Sunday, March 06, 2022

Revelation of the Daleks Part Two


The one where the Daleks fight among themselves...

The huge tombstone wasn't a tombstone at all, but actually a polystyrene replica filled with fake blood. It's not clear why there's a polystyrene tombstone of the Doctor in the grounds of Tranquil Repose. Maybe Davros put it there for a laugh? Before she discovers it's all a hoax, the grieving Peri has to contend with the creepy attentions of chief embalmer Jobel, who has taken a shine to her. "Be calm, be calm," he moons. "Someone as pretty as you shouldn't be all of a fluster... I like pretty things, and you are very pretty, aren't you?" Clive Swift makes Jobel uncomfortably creepy, looking Peri up and down like a piece of meat, a lascivious desire in his eyes. And all the while he's walking around wielding a pair of forceps... However, I like the way Peri manages to ditch the little creep when he takes her to see the DJ, written and performed with a nice pinch of wit.

PERI: Well, thanks for showing me the way.
JOBEL: Those rose red ruby lips were made for kissing.
PERI: But not by you!
JOBEL: I love a woman who plays hard to get.
PERI: Then you'll love me to death.

Although the Doctor and Peri are now actively involved with the rest of the story, they still make very little impact on it. In fact, by the end of the story it's hard to see what difference the Doctor being in this story actually made. Would events at Tranquil Repose have turned out any differently if the Doctor hadn't been in the story? Absolutely not: upon arrival, the Doctor is locked up, and when he escapes spends some time wandering around corridors before finding Davros, having a smarmy chat, before running away again. And that's it. The Doctor has no agency whatsoever in the story. That is a fundamental failing of writer Eric Saward, who has forgotten that this is Doctor Who, and the Doctor, as the hero and chief protagonist, is supposed to make a difference, preferably for the better.

You could write the Doctor and Peri out of this story completely and not miss them, chiefly because all the other characters and scenarios run along independently and sustain themselves perfectly well.

There's a nice little relationship between the DJ and Peri which pushes Alexei Sayle to his thespian limits, but there's a sweetness to their scenes together. The DJ's American radio patter fills Peri with nostalgia for home, while the DJ is obviously quite shy behind the stage persona, and perhaps a little smitten on Peri too. It's so rare that Peri gets to make a connection with another character like this, so when the DJ is exterminated by the Daleks, you feel her loss. It's a sad demise for a character I really disliked in part 1, but grew to appreciate in part 2 when he was allowed to fully form.

When Davros realises assassins are on the way to kill him, he automatically suspects Kara. He dispatches a squad of Daleks to her office to supposedly protect her from similar incursions, but they're actually there to capture her and bring her to him. Not so lucky is her aide Vogel, who gets killed by the Daleks just for saying the word "no"! His death is wonderfully performed by Hugh Walters as he writhes in agony in the death ray, then pauses momentarily to give his beloved Kara one last, heartfelt look, before collapsing to the ground. There's a clear connection between the two characters in this brief moment, Vogel obviously wanting to express something that he is unable to do (perhaps he never felt he was able?).

Eleanor Bron pitches the witty retort just right: "How inconvenient," she says, trying to suppress her obvious upset. "Do you know how difficult it is to find good secretaries?" It's Saward's attempt to reproduce the wit of a similar moment in Robert Holmes's Terror of the Autons, after McDermott is suffocated by the Auton chair. "Sylvia," Farrel says into the intercom. "Will you check Mr McDermott's entitlement on termination of employment, please?"

However, Bron does a better job with this line than she does with the monstrously over-the-top: "Orcini will succeed. And when he does, not only will I be rid of that troublesome Davros, but I will control the food supply for the whole galaxy!" I expected her to go into an extended evil laugh at this point, a la Mordred in Battlefield, but thankfully she holds that back!

Summoned to see Davros, Kara is forced to admit her part in the plot to assassinate the Great Healer, and when she has a snipe at Orcini, he repays her by stabbing her with a knitting needle. Kara's death is unexpected and sudden, which is a shame because more could have been done with the character. As it is, she's dispatched swiftly and quite pointlessly. I feel her story should have gone somewhere different, her subterfuge and scheming deserved to develop a bit more before she met her demise.

Orcini and Bostock's attack on Davros is impressively violent, the excommunicated Knight of the Grand Order of Oberon pouring a hail of bullets into the Great Healer's glass casing as Davros zaps back with a bolt of lightning from his third eye (that's new!). Defeated, Davros's head implodes, his face squishing up to resemble a Kraal, but lo and behold - that wasn't the real Davros at all, just a duplicate. The real Davros emerges in his traditional wheelchair, but hovering above ground and zapping Orcini with lightning from his hand this time (also new!). It's an impressive image (marred slightly by Orcini's leg appearing to pass through Davros's chair), but the whole 'it wasn't the real Davros' schtick comes too soon after Timelash's 'it wasn't the real Borad' twist.

It's great to have Terry Molloy in full Davros mode at last, looking just as nightmarish as ever. However, never underestimate the squire of a Knight of the Grand Order of Oberon, because the dying Bostock has one more shot up his sleeve - to blow off Davros's hand! It's a gruesome twist for the mad scientist, and although there's surprisingly no spurt of blood, we do see a couple of Davros's severed fingers on the floor, and learn that Skarosian blood is green judging by his emerald stump!

Orcini's death is one of self-sacrifice. It's not made clear why Orcini has been "temporarily excommunicated" from his Order, but he saw this mission as his final job, and is determined to fulfil his last vow. "I've always wanted an honourable kill," he says. "Davros is to be it." It makes sense of Orcini's sacrifice, so it's all the more tragic that he doesn't end up killing Davros at all, because he escapes. Orcini wanted to fulfil his final mission before he died, and destroyed himself in order to preserve his honour. It's a shame he didn't achieve that, but he's not to know that, is he? In 2014's book The Secret Lives of Monsters it's written that the Grand Order of Oberon recognised his sacrifice as "a noble assignment", and his name was added to their Roll of the Glorious Dead. Sad, then, that Orcini's death didn't have the meaning he intended.

My favourite scenes in this episode are those involving Tasambeker. She starts off being cruelly manipulated by Davros as he shows her just what a cad Jobel is, cavorting with other women as well as plotting with Takis and Lilt against the Great Healer. Davros offers Tasambeker the freedom of immortality. "I shall allow you to become a Dalek," he sneers. "That's an offer I cannot refuse," replies Tasambeker, perhaps literally! The way director Graeme Harper pushes the Dalek eyestalk into frame at this moment is masterful, and chilling.

But Tasambeker's devotion to Jobel is still strong, and she risks her life to warn him that Davros wants him dead. Jobel finds it impossible to believe her though, and turns on her scornfully. "Do you honestly think I could possibly be interested in you? I have the pick of the women. I would rather run away with my mother than own a fawning little creep like you." With that, the emotionally distraught Tasambeker snaps, and plunges a syringe into the chief embalmer's heart. "What have you done?" he mumbles as he falls to the floor of the chapel of rest. "She's killed me... Jobel..." And with his final breath, his beloved toupee falls off, the final indignity for this vainest of men. It's a satisfying but ignoble demise, followed up swiftly by poor Tasambeker being exterminated by a Dalek. Eric Saward is being ruthless with his characters. It's a bloodbath!

Only Takis and Lilt live to tell the tale, advised by the Doctor to synthesise the lavender-coloured weed plants which have been seen throughout the story to use as protein to feed the famine-stricken galaxy. It is Takis and Lilt who call in the "original" Daleks from Skaro, snitching on Davros and telling them where their treacherous creator is hiding. The Skarosian Daleks make mincemeat of Davros's white and gold creations (which vocally sound curiously muffled) and demand they take Davros back to their home planet to stand trial for crimes against the Dalek race. I don't believe for one minute that Daleks would have a judicial system such as this - can you imagine a Dalek representative for the defence? - although they also put the Master on trial in the TV movie, so who am I to judge?

Some quick observations:
  • Just how foxy does the computer used by Takis sound? Voiced by Penelope Lee, the computer's sexy tones are reminiscent of the legendarily sensual Fenella Fielding ("What is your pleasure?").
  • That explosion when Orcini blows up the Dalek in the grounds of Tranquil Repose is very impressive, setting a precedent for impressive exploding Daleks in their next story!
  • I love the way Eleanor Bron, forced into admitting her treachery, delivers her line about the bomb with such childish glee: "It's a bomb, it's a bomb! A great big bomb!" she spits at Davros.
  • I like the bit where the Doctor, wandering the catacombs, can hear over the intercom what's going on with Peri and the DJ. The Daleks exterminate the DJ, and the Doctor hears Peri: "You murdered him! Why did you have to - " And she's cut off! Colin Baker stands still, closes his eyes tight shut, perhaps fearing the worst for Peri, then carries on with renewed determination. It's a nice little moment, captured beautifully.
  • Why exactly does Davros lure the Doctor to Tranquil Repose? The Doctor doesn't seem to form any particular role in his grand plan. Is it just so that Davros can turn him into one of his new breed of Daleks? "When you have become a Dalek you will suffer for every indignity you have ever caused me."
  • The distasteful nature of what Davros is doing at Tranquil Repose is dealt with slightly more subtly than we've seen in previous Season 22 stories. Those in suspended animation with higher intellects will be turned into Daleks, while those of a lesser intellect will be turned into high protein concentrate and used to feed the hungry across the galaxy. "You've turned them into food?" says an appalled Doctor. "Did you bother to tell anyone they might be eating their own relatives?" It's a gruesome scheme, perhaps influenced by the 1973 film Soylent Green, in which human corpses are converted into a form of nutritious plankton. This is the third time cannibalism has cropped up in Season 22...
  • Love the way Davros refers to the Supreme Dalek as "that upstart"!
There's a pretty tense finale as everybody tries to escape before Orcini blows up the bomb, with people running and screaming, the catacombs shaking and collapsing, and the Daleks moving inexorably through it all. It's a fittingly exciting end to the season, but it's been a season riffing on themes that leave me cold, and I don't believe have a place in Doctor Who. Themes such as cannibalism, torture and body horror should be approached with maturity and subtlety in Doctor Who, but the production team at this time lacked the presence of mind required. Doctor Who definitely went too far in 1985 - I mean, there are even hints at necrophilia in this last episode - and I am not surprised it was taken off air for a rethink. In fact, I'm kind of glad the BBC bosses intervened. The Sixth Doctor needed someone to stop him.

I'm glad Season 22 is over. It doesn't feel like proper Doctor Who to me, it's too clinical, brutal and emotionally detached. I don't like the 45-minute format either. I do like the pastoral charm of The Mark of the Rani, the reassuring traditionalism of Timelash, and the stylish bravado of Revelation of the Daleks. But the depths plumbed by the other three stories are, for me, hard to forgive, and I look forward to a fresh start and a brighter future.

The original plans for Season 23 weren't especially encouraging, reading like a rerun of Season 22's reliance on the show's past, rather than trying to forge a fresher future. The Doctor would have been rematched against the Toymaker, Sil, the Ice Warriors, the Rani, the Master, the Autons, and the Tractators, with the only "original" creations being an arms-dealing dwarf called Mordant (hardly original as he sounds too similar to Sil) and a race of proto-human bee people called Z'ros. Judging by the way the production team of this time bungled the return of the Silurians, Sea Devils and Sontarans, I very much doubt the return of the Ice Warriors and Autons would have been a runaway success.

The aborted Season 23 would probably have begun on Saturday, January 4th, 1986, but shown in its slot instead was The Krankies' Elektronik Komik. From the second Saturday viewers were treated instead to either Jim'll Fix It or The Muppet Show. Doctor Who's absence from the Saturday night landscape would not be permanent, but its presence was endangered...

First broadcast: March 30th, 1985

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Tasambeker's tragic revenge on Jobel (and his wig falling off!).
The Bad: The Doctor has no agency whatsoever. He might as well not be in it.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (story average: 8.5 out of 10)


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