Two episodes (45 minutes each)
Aired between 23rd March 1985 and 30th March 1985
Written by Eric Saward
Produced by John Nathan-Turner
Directed by Graeme Harper
Synopsis
The Doctor decides to visit his old friend Dr Arthur Stengos who is interred at a facility called Tranquil Repose in suspended animation at a planet of remembrance and mourning called Necros.
They both wear outfits of vibrant blue as it's the official colour of mourning, and reflects the copious blue flowers that can be seen about the place (and are frequently used in funerals there).
It's not long before the Doctor gets into trouble, being attacked by a mutant man, whom Perri is forced to mortally wound to save her friend.
With his dying breaths, the mutant explains that experiments on him forced changes in his behaviour as well as appearance. He is a subject of the Great Healer's experiments, but he dies before he can say any more.
Meanwhile, in Tranquil Repose itself, two figures (Natasha and Grigory) creep about the compound, trying to find something. It turns out that Natasha is Arthur Stengos' daughter and she is also looking for him. They discover that bodies have been disappearing from suspended animation chambers and ultimately, they find that Daleks are on the compound.
More terrifyingly, they see that Arthur Stengos himself has been taken and is in a glass dalek case, being turned into one of the creatures.
Stengos explains that the bodies have been taken and turned into the Daleks like him, conditioned to follow the Great Healer. He begs his daughter to kill him which she does.
Elsewhere in Tranquil Repose, the staff themselves are in the service of the Great Healer, but are unaware of what is happening with the body snatching. The head of operations Mr Jobel, a smarmy, vain older man who is perpetually fawned over by his junior staff member - Tasambeker, is ordered by the Great Healer to track down Natasha and Grigory. He delegates the responsibility to his orderlies - Takis and Lilt.
At this point, we find out that the Great Healer is none other than Davros - he's escaped imprisonment and the Movellan virus (which has left him as just a head) and has hidden himself here, on Necros, creating his own army of Imperial Daleks.
He conspires with a food distribution company run by Kara, a powerful woman. He has somehow helped cure a vast food shortage and is using her company to get the food where it needs to be. He is willing to be lenient with her, but his demands and impatience for more money is growing.
Kara secretly desires to kill him off and take control of the food, thus she hires a first class mercenary called Orcini to deal with Davros. She gives him (and his smelly man at arms) a signal to switch on as soon as they have killed Davros. This is secretly a bomb that she intends to detonate and kill them all, thus leaving her without a trace of the deed, covering her tracks and ridding herself of Davros in the process.
Back outside, the Doctor and Perri find it hard to get in to the compound and end up jumping the wall. As they look around, they find a tombstone with the doctor's current image etched into it.
This means that the Doctor is supposedly buried here as he is now. As the Doctor worries over this alarming information, the tombstone collapses on top of him. Luckily, he's not hurt, and Jobel finds them. He agrees to show them around as they pretend to want a package for the Doctor's internment.
Once inside, Perri is surprised to find that a DJ from the 20th century plays music on a radio station to all the people in suspended animation. She is taken to him whilst the Doctor is shown around.
Orcini and Bostok (his man-at-arms) arrive on Necros. Their presence is soon alerted to Davros and he suspects Kara is behind it. He dispatches Daleks to bring her to him. He also talks to Tasambeker, promising her eternal life (as a Dalek) if she follows him willingly and proves herself by killing Jobel. She feels compelled to follow his orders.
As Perri leaves, the Doctor is taken by Jobel and led straight into a trap where he is captured by Imperial Daleks.
Perri meets the DJ and is disappointed to learn he's not from the 80's, but she likes him anyway. He shows her that he has control of all the cameras around the centre, and she can see that the Doctor is captured. The Daleks come for them too, but the DJ has a sonic gun that he sets up and fends them off.
The Doctor is imprisoned with Grigory and Natasha and it's not long before they are rescued by Oricini. He tries to contact Perri and tells her to get back to the TARDIS whilst he tries to stop the Great Healer.
Meanwhile, Tasambeker kills Jobel begrudgingly, after he refuses to listen to her telling him he's marked for death.
The centre is falling apart and Tarkis and Lilt begin to understand that Tranquil Repose is being used. In response, they call the "real" Daleks and inform them that Davros is here.
Orcini and Bostok reach Davros' lair and they destroy the Great Healer as planned, but they are cut down in a counter attack, Orcini having his false leg blown off, and to their horror, discover that Davros is actually fully alive and unscathed from the Movellan virus.
The head was just a ruse for people. He brings in Kara and through their arguments, it is revealed that Kara did hire Orcini and that the signal box is really a bomb.
Orcini kills Kara for her treachery.
As the Doctor, Grigory and Natasha set a self destruct on the conversion labs, Perri and the DJ fend off the Daleks with his sonic gun. The DJ however is ultimately killed and Perri is taken prisoner. The Doctor hears this over the radio, and goes to save her but is captured by Daleks and taken to Davros. Natasha and Grigory are both killed in the attempt.
Once infront of Davros, the Doctor confirms that the bodies were not all used for Daleks, but as cure for the famine (as in Soylent Green).
He used it to set himself up with the funds to create a new Dalek army, which he has done. Bostok thought dead is actually alive and manages to blow Davros' hand off before being killed permanently. Oricini gains control of the bomb and prepares to detonate it.
The "Renegade" Daleks arrive in Davros' lair however and take him prisoner, bringing him back to Skaro for trial. The Doctor, Perri, Orcini, Takis and Lilt are left under guard.
Orcini tells them he's got the bomb and refuses to set a timer, preferring to die with honour. The group manage to get past their guards and race out of the catacombs as Orcini blows up the Dalek base.
Once back in the main entrance of Tranquil Repose, Takis and Lilt ponder what they will do now. The Doctor instructs them to use the blue flowers to cure the food famine as they can be used like soy-beans.
Perri, exhausted, explains that she wants a holiday. The Doctor says that he'll "take her to...."
Trivia
- A lot of the character names are Greek. This is because Saward wrote it whilst on holiday in Greece. The story also contains elements and characters heavily influenced by the Evelyn Waugh novel "The Loved One".
- This story was also an attempt to show Colin Baker how to underplay a maniacal villain or major character in the form of Kara, Orcini and to a much lesser extent - Davros. This was because of his over the top acting both as the Doctor, but also as the villain in Blakes 7
- This story was the last time that film was used on the show for outdoor locations. Video tape would now be the preferred medium. This was because of the problems experienced with The Two Doctors
- This was also the final time that the opening credits from Peter Howel would be used on the show since their start in 1980.
- This is actually the first time that the Daleks are seen to hover - even though it's Davros who hovers, it proves they have the technology
- The big one to note here - what does the Doctor say at the end? Well, it was supposed to be "...Blackpool" as a lead in to next season's story - The Nightmare Fair. This story would have seen a return of the Celestial Toymaker and would have sparked a whole slew of stories with old enemies including the Ice Warriors teaming up with Sil (do a bit of googling around "The Mission to Magnus"). As it happens, the show was put on haitus, so the series was in effect frozen.
- In the dark time of the show on hold, the stars Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and a host of other "celebrities" were convinced by super fan and continuity adviser - Ian Levine to create a song in the style of Live-Aid called "Doctor in Distress". Here's a link to it, and brace yourself. It's not good! https://youtu.be/NnTSbFeWwro
The Revelation of the Daleks is the triumphant return of the most iconic villains in Dr Who and the return of their master. This could have been a run of the mill space age romp, which Eric Saward has proven in the last story they were in, that he could do it well, but he chose something else. This is a hodge podge of ideas, some work well, others don't. The usual insistence from John Nathan-Turner on random things e.g. the DJ and the tombstone were incorporated, and it's to the story's detriment that they are clearly dropped without ever doing anything with them. The sub-plot with Kara is equally..odd, but it does a couple of things well.
Davros in this story is more than just a ranting Looney. I mean, he eventually turns into one, but at the start, he's diplomatic, and therefore sinister. He's creepy the way he talks to both Kara and Tasambeker, and when you consider the plan for the bodies - it takes Soylent Green and puts a malicious spin on it because in the movie, they're doing it as there's no other choice and they're using people who've volunteered to die. This is totally different in that respect and it goes to prove just how messed up Davros is.
The Dalek civil war aspect is also a great undercurrent in this story, something seen in the 60's comics, but not visited so much until the Resurrection of the Daleks. Here, we see the battle lines drawn and they will be culminating in an all out war the next time we see them.
The sets looked great and the soundtrack is excellent. As this is a Saward story, one of the main things that stands out is the death toll. There are horrible things that happen to people here. The transformation of Stengos is truly horrific and it stuck with me as a kid - it's probably one of the most horrifying things I can remember in Dr Who - especially when his brain is pulsating too - yuk!!
I see this sort of akin to the Sea Devils in that there's a lot of dead ends and things that don't make sense including the tombstone and Davros' need to lure the Doctor to Necros, but this is a story that has to be enjoyed for the experience and the sinister atmosphere. If this was a historical, it would be set in Dr Mengele's lab. It's one of the last, great stories that was put out in this era of the show, and will forever remain one of my guilty pleasures.
Rating
8 out of 10
Re-Watchability Factor
8 out of 10
Watch this if you liked...
- Soylent Green
- The Adventures of Don Quixote
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