Destination: Skaro

"Within this casing we can evolve."

Writer: Russell T Davies 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 17 November 2023

Series: Children in Need Special 2023

Featuring: Fourteenth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor hurtles through space and time to a crucial point in the Daleks' history.

Verdict

Destination: Skaro was an excellent way to debut the Fourteenth Doctor on screen! After an incredible fourteen-part comic strip in the form of Liberation of the Daleks, this new but old incarnation meets his deadliest foes in very different circumstances. I think it’s wonderful that we get the first on screen appearance for the Fourteenth Doctor in this Children in Need minisode and it echoes what happened the first time around for David Tennant as the Doctor with Born Again. It’s ironic and just fun. This story doesn’t take itself too seriously which is obviously what you want for a Children in Need special, but crikey does it visit a pivotal point in history! The idea of a prequel to Genesis of the Daleks is very brave considering that literally sees the creation of the Daleks, but seeing Davros pre-injury was just wonderful. I thought the casting and performance of Julian Bleach was absolute perfection. It really was scarily good how well he brought Davros to life and just seeing the creator of the Daleks in an upright position was tremendous. Now, there’s since been a great deal of controversy from comments made by Russell T Davies in the Doctor Who Unleashed special for this episode about this is how we see Davros now. In this episode with it being where it is in the Dalek timeline, it’s perfect and it makes sense. But we simply cannot go to Davros not being disfigured and in his life support machine if he does do battle with the Fifteenth Doctor in the future. It just won’t work. I understand the backlash and I agree with it, especially as Davros is a Kaled. I’ve never associated disability as evil because of him. I think there might be a little too much overthinking there, but we can tackle any potential problem there if he does return. Julian Bleach really does deserve more than five minutes though! I thought Castavillian was a very fun name and a good bit of humour that comes with the territory of a minisode like this in aid of Children in Need. The fear he obviously had for Davros was excellent and I liked how that played out. I was less of a fan of the coming up with an anagram from Kaled for the name of the future race that would live on as it got a little bit silly, but the arrival of the Doctor was most welcomed. It came in emphatic style and seeing the TARDIS wipe out the adaptable claw from the mark three Dalek travel machine was hilarious. The way he replaced it with a plunger when realising where he was and when in Skaro’s history he was made for a joyous scene. It was perfect for Children in Need and it just feels right that the Doctor would christen the Daleks as their name. Seeing the Thirteenth Doctor TARDIS interior in the background of the police box was good continuity but I will be glad to see it gone once the sixtieth anniversary specials firmly kick off next week! The way this followed on from the aforementioned Doctor Who Magazine comic strip by having the Doctor on Skaro was brilliant and it’s just a shame he never met Davros. But we’ve kind of done that story before but crikey the combination of Tennant and Bleach would be phenomenal. Davros seeing the plunger in the Dalek at the end was amusing and it was fun how he proclaimed he liked it because it’s just so ridiculous. Overall though, a really fun minisode!

Rating: 9/10