or something. Anyway, there's a lack of local colour on Skaro. In the absence of any Thals, we have a group of slaves from Earth and other places, led by Tyssan. They provide a moral focus of good, and the Doctor and Romana have to keep the Movellans and the Daleks in their stalemate, and rescue the innocents, which makes for a fine sub-plot. There are odd moments: the Daleks don't believe the Doctor will kill himself, but they later do the same on Davros' orders. The Doctor gives Romana a beeper to remember to take anti-radiation pills, then doesn't give her any pills to take. Also, this aspect of the story rather fades away later on. It's also odd that the Doctor foresees the winning solution to the Dalek-Movellan stalemate being to "make mistakes" - but the Movellans go on to win the war by using a virus. Anyway, despite these shortcomings, it's quite a simple, pleasant little story, which I suppose I could recommend to anyone. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video, and read the book. |