The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Destiny Of The Daleks

Destiny Of The Daleks: Episode One (01/09/19)

Well, that was quite good, and a lot more entertaining than I expected when I saw Terry Nation's name attached to the credits!

First things first, though: Romana's regenerated! And she's chosen Princess Astra's body! There was a silly sequence where she was 'trying on' different bodies, much like in 'Robot' with the Doctor's costumes but not as stupid, but she settled for an Astra in a rather fetching pink and white version of the Doctor's outfit. It was incredibly jarring at first and I'll miss Mary Tamm who, like Caroline John, didn't even get a farewell, but in 25 minutes I've actually started to warm to the new incarnation. Lalla Ward and Tom Baker have great chemistry, and Lalla is playing the character very different to the rather wet Astra.

Speaking of Tom, this is his sixth season! He's now been the Doctor longer than Pertwee and, by the end of this series, as long as both the First and Second combined! It must be his last! There was a point where the Doctor was crushed by a falling pillar and for a moment I thought we were going to get a second surprise regeneration, but alas no. He was alright in this episode, actually - not quite as silly as at some points last season. There's still time, though.

There's a new Script Editor, too, and it shows. There's a lightness and humour which isn't very Terry Nation but is very like what we got in 'The Pirate Planet' and it's the writer of that, Douglas Adams, who's the new Script Editor.

Anyhow, the story is good so far; typical Terry with the TARDIS arriving on a planet and the Doctor and Romana investigating; lots of atmosphere and mysterious figures; and the appearance of the Daleks put off until the cliffhanger (for those who hadn't read the title). 

We're on Skaro again and it looks better than last time. A really cool spaceship turned up and buried itself in the sand, and its occupants are really cool, dreadlocked men and women in white Disco catsuits. The Doctor and Romana have been separated, the Doctor rescued by the aliens and informed he's on Skaro, while Romana fell down a shaft after being confronted by a shabby stalker and did a Barbara when the Daleks burst through a (glass?) wall.

So, all in all a good start to the new series, despite it being a Dalek story by Terry Nation. It's actually quite nice to see the pepper pots back, but they have been away for quite a while!

Destiny Of The Daleks: Episode Two (08/09/19)

Pretty good again this week. The story is more entertaining than the last Dalek story and, surprise surprise, the Daleks are resurrecting Davros! Did not expect that, even though they are on Skaro and in hindsight it's pretty obvious!

Intrigue with the striking Movellan commander, Sharrel, whose group are on Skaro to find out what the Daleks are looking for. I do like the Movellan design - very clean, white catsuits like something out of Buck Rogers, and Egyptian-style makeup. They look very modern and clinical compared to the broken-down Dalek city and dusty, rocky landscape. Quite surprising that both of Sharrel's deputies bit the dust this week, including the rather beautiful Agella. There's something a bit dodgy about them, though. Don't know what it is.

Romana was caught and interrogated by the Daleks, then sent to join a work party of Humanoids the Daleks keep to clear up after their drilling. Here she appeared to die suddenly, but she was only faking so that she could escape without leading to the deaths of some of the other slaves.

We also met Tyssan, the shabby bloke who's been following the Doctor and Romana, and is another slave who faked death to escape. He took the Doctor and the Movellans down into the city to find out what's going on and, after finding Romana, returned to find the mummified remains of Davros! They were distracted by a rockfall that killed Agella so missed Davros coming back to life! I'm actually quite impressed to see Davros again as his first story was very well written but incredibly grim and difficult to watch. So far, this has a much better atmosphere - more adventure than drama and not so oppressive.

I'm liking the new Romana, too. She doesn't have such a regal air as Mary Tamm (who I loved) and feels more spirited and adventurous. I wonder why she regenerated, though? Maybe she felt she needed to be more like the Doctor, and she's certainly that!

Not a great deal else happened this week. It certainly feels more Terry-Nation-by-numbers than 'Genesis...', but that's far from being a bad thing. After a long-needed break it's nice to see the Daleks back doing what they usually do - exterminating a few people and threatening to do it much more often, while overseeing slave workers in their plans for universal conquest. Silly but fun adventure stuff. Welcome back, Terry, you old hack!

Destiny Of The Daleks: Episode Three (15/09/19)

A bit of a slow episode this week, but that might just be because I'm tired. It turns out that the Movellans are also robotic (although wholly so, rather than with an organic occupant like the Daleks, despite implications that this is no longer the case). There's a different actor playing Davros and, therefore, a different mask. I don't really remember the original actor's performance that well, but the new guy seems pretty on spot. The mask is less mobile, but I think that adds to the concept that he's been holed up in the Kaled bunker for centuries and is outwardly a bit more mummified. On the whole, he looks pretty gross, which is only a good thing.

For whatever reason, the Movellans now want the Doctor, probably because Romana told them he was a robotics expert (before they KO'd her) and also want to destroy the surface of Skaro (to eradicate the Daleks and Davros, presumably) using an incendiary weapon which they've now put in a huge tube with Romana (to lure the Doctor out).

It was all pretty wordy but slow this week, so aside from escaping the Daleks, confronting Davros, and finding out the Movellans are robots, very little else happened. It was still pretty good, though, and Tom was the best he's been in ages with his scenes with Davros. Fair play to him, he can really sell anger and contempt, although I'm not sure why he chose to tell the Daleks to "Spack off"; probably been hanging around one too many punk gigs.

So, your average third episode, then, but a cut above most of Terry's other Episode Threes. I think only re-introducing Davros this week has worked in the story's favour - does this mean it's going to be a six parter? I can't see them drawing things to a close next week! He's an interesting adversary with a high opinion of himself which I can only imagine will lead to his downfall. My only real niggle this week was the fact that they found Davros in a room on ground level when the original location of his extermination was many levels down in the Kaled bunker. Maybe the Daleks have done a lot of excavating! For a Terry Nation Dalek story, this isn't actually that bad!

Destiny Of The Daleks: Episode Four (22/09/19)

Well, that was pretty entertaining! Okay, so it featured a number of faults, primarily Terry Nation's odd assertion that, like the Movellans, the Daleks were entirely robotic and purely logical - something entirely new and better suited to a Cyberman story (even though they, too, are partly organic); and exactly why the Daleks decided they needed Davros in particular to get them out of their impasse instead of, say, any old twat who didn't rely on logic to fight their interstellar wars is a bit of a mystery (one can only assume that the universe were glad the Daleks had fallen into a logic trap and were just unwilling to help - again, a plot better suited for the Cybermen).

But this was much better than the rather dry 'Genesis...' and it helped it being a couple of episodes shorter. There were some nice effects (I particularly liked the Daleks' computer globe), the Movellans are a really fantastic design, and Romana got a brilliant bitch fight with Sherrel, wrestling in the sand and kicking his arms off! She's going to have to wash that scarf in Daz before she wears it again, though. And rather than kill Davros (again) they gave him a nice, sequel-hunting send off, freeze-dried and headed for trial for war crimes.

All things considered, that was pretty good start to the series despite all the flaws, which ticked all the boxes it needed to. Great to have the Daleks back, but I think they've benefited from their absence so maybe another four year break will do them good (although I fully expect Terry to turn up next series with another paint-it-by-numbers tale).

This series has got off to a good start. It feels fresh and new and quite modern after a season of fairly stodgy tales that felt a bit like a throwback to the Hinchcliffe era last year. I think Lalla Ward is making a large contribution to that - she's got a wonderful energy. As much as I loved Mary Tamm, I can't see her pegging it across a sand quarry and beating the crap out of a dreadlocked robot! Hope that next week continues to be as fresh and exciting!