Day 258 — September 15th 2021
Destiny of the Daleks Parts Three and Four
Destiny of the Daleks — Part Three
We hit a milestone with this episode, because I think this is the first (and possibly only?) time I’m watching an episode on the anniversary of its original broadcast. Destiny of the Daleks Part Three was broadcast 42 years ago this evening. Does that mean the stars are aligning to provide me with a standout episode that I absolutely adore?
I think I said this during Genesis of the Daleks, but I’m not a massive fan of Davros as a character. His introduction has the unfortunate effect of either reducing the Daleks to being mere servants to him, or alternatively he seems a bit feeble in their presence. Genesis actually proved me wrong on that score — it managed to make both Daleks and Davros feel scary and strong in their own ways, but this story is definitely falling into the trap I was expecting.
The Daleks in this story are being presented as basically robots (there’s even a moment in this episode where Doctor Who is surprised to remember that ‘the Dalek’s were originally organic lifeforms...’) and they’ve been forced to return to Skaro and dig up their creator to help them out of a sticky situation. I’ve not got anything about bringing back Davros per say, but I think it would only have worked if he’d survived and been able to get out of the bunker without the help of the Daleks. Having them return to dig him up here somewhat spoils the powerful ending to their last adventure, in which they declared themselves superior and exterminated Davros.
They also don’t come across well because they’ve taken so long to actually reach Davros. The implication from the slaves in the opening two episodes is that they’ve been here with the Daleks for ages, but Doctor Who is able to get down to the fourth level thanks to a ‘secret entrance’ that the Daleks don’t know about. That raised an eyebrow in itself, but the fact that the Daleks break through only a few minutes later, and it looks like all they’ve had to do is break through the ceiling… well, they’re hardly the most threatening force in the universe, are they?
Then there’s Davros himself. One of the reasons the character worked so well in Genesis is that Michael Wisher gives an incredible performance in the part. He’s genuinely menacing and I totally bought his decent into madness as the story wore on. He was helped along by an incredible mask by John Friedlander, and happened to appear at just the time the series was riding high when it came to that sort of prosthetic.
Here they’ve had to make do with re-using the same mold as last time, but Michael Wisher has been unable to return due to a scheduling conflict, so they’ve forced the mask onto David Gooderson, whom it clearly doesn’t quite fit. There’s times in this episode where it doesn’t look awful. Sometimes shot from a distance and in the shadows it’s still pretty effective — and the fact that the mask looks a little more sunken than before gives the impression that Davros has decayed a little over the centuries. But then there’s a moment when they shoot the mask pretty close up in the middle of a speech and it’s clear that it hasn’t been fitted with the same kind of care and attention it received last time, the whole thing moving around as the lines are delivered.
That’s the other problem with losing Michael Wisher — the performance here isn’t half a nuanced or interesting as the one he gave in 1975. I’m sure Gooderson is a decent actor (I’m not sure I’ve seen him in anything else) but he doesn’t come across as being particularly interested in this particular role. Davros sounds more bored than anything, save for a few flashes of emotion during his talks with Doctor Who.
There’s a single scene between the pair which I think is brilliant — and probably the highlight of the story so far;
Davros: ‘Doctor.’
Doctor Who: ‘Davros. You don’t look a day older and I’d hoped you were dead. ’
Davros: ‘Dead? I do not die. Mark this moment, Doctor. In the history of the universe, this moment is unique. Davros lives!’
Doctor Who: ‘Yes, well, I can see your long rest hasn’t done anything to cure your megalomania.’
Elsewhere, though, the relationship between the pair suffers from the direction in which the series has moved in the years since they last had these characters together. Tom Baker isn’t taking the role half as seriously any more, and with Douglas Adams in charge there’s a propensity to avoid making anything too serious. The result is that Davros loses any semblance of threat because Doctor Who isn’t in the least bit scared of him. When he first starts grabbing the chair and wheeling him around the bunker it feels far too silly to be in anyway scary. There’s a brief moment between the pair which for some reason really highlighted it for me;
Davros: ‘You will release me. You will return me to the Daleks.’
Doctor Who: ‘Shut up or I’ll switch you off.’
I feel like Doctor Who should be a bit scared of Davros. This is the man who created the Daleks, after all, and has a towering intelligence able to rival the Time Lord. Last time around Doctor Who was definitely scared of him (though still defiant), while here he seems to think Davros is just a silly joke. It’s a marked change and it’s a shame.
Oh, and I’ve nothing much to say on the subject, but the way Davros now wobbles while moving along — presumably down to Gooderson having to drag the base prop along with his feet — only adds to the overall disappointment.
It sounds like I’ve hated this episode. All I’ve done is complain about it. But actually I’ve enjoyed it more than either of the previous ones, and I’m going with a 6/10. As much as I might moan there’s some really good moments in here, and the direction has flashes of being quite decent in places. They attempt the low-angle shot of a Dalek again and this time they manage to frame it properly so it looks genuinely effective. And I’d never noticed before the clever parallel between Davros’ hand springing to life in the cliffhanger to Part Two and the same thing happening here to show us that a Movellan has survived being buried. Moments like that feel like they should be in a much better story than this…
Destiny of the Daleks — Part Four
The more this story goes on, the more bizarre it is that they’re treating the Daleks as totally robotic creatures. Even Davros is caught up in it, finding the idea that their ‘robot brains’ have been confounded completely fascinating. Reading The Complete History, it sounds like Nation was sort of forced into the idea, having been asked to do a ‘two robot armies at an impasse’ story, but surely you could get around it by saying that the Daleks are controlled by a robotic battle computer or something, rather than being robots themselves? There’s a point in this episode when Doctor Who describes the Movellans as ‘just another race of robots, no better than the Daleks’, and it feels wrong.
On the subject of the Movellans, though, they’re a bit fabulous! Disco robots from the future! Brilliant! I mean they’re completely boring and I have absolutely no interest in anything they’re doing, but I think the basic idea and the outlandish design are incredible, and it makes me hoot that Steven Moffat brought them back for a single brief cameo almost 40 years later. The biggest issue, as I’ve noted, is that they’re incredibly dull. You’d think with a design like that — right down to some really innovative weapons — you’d get some great material, but… no.
Even something like being able to deactivate them by removing the power pack from their waist is a cool idea. It’s completely impractical and a massive design flaw, but it’s great concept. But then they go and spoil it by making the Movellans dance ever… so… slowly as their power drains down. I’m supposed to believe that this lot are the ones who’ve managed to stump the bloody Daleks?
Actually, given how naff the Daleks are here, I totally buy that.
The Daleks don’t really come across any better than the Movellans in this one, although I’ll admit that there’s some pretty spectacular explosions going on at the end of the episode. They introduce some new lightweight Dalek props in this one to allow them to move better across the landscape of the quarry, but the effect isn’t entirely convincing. Because they’re lightweight, they’re moved by actors picking them up (from inside) and walking along… which gives them all a curious ‘walking’ movement! And I know it’s picky, but I find the concept of Daleks covered with bombs bizarre, given that they described self-sacrifice as ‘illogical’ in the last episode.
Overall, I think Destiny of the Daleks has just been a massive disapointment. The return of the series’ most iconic foes after a really long break and we get… this? It’s a 3/10 for the final episode.
Oh, there is one saving grace in this final episode for anyone who followed my EastEnders marathon when I was on Twitter.
🚨 BIG RON KLAXON! 🚨
