Destiny of the Daleks

"This moment is unique in the universe - Davros lives!"

Writer: Terry Nation

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 1st - 22nd September 1979

Season: 17.01

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II

Synopsis 

When the Doctor and the recently regenerated Romana arrive on a radioactive planet, the Time Lord has the strangest feeling that he has been there before. Exploring the ruins of an old city, it is not long before they discover the disturbing truth. The TARDIS has materialised on Skaro - original home to the evil Daleks. But who are the mysterious Movellans and what terrible treasure are the Daleks seeking? The answer lies deep beneath the city...

Verdict 

Destiny of the Daleks is a magnificent story to open the seventeenth season of Doctor Who! I really do like this story and it almost seems like it's forgotten in some quarters due to it not being the only Dalek encounter for the Fourth Doctor. This was another watch with my fast-growing seven year old cousin who is expanding his Who knowledge greatly by watching Frontios, Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, Blink and The Time of the Doctor! He's certainly used to regeneration now so he thought the opening scene was rather funny! I must admit, I do like it and I think it's very intriguing that it appears Romana is regenerating by choice after she sees a body she rather liked in The Armageddon Factor, a story that was nicely referenced. Regeneration being a choice seemed to be further confirmed in Last of the Time Lords. However, after my recent reading of Heart of TARDIS, I like how this again went some way to confirming that the choice of body wasn't available if regeneration was forced as has been the case every time the Doctor has regenerated. He's usually falling off buildings, saving companions or getting shot! This is such a good debut for Lalla Ward in the companion role and she looks absolutely sensational doing it. She's just beautiful and her fashion sense is magnificent as she looks divine in her attire. I love how she had her own long scarf but she made it look rather elegant. Lalla simply looked gorgeous. It was great watching this with my cousin as after watching Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks with him relatively recently, he loved the part two cliffhanger in which Davros returned. I imagine on broadcast that would have been fantastic if the fact was kept hidden but to me it was the cliffhanger of part three that I thought was best. The chemistry between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward was captured instantly and together they may just form my favourite TARDIS pairing. There's no doubt in my mind that the latter, in this incarnation, is my favourite companion of all time. She portrayed emotion and aggression in response to the Daleks excellently and I also love the fact that she's a Time Lord, and in terms of Gallifreyan knowledge a more intelligent one. K9 being repaired was quite a comical start. I liked the Movellans but I'm not sure anyone would buy that they were just as good as the Daleks! The idea though was superb in that computer logic would always mean a stalemate. So the Daleks seeked to find their creator to make them organic again and break the deadlock as they would deviate from logic. Davros would have none of that though! I also liked the foreshadowing of the two sets of Daleks when he commented about the Supreme Dalek title needing to be disputed. There was peril in the ranks already. Tyssan was a very good character and I liked the story development he went through during the four episodes. At first he seemed evil by hunting Romana but once he was brought aboard the ship by the Movellans, the truth behind him was revealed and it was far from evil. The setting of Skaro was great and I liked the references to The Daleks and Genesis of the Daleks very much. The Doctor's reaction to finding out where they were was superb. Tom Baker gave a dazzling performance and the change in actor for Davros wasn't bad at all. The sight of the Daleks being decorated in explosives was magnificent and I quite liked the way the Doctor made Davros hit the trigger that would blow them up once they were clear of the Movellans. The climax really was good and I liked how Davros was dealt with. Overall, a superb story and my cousin really enjoyed his first Fourth Doctor story! He found him hilarious which was lovely to see. 

Rating: 9/10