Episodes about Davros and the Daleks are always fun to watch
and, with so much historical knowledge to draw from, they’re usually relatively
easy to review. However this story, I think is an exception to this rule. This
was our first encounter with the 5th Doctor, Peter Davison and we
had high hopes as it boasts being the only episode in which Peter Davison meets
his oldest enemies as well as the first ever Doctor Who episode that was
broadcast in 45 minute segments rather than the traditional 25.This episode notoriously garners mixed opinions amongst fans and in hindsight we accept that this probably was not the best episode to introduce us to the Peter Davison’s Doctor. In all honesty the Doctor didn’t really seem that instrumental to the storyline as he had very little dialogue, not a great deal of screen time and the Daleks eventual downfall comes and the hands of Davros himself rather than the Doctor. However what time the Doctor does spend on screen is quite notable, if only because of how far his character has come from the kindly old gentleman that William Hartnell introduced us to.
In his fifth form the Doctor is starting to get tired and
fed up; he has an anger inside of him which is hard for the audience to witness
because it manifests itself in a gun-wielding action man who is willing to
murder the pitiful (though not exactly harmless) organic form of the Dalek as
it cowers away under a burlap sack. Not exactly the chivalrous space wanderer
we have become accustomed to, this sits a little uncomfortably in the stomach
when you watch it. However we have to remember that the Doctor has seen so much
and has watched so many people suffer at the hands of the Dalek that it
wouldn’t be farfetched to suggest that this change in stance is simply
desperation, a desperation to rid the world of a beast that is more deadly
alone that most creatures would be with an army.
Alongside the Doctor’s new, darker approach to his enemies,
there are many other things I could comment on. There are a lot of plot holes,
the characters can come across as two-dimensional and a few of the overacted
exterminations are bound to raise a few raised eyebrows even amongst the most hard-core
of fans. It’s easy to criticise the obvious points, however and pick apart the
things that don’t seem to work so I am going to move past these and look at
some of the real strengths of this episode.
Let’s talk companions! This episode sees the Doctor say a
sudden farewell to his companion Tegan Jovanka who decides that she has seen
enough death and destruction and is no longer enjoying her travels around the
universe. Tegan’s goodbye is short, she doesn’t even have the time to tell the
Doctor she’ll miss him before he and Turlough are gone. Not knowing Tegan as a
companion very well I can’t comment on whether this departure was emotional,
expected or a complete surprise; however I can comment on what I know and what
I know is that this exit was very revealing of the affect time with the Doctor
can have on the well-being of a normal person.
This issue is tackled quite a few times in the modern
reboots but perhaps didn’t feature that heavily in classic Who, when Tegan
tells the doctor she can’t handle his life anymore you realise just how much
she has seen, do companions realise what they are getting into when they step
into the Tardis with the Doctor? They all take the good with the bad but there
is no denying that when the Doctor touches your life you will never quite be
the same again.
Though this will definitely never be my favourite episode
and we can agree that this wasn’t the best episode to introduce ourselves to
Peter Davison with, there were elements that were enjoyable such as seeing Davros
again (still as creepy as ever) and who doesn’t love a good Dalek?
Overall we’ve given this episode a 2/5 because we just feel
it doesn’t hold up quite so well amongst some of the other Dalek stories.
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