Destiny of the Daleks Episode Three

The one where the Doctor takes Davros hostage...

"The resurrection has come!" claims Davros, rather presciently it turns out. Davros has been asleep for rather a long time, and in that time he's changed somewhat. He still looks pretty much the same, and he's using the same wheelchair, but his voice is a little more hoarse, and he's developed a penchant for florid proclamations of his own invincibility, and the superiority of his creations, the Daleks. It seems that Davros didn't die at the end of Genesis of the Daleks, it was just his primary life support system which was damaged. Luckily, he had a back-up, which put his main bodily organs into suspension and set about regenerating synthetic tissue. So the Davros we see here is less Davros than we saw in Genesis of the Daleks. He's more synthetic now.

Something else that's changed is the man playing Davros. Michael Wisher was unavailable to reprise the role, so the part went instead to David Gooderson, who had to perform using Wisher's mask and wheelchair. Vocally, Gooderson makes Davros growlier and more theatrical, less calculating and more in the line of a generic monster of the week. It doesn't help that the character is treated with such disdain by the writer, but then Terry Nation reportedly had little to do with the serial as broadcast (director Ken Grieve claimed script editor Douglas Adams wrote 98% of the script). And you can tell, because I do not believe Nation would have treated his creation quite as poorly as Adams does.

Right from the start the Doctor shows no respect for Davros, a man who is supposed to be a genius and someone to be wary of. He pushes him around in his wheelchair like a supermarket trolley in Tesco, spinning him around and making fun of him at every opportunity. And so if the Doctor isn't taking Davros seriously, why should the viewer? In Genesis of the Daleks Davros was portrayed as a scheming psychopath with an intellect to be in awe of. Here, Davros is portrayed as a helpless invalid with very little dignity afforded by the Doctor. The way the Doctor responds to any adversary is an indicator to the viewer how seriously we should take them. Sadly, the treatment of Davros here diminishes the character to the point where he's virtually unrecognisable. "Shut up or I'll switch you off!" spits the Doctor as he wheels Davros along corridors like a dodgem car. It doesn't help that Dudley Simpson accompanies these scenes with awful comedy music too.

The Doctor holds Davros hostage as the Daleks try to break down the barrier to get to their quarry. Romana and Tyssan make their escape to fetch help from the Movellans, while the Doctor stays behind and threatens to drop a bomb down Davros's nether regions. The best thing that comes out of all this is the Daleks' ruthless use of logic to flush the Doctor out. Now that Davros has been unearthed, the Daleks no longer have a use for the slave prisoners, and so begin exterminating them one by one until the Doctor gives up. The Daleks know that the pointless destruction of innocent lives will give them the upper plunger against the Doctor's morality, and sure enough he offers a bargain. What's less convincing is that the Daleks would even consider listening to the Doctor's "conditions". Surely if the Doctor doesn't give Davros to them they'll just continue to exterminate prisoners? They have no requirement to strike a deal.

Regardless, the Daleks agree to let the remaining prisoners go free (it's interesting that the majority of slaves are played by BAME actors, but I'm not sure I want to go down that route), and before making off himself, the Doctor attaches a bomb to Davros's chair and says he'll detonate it remotely using his sonic screwdriver. I never really believed that the Doctor would actually do that, but sure enough, as soon as he's clear, he activates the sonic and detonates the bomb. Luckily for Davros, the bomb has been removed by two Daleks, who are then blown up playing Pass the Bomb. The Doctor's willingness to blow Davros up is a result of him failing to stop him in Genesis of the Daleks. This time around, Davros gets no second chances.

At one point, the Doctor threatens to blow Davros up, and take himself out as well in the blast. Davros believes he'd do it, but the Daleks struggle with the notion of self-sacrifice. They believe that self-sacrifice is illogical, therefore impossible, and so do not believe the Doctor would do it. This is a very strange philosophy to have, to believe that illogical acts are impossible, and demonstrates an enormous weakness in the Daleks. Maybe this goes hand in hand with the suggestion in this story that the Daleks are now wholly robotic, and have got rid of the last vestiges of their organic selves and replaced it with circuitry. If that's the case, it's not a great development as it just makes the Daleks the same as Cybermen, or any other robot enemy.

Once Davros is free, the shortcomings of Gooderson taking on another man's role become more obvious. Gooderson is unable to control Davros's wheelchair as well as his predecesor (perhaps Wisher was slighter than Gooderson?) and the mutated genius trundles along corridors, bumping into scenery and waggling about as he pedals away furiously beneath the skirt section. It looks awful, and comical, and further diminishes what's left of Davros's credulity.

The scenes of the Doctor desperately trying to avoid Daleks on the planet's surface are directed well by Grieve, with some great shots of the Daleks looking above the Doctor as they search the wasteland. The Doctor even finds a Kaled mutant in the sand (a genuinely icky scene) before reuniting with Tyssan. An encounter with a Movellan (played by the enigmatically named Cassandra) leads to the revelation that the dreadlocked race are actually robots, which explains the implacably unemotional delivery by the actors but doesn't explain why the Movellans need comfy sofas on their spaceship. Also, why do the Movellans collapse in slow, balletic motion when their power packs are removed? Why don't they just collapse on the spot, rather than dance about like they're in a Powell and Pressburger dream sequence?

By the end of the episode an unconscious Romana (who's had very little to do in this story apart from run around a lot) has been placed in a plastic tube along with the Movellans' terrifyingly apocalyptic Nova Device, which makes atoms in the atmosphere flammable and effectively turns entire eco-systems into planet-sized bombs. That's one hell of a weapon they've got there, so the Doctor's right to look worried when he struggles to release his friend from her Perspex prison.

Oh, and one more thought: where the hell are the Thals in all this?

First broadcast: September 15th, 1979

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The Daleks killing slaves to force the Doctor's hand is a perfectly logical thing for them to do, and deliciously ruthless. I just wish the slaves would react when they're being killed.
The Bad: The sight of Davros waggling along a corridor as David Gooderson pedals like there's no tomorrow is a farce.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 19 - the Doctor offers Davros a jelly baby, only for Davros to slap them out of his hand. This is the first time a jelly baby's been offered since The Pirate Planet.

NEXT TIME: Episode Four...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Four

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: https://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/08/destiny-of-daleks.html

Destiny of the Daleks is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Destiny-Daleks-DVD/dp/B000VA3JLQ