Review: Doctor Who Classic: Destiny of the Daleks

1979. After Season 16's Key To Time arc, Season 17 was to open with the return of an old monster - in this case, the Daleks, who had last been seen in their retcon beginnings story, Genesis. Also, Mary Tamm refused to return as Romana, and so she was replaced by Lalla Ward (currently married to Richard Dawkins, and used to be married to Tom Baker.) Michael Wisher, who played Davros in Genesis, was also unavaliable, and so he was played by David Gooderson.
      The randomiser drops the TARDIS off on Skaro, Romana having regenerated and K9 with laringitus. There, they find the Daleks, at war with a race known as the Movellans, androids with whom the Daleks share their logic. In an attempt to escape the stalemate, the Daleks are burrowing down beneath the ruins of Scaro to find their creator, Davros, who seemingly survived his extermination at the end of Genesis.
      I think I'll start with the negatives of this story. The Daleks are a little shoddy, the fakes being obvious, and there are a few logical inconsistencies. The ressurrection of Davros is a massive cop-out, and David Gooderson completely misunderstands the character, changing him from omnicidal mastermind to ranty grandfather. The Daleks' need for emotion is the story is completely unfounded, as Daleks are usually extremely emotional.
     In the positive, the Daleks in this story are on the whole more menacing and likely to entertain, mainly in the areas where they aren't squabbling over their leader. The Movellans are unsettling if gaudy, and there's some good acting from Ward and Baker. The whole thing is ultimately quite entertaining, if deeply, deeply unnecessary.

Thanks.
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After my week-long break, I've decided to review each Blackadder series as a whole. I'll also be reviewing the X-Factor live segments when they come around. Thanks.