| REVELATION OF THE DALEKS by Eric Saward |
| Story 142 Synopsis: The Doctor travels to Necros, to pay his respects to an old friend, Arthur Stengos. Elsewhere, Kara has hired a mercenary, Orcini, to deal with her business associate, known as the Great Healer. The Doctor is attacked by a mutant, but eventually, he and Peri reach Tranquil Repose, a mausoleum, where they find a statue purporting to commemorate the Doctor's grave. A booby trap nearly does kill him, but he survives. The Doctor finds Stengos is mutating into a Dalek - the Great Healer is Davros, who is using the dead, buried at Tranquil Repose, to create the nucleus of a new force of Daleks, obedient to him alone. Orcini dies, but a force of Daleks not under Davros' control arrive, and take him back to Skaro to stand trial. In the confusion, the Doctor and Peri escape, and Necros is freed from Davros' influence. |
| Review:- When arriving on Necros, the Doctor is merely trying to help an old friend. But he is soon forced to face a terrifying and gruesome plan of one of his deadliest enemies... This story concluded Season 22, and was possibly the last Hurrah before the slow decline of the series. But it wasn't made to be, really. So, although many view this as part of some masterplan of increased violence, I feel that any such tone was unplanned. But gruesome horror must surely be expected, from a story set on a planet with a name like Necros (a Greek prefix relating to death), and where the main setting is a mausoleum. That's even before the plot kicks in... with the return of the deadly Davros, and a quite visceral plan for a new force of Daleks. The last time we met the Daleks on screen was Resurrection of the Daleks, and since then, Davros has survived the Movellan virus, and started creating a new force of Daleks. Give the guy his due, he's imaginative and persistent. The Movellans thus disappear from the ongoing saga, replaced by the new Daleks. Dalek civil war is the next step, of course, and this story sets that idea up, when the "old" Daleks arrive at the end to take Davros back to Skaro for punishing. In itself, this idea is very rewarding. Sadly, it may have been an intellectual leap too far for the audience. For whilst the concept of Dalek internecine conflict is promising, there is little actual Dalek v Dalek death action on show, and the story is more about Kara's power games, and Orcini's quest to kill Davros. Indeed, the Doctor often seems just a sideline. If not for the subplot with the DJ, Peri would have nothing to do, not even to be menaced. For once, the Doctor is not the driving force in the story, he seems merely to be one of the crowd. Which may be intellectually satisfying for a writer, but it's a downer for an audience. It takes too long to involve the Doctor in what is actually happening, and unlike say Carnival Of Monsters, what delays his involvement in the main action is pretty superfluous. Whilst the ideas are sound, the execution is pretty poor. It's worth watching, but hard to enjoy. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the DVD. |