Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks

 

 

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The final story of the 22nd season of Doctor Who had the Doctor once again encountering his worst enemies, the Daleks. This was the last story to be broadcast prior to the 18 month "hiatus" in 1985/86....

There is all sorts of violence in this story, which is not out of place with the majority of the rest of the 22nd season... a leg is blown off one person, a hand off someone else... at the time, Script Editor Eric Saward defended the violence as being realistic.

The story itself is one that sees the Doctor and Peri being on the periphery of the action until the last 20 minutes or so (those who don't like the 6th Doctor's persona will say this is a positive point to the story...). Plotting in the 22nd season was a problem, as writers tried to make the switch from 25 minute episodes to 45... in many cases this meant over half the story was finished before the Doctor arrived "on scene", and RotD is no different.

The polt revolves around Davros using Tranquil Repose, a sort of galactic funeral parlour and storage facility, to do experiments designed to build himself a new race of Daleks, which will be loyal only to him.

While there were a number of strong characters in this story, it was also cursed by one of the most poorly realized of the 26+ year history of the show in the DJ... which is saying a lot given that almost every supporting character simply shouts at people (and poor acting to boot). On par with most of the Eric Saward stories, almost everyone dies, and the only guest characters who survive are ones we really don't care about.

Colin Baker is one of my favourite Doctors... that's saying something given the generally poor stories he was saddled with in his all too short tennure in the role. RotD had the potential to be so much better than it turned out, but, having said that, it was still one of the better stories of the 22nd season.

Hot on the heels of one of the most violent Doctor Who Dalek stories comes 'Revelation of the Daleks,' clearly the darkest. The story finds the Doctor visiting the colony of Tranquil Repose at the behest of one of his friends. Upon arrival however, the Doctor and Peri are assaulted by a gruesome human who has been viciously scarred due to genetic tampering.

The Doctor and Peri follow the trail to the Tranquil Repose colony, which serves as a cold storage medium for the rich and privileged who have been put into suspended animation until a cure can be found for their specific terminal illnesses or injuries. At the heart of the institution's elite is Davros, having escaped certain death at the end of the Doctor Who audio adventure 'Davros' (not Resurrection of the Daleks, as commonly believed). Davros has become something of an icon, masquerading under the title of "the Great Healer," a title which serves to hide his true identity from the Daleks which have placed an assassination order on him after the events of 'Resurrection.' Having solved a major galactic food shortage, Davros is given leeway to conduct experiments within the bowels of the Tranquil Repose complex, and those experiments involve turning human cadavers into a new breed of Dalek.

'Revelation' doesn't shy away from controversy. Not one bit. In fact, I've never seen a Doctor Who story more focused on disturbing its audience (which are, ironically, children). Themes of cannibalism and necrophilia run rampant, limbs get blown off, and people die all sorts of horrible deaths. One particular scene stands tall as the series' most gruesome, showcasing a severed, pulsating human head inside a skeletal Dalek frame. This scene is tremendously upsetting for a Doctor Who story, though quite effective for sucker-punching the audience right in the gut. The story is so devoid of humor that it becomes dreadful, which was perhaps the goal of the staff. Who knows?

The story is wonderfully shot, however. Tranquil Repose feels like a real place on another world, both inside and out. There's a strong attention to detail in this story which is sometimes overlooked in other 'Who' episodes. Colin Baker's Doctor is likeable in this feature, showcasing a clear regret as to his identity, especially when he glimpses his own tombstone for the first time. Davros is in top form and as manipulative as ever. The use of his "head inside a jar" is a very clever plot twist that is totally believable, though the character is clearly more insane than ever. I liked the several subplots involving the assassin Orcini, Natasha and Grigory, and the comedic/tragic relationship between administrator Jobel and his unattractive admirer Tasambeker (all of which end terribly, I should add).

The Daleks themselves sport a brand new color scheme as befitting their new origins. The use of human bodies to serve as Davros' new Dalek line sets up a great battle involving the original pureblooded Daleks, who arrive for the purpose of finding Davros himself. They are also terrible shots who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, each and every one. Regardless, the story really comes alive in the 4th and final episode with some climatic shootouts, surprises and plot twists. A few Davros plot elements from this story are re-visited in the 2008 episode 'Stolen Earth,' which shows his cybernetic hand and ability to summon and project an electrical-based attack from his very fingertips.

'Revelation' isn't a miss. Not by a long shot. It's hard to classify its merit as a story due to the oppressive and difficult subject matter, but it's one of the strongest Dalek stories to come out of the original series' later years, which were beginning to run into decline as 1989 began fast approaching. Minor plot elements would be revisited in the 2005 re-launch series, but for the most part, this is a story that can stand alone on its very own.

Let me get this out of the way first: In my humble opinion, Colin Baker was one of the most annoying Doctors.

There.

However, there's some odd about his reign as the good Doctor in it of the fact that he has some of the best scripts and stories. So, on one hand, I cringe everytime I see him, the stories he's in are really good: risky, thoughtful, and somewhat dark.

Revelations of the Daleks is a good example of this. It delves into some of the mythology of the show-Dalek creation, Davros, the Supreme Dalek, Dalek evolution, etc.- while intertwining it with the another world and culture.

The plot does suffer from a redundancy within Colin's era: they go back to turning people into established monsters (this is following the Cyberman plot of a previous season). I mean, it's a clever metaphor: the monsters feared by children for decades were once human. But it's recycled here, yet more effectively rendered in this story than it's Cyber-sibiling.

Peri is in this one a bit more modest in both attire and personality, which is thankful because her voice can grate and, simply put, Americans didn't dress the way the Brits thought they did in the 80's.

Worth a watch!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Saward is God!
I loved Resurrection of the Daleks and Earthshock is my all time favourite story, but this is still a very good example of the brilliance of Eric Saward and is as radically... Read more

Published on May 20 2004 by Adrian Sherlock

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to Tranquil Repose...and to ivory and gold Daleks
The final story of the 22nd season of Doctor Who has the Time Lord dealing with his worst enemies, those Dalek pepperpots, only this time they have a really nice ivory and gold... Read more

Published on Feb 29 2004 by Daniel J. Hamlow

3.0 out of 5 stars Flashy Tedium
Even when I was 12 I knew there was something "off" about the Colin Baker years. In the beginning I just wanted to watch "Doctor Who", so I never turned a critical eye to stories... Read more

Published on Dec 29 2003 by Jason A. Miller

5.0 out of 5 stars I mean it when I say this is the *best* of the whole series.
My title really means something, considering that Doctor Who lasted 26 years and featured 160 different stories. Read more

Published on Aug 19 2003 by Matthew Newland

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story
THE GOOD

When I first watched R.O.D I liked it very much and gave it 4 stars. The second time I watched I loved it and changed to 5. Read more

Published on May 6 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome episode
Dr Who and all its quirkiness is in its best form in this episode. Heavy on the satire with excellent "one-liners" and other gags (the Doctor offering his hand to Davros) and the... Read more

Published on Sep 19 2002 by gouf31

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Dalek adventure!
This was the first Doctor Who adventure I had ever seen and when I first watched it, I didn't care for it that much. Read more

Published on Aug 7 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars when i die, turn me into a dalek
Revelation of the Daleks was a huge positive surprise to me, as big as the disappointment of the awful Resurrection of the Daleks (It's easy to confuse the names, so beware)... Read more

Published on Jun 24 2002 by wixtrom

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the better Colin Baker shows
But this episode in Doctor Who history leaves many questions? How did Davros become the Great Healer? How did he start work with Kara? How did he even get to the planet?? Read more

Published on May 1 2002 by J. J. Dangermond

4.0 out of 5 stars More Davros than Daleks
I was always busy when Revelation of the Daleks came on TV, so it was a real treat to finally see this one in it's entirety. Read more

Published on Sep 25 2001 by Alan D. Patten III

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