Revelation of the Daleks
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| 143 - Revelation of the Daleks | |
| Doctor | Colin Baker (Sixth Doctor) |
|---|---|
| Writer | Eric Saward |
| Director | Graeme Harper |
| Script Editor | Eric Saward |
| Producer | John Nathan-Turner |
| Executive producer(s) | None |
| Production code | 6Z |
| Series | Season 22 |
| Length | 2 episodes, 45 mins each |
| Transmission date | March 23–March 30, 1985 |
| Preceded by | Timelash |
| Followed by | The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet |
Revelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from March 23 to March 30, 1985. This was the final serial of the original series to be broadcast in 45-minute episodes; this format would return 20 years later when the series resumed in 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The Sixth Doctor and Peri encounter the Daleks on the planet Necros, where the mercenary Orcini is on a mission to kill Davros.
[edit] Plot
The TARDIS lands on Necros, the location of the funeral home and suspended animation centre Tranquil Repose. The Sixth Doctor and Peri have come to visit a deceased scientist acquaintance. On the way, the Doctor points out great numbers of flowers that are similar to the soybean in terms of food versatility. The Doctor is attacked by a mutant, and Peri is forced to kill him to save the Doctor. Before he dies, the mutant tells the Doctor that the Great Healer used him as a genetic experiment and his appearance and hostility were a direct result of the experiments.
At Tranquil Repose, a disc jockey plays songs and chats as a form of entertainment to those who are in suspended animation. He keeps the asleep aware of current events, but saves for moments of private reflection the fact that cures for some of the afflicted have been perfected decades ago.
A couple, Natasha and Grigory, have illegally entered Tranquil Repose, also looking for the man the Doctor is visiting — Arthur Stengos, Natasha's father. Upon finding his assigned suspended animation capsule, they discover it is empty. Shocked, they continue looking and head downward. They find a dark room filled with pulsating brains and other experiments. Grigory walks past a glass dalek casing with a mutating red creature inside it. It opens its eye, and Grigory comments on how gruesome the thing is. When Natasha looks at it, the creature opens its mouth and starts saying "Na.. tasha? Natasha?". Natasha is shocked as she realises it is the head of her father, and he is being metamorphosised into a Dalek.
Kara, who owns a company which distributes food throughout the galaxy (though one of many), is a pawn of the Great Healer, who is in actuality Davros. He takes virtually all the money she makes. To dissolve this arrangement, she has hired the mercenary Orcini. She provides a transmitter to Orcini which has a five-button passcode. This must be entered when Orcini enters Davros's headquarters. Orcini accepts the contract solely for the honour of killing Davros. With Davros eliminated, she believes she will have the power and the capital necessary to control the galaxy.
Arthur Stengos, who is now just a head with red flesh growing over him, explains to Natasha and Grigory what's going on. He tells them that the brains of everybody in Tranquil Repose are being used to metamorphosise into new Dalek mutants. He says that his mind has been conditioned to serve 'The Great Healer', but he can't remember who 'The Great Healer' actually is. As a last request, he orders his daughter to kill him before he fully mutates. While hesitating, Grigory pulls up his own gun willing to do it, but Natasha stops him and shoots her father herself. The two are then captured, thrown in a cell, and questioned by Takis and Lilt, who try rum on Grigory as a truth serum.
The Doctor and Peri arrive and are greeted by Tasambeker. Intrigued by the DJ's recordings, Peri wants to meet him and the Doctor urges her to do so, despite having Jobel as a companion. The Doctor wants to see the person who erected a statue dedicated to his passing and the Doctor suspects trouble.
Orcini destroys a Dalek and Davros is notified. He is convinced Kara has sent assassins, so he deploys some Daleks to bring her to him. They arrive, kill her secretary, and take her back.
Peri departs, and the Daleks capture the Doctor. He is thrown into a cell with the Natasha and Grigory who are soon rescued by Orcini as scapegoats. Orcini penetrates Davros's lair but is soon caught. Kara is brought in and he betrays her motives to Davros. Shocked, Kara states that they are both dead. Orcini responds "You before me," and kills her for her betrayal — the "transmitter" was actually a bomb.
Natasha and Grigory infiltrate the incubator room yet again, and plan to destroy the brains that are scheduled for metamorphosis. When Natasha tries to fire hre gun, it dies due to lack of power. Grigory reckons there's a self-destruct switch on the brain incubator console. He presses some buttons, but stops as Natasha spots a glass Dalek incubator materialise, and she cries "There's another Dalek!"
The Doctor, via communicator, warns Peri to get back to the TARDIS and hail the President's ship which is on en route carrying the body of the deceased First Lady. The DJ persuades Peri to use his equipment. Overhearing the transmission, Davros orders the DJ killed and Peri captured. The DJ produces a sonar weapon which blows up two Daleks as they enter his room, but is killed when a third Dalek enters. Peri is captured. The Doctor overhears the events via broadcast audio and rushes to save her but is caught by two Daleks en route. Both meet back in Davros' laboratory where he reveals that he has a new army of Daleks, hidden in catacombs somewhere underneath his laboratory.
Natasha and Grigory plan to escape the incubator room before the Dalek fully grows. They make their way to the door, but Natasha turns around and notices that the glass Dalek has disappeared. The two look up to spot a Dalek machine hovering high above the ground towards them. The two try to open the door, but the flying Dalek exterminates them before self destructing.
Daleks not loyal to Davros arrive from Skaro, called by Takis, who now realise what has been going on. The Skaro Daleks demand to be taken to Davros. Takis leads the way, and shortly some of Davros's Daleks appear and the two factions engage in battle. The Skaro Daleks win and progress toward Davros.
Davros is shocked when the Skaro Daleks enter the room and tries to persuade them that it is the Doctor who should be captured. However, the Skaro Daleks do not recognize the Doctor due to his regeneration. They take Davros back to Skaro to be executed for crimes committed against the Daleks.
Orcini wants to explode the bomb before Davros's ship leaves - he hesitates and allows all to leave only because of the Doctor. The Doctor wants to create a timer, but Orcini claims there is no time. They all rush out and Orcini blows the bomb after hugging the body of Bostock, who was exterminated by a Dalek a few minutes ago. The Doctor states that Orcini did die for something very honourable: the destruction of Davros's new generation of Daleks.
Peri wants a vacation, so the Doctor agrees: "All right, I'll take you to --"
[edit] Cast
- The Doctor — Colin Baker
- Peri Brown — Nicola Bryant
- Davros — Terry Molloy
- Kara — Eleanor Bron
- Vogel — Hugh Walters
- Jobel — Clive Swift
- Tasambeker — Jenny Tomasin
- Takis — Trevor Cooper
- Lilt — Colin Spaull
- DJ — Alexei Sayle
- Orcini — William Gaunt
- Bostock — John Ogwen
- Grigory — Stephen Flynn
- Natasha — Bridget Lynch-Blosse
- Stengos — Alec Linstead
- Computer Voice — Penelope Lee
- Daleks — John Scott Martin, Cy Town, Tony Starr, Toby Byrne
- Dalek Voices — Royce Mills, Roy Skelton
- Mutant — Ken Barker
[edit] Cast notes
- Colin Spaull, who plays Lilt in this story, also appeared in Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel as Mr Crane.
- Guest stars in this serial are William Gaunt as Orcini, Eleanor Bron as Kara (who had previously appeared in the Fourth Doctor story City of Death) and Alexei Sayle as the DJ. See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.
[edit] Continuity
- For the first time, Davros and the Daleks are seen to be able to hover some distance above ground.
- The Doctor's final word is edited out, he would have said "Blackpool", as the planned story The Nightmare Fair was to be set there. This would have been the first story of the next series, and would have been written by former producer Graham Williams. However, the programme was then put on an 18-month hiatus. The Nightmare Fair was later novelised by Williams for release by Target Books. (Coincidentally, the official Doctor Who Exhibition Centre now resides along the Golden Mile in Blackpool.)
- It is never explained how Davros survived the Movellan virus which he contracted at the end of Resurrection of the Daleks. Although Davros says that he managed to escape the Dalek ship via an escape pod, no mention is made of his condition. The Big Finish Productions audio adventure Davros portrays another encounter between the Sixth Doctor and Davros set between Resurrection and Revelation, which goes some way to explain the inconsistencies between the two serials. However, the canonicity of the audio plays is unclear.
- The Doctor indicates he is 900 years old; this is the first firm indicator of his age since the Fourth Doctor's era, suggesting that approximately 250 years has passed for the Doctor since that time. See "The Doctor's age".
- In one of the rare instances of the Doctor actually using a firearm, he disables a Dalek by shooting it with a machine pistol.
[edit] Trivia
- This was the only story to feature the Daleks during Colin Baker's era.
- This is one of five Doctor Who serials that were never novelised by Target Books as they were unable to come to an agreement with Eric Saward and Daleks creator Terry Nation that would have allowed Saward or another writer to adapt the script; although Virgin Books (the successor to Target) did announce plans to publish a novelisation by Saward in the early 1990s, this ultimately did not occur. A fan group in New Zealand published an unofficial novelisation of the story.[1]
- The majority of this story was written while Eric Saward was on holiday on the island of Rhodes; and many of the names (such as Lilt and Orcini) come from places, products and people he encountered there [1].
- This story was director Graeme Harper's second Doctor Who story, and his last of the original series (the first being the Fifth Doctor story The Caves of Androzani). He also has directed four episodes from the 2006 series, Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, Army of Ghosts and Doomsday. He is, so far, the only original series director to return since the programme's revival.
- The story was inspired by novelist Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One, about a mortician and a girl whom he falls in love with.[1].
- Portions of the story were filmed at the IBM UK headquarters in Cosham, Portsmouth [1]
- Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant appear entirely on film in episode 1 and have no interaction with the actors portrayed in the video segments.
- This was the last serial shown before Doctor Who entered an 18 month hiatus, before returning in 1986.
- This was the last Doctor Who serial to be produced using film for outdoor sequences and video for interior scenes. Beginning with The Trial of a Time Lord and continuing to the end of the original series, production moved to all-video.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Revelation of the Daleks on the BBC website
- Revelation of the Daleks at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- Revelation of the Daleks at Outpost Gallifrey
- Watch: Terry Molloy shares memories of Revelation Of The Daleks
[edit] Reviews
- Revelation of the Daleks reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- Revelation of the Daleks reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
