The Dalek stories of the
Classic Series after Genesis of the
Daleks all are overshadowed by the character Davros, the Daleks’ creator
with the Daleks themselves being second hand to support Davros as a main
villain. This may make you think that
Davros cannot be used without the Daleks being there, but Lance Parkin proves
that that is not the case. This story
sees Davros after the events of Resurrection
of the Daleks crash land on a planet while in stasis and being taken in by
the Baynes family, a couple who are the CEO’s of TAI where we would get the
idea of a big bad corporation, but of course Parkin avoids this plotline as
while TAI is corrupted they aren’t irredeemable as the Baynes’ really do want
the best for their company and the galaxy.
It isn’t long before the Doctor arrives investigating a lead that the
Baynes are going to let off several thousand people so they can get more money,
but when he sees Davros he intervenes.
What follows is the Doctor being forced into working for TAI and trying
to figure out what exactly Davros is planning as he is evil and could never
actually change. Could he?
Yes this story deals with
the idea that Davros could actually become a force for good as the story
explores his past with a great performance from Terry Molloy. Molloy gets a chance to play Davros before
his accident where we see that he fell in love, but when he pushed his lover
away so he could focus on the war, he became extremely paranoid and jealous
when she started seeing another man. He
goes so far as to get her boyfriend executed as a Thal sympathizer and cannot
believe he is jealous. Davros in the
present also becomes very sympathetic in the story as he really thinks that he
can change and if it wasn’t for the state of his mind, he actually could reform
and become a better person. Molloy’s
performance is only enhanced by the performance of Katarina Olsson as Shan,
Davros’ lover. It is Shan who had the
idea for the Daleks and Davros stole her work.
She and Davros shared everything with each other as they both know Kaled
secrets that not even the public are privy to.
While Shan is Davros’ foil in the flashback sequences, it is Loraine
Baynes, played by previous companion Wendy Padbury, who is foil for Davros in
the present segments of the story. Loraine is the most prominent expert on
Davros, having written multiple books on the controversial scientist and feels
like Davros was a martyr as he only wanted to see his own race survive and not
a madman who wants to see his own race as superior. Padbury is a great actor here as even though
it is obviously the woman who played Zoe, Padbury doesn’t sound like Zoe as the
voice is almost deeper, more academic than and not as young as Zoe was. Part of that is due to age, but Padbury shows
she has the chops for voice work.
Colin Baker as the Doctor
steals the show here as he gives every line an almost over the top delivery
that is just great on the ears. The over
the top nature of the performance never goes on silly, but stays in the range
of being bombastic. The Doctor knows how
to get around computers and can play the fool, even if others don’t believe
him. He abhors working with Davros and
treats him like the tea lady which is just hilarious and stays the voice of
reason throughout the story. The Doctor
is paired up with Arnold Baynes who is basically the Doctor if he owned a
corporation. Baynes wants the good of
all but he is also extremely greedy and the prospect of getting Davros under
his control is great which makes it extremely satisfying when Davros takes over
the company. Baynes isn’t an evil man,
but he isn’t opposed to do evil things when there is no real evidence that
would link is family to the crime.
Baynes is played by Bernard Horsfall who is just great as Baynes
especially considering how old he was when doing this performance.
Props must be given to
Gary Russell who is great at getting the transition to the flashbacks as they
just happen without any clichéd music clue to let the audience know that we are
in the past. Russell also designs
Davros’ demise at the end in a great way as the sound is moving between your
ears as Davros’ mind starts to deteriorate into nothing. Parkin also gives away early on who is going
to survive this story in a really clever way that I don’t want to give up as
the beginning and ending of this story is just great.
To summarize, Davros is another of Big Finish’s
perfect stories with a great script that lasts two and a half hours, but never
drags. The acting is great with Terry
Molloy and Colin Baker having some of their best moments together with
direction that is perfectly done by Gary Russell. 100/100
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