Happy 50th Anniversary Doctor Who!

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Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, The Day of The Doctor

Happy 50th Anniversary Doctor Who!

Well, todays the day! The 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who is here, I’m so excited, I’ve filled the house to bursting point with jelly babies and I can’t wait to watch The Day of the Doctor tonight!

Its been a fantastic week, with An Adventure in Time and Space, interviews and clips galore on TV, Radio, and special web episodes. So, have a brilliant time everyone, and enjoy The Day of the Doctor.

Here’s to many more happy time and places.

Paul

Doctor Who Classic Series The Planet of Evil

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4th Doctor, antimatter creature, Doctor Who, Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, Elisabeth Sladen, Forbidden Planet, Louis Marks, Morestran, Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes, Sarah Jane, Season Thirteen, TARDIS, The Planet of Evil, Tom Baker, Zeta Minor

The Planet of Evil

Review By Paul Bowler

When the TARDIS emerges from the time vortex 30,000 years in the future, the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) respond to a distress signal from the planet Zeta Minor, where a Morestran geological expedition led by Professor Sorenson (Frederick Jaeger) has come under attack by unknown forces. The Doctor and Sarah arrive and explore the strange alien jungle as a military rescue vessel from Morestra also lands on the planet, it appears that Sorenson is the only survivor from the doomed expedition, and after the TARDIS is transported to the Morestran ship the Doctor and Sarah are caught and blamed for the demise of Sorenson’s team.

The Planet of Evil (1975) marks the first solo outing for Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen as the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith following Harry Sullivan’s (Ian Marter) decision to remain on Earth after they’d defeated the Zygons. It is clear from the moment we join them inside the TARDIS that Sarah’s relationship with the 4^th Doctor is far more light-hearted than with his previous incarnation. The Doctor treats Sarah more as an equal partner in their adventures, she’s independent, resourceful, and he trusts her implicitly to be there for him when he needs her the most. Its marvellous to see Sarah teasing the Doctor about his ability to control the TARDIS at the start of the story, her practical thinking enables the Doctor to continue his work while she returns to the TARDIS for him to fetch some equipment to pinpoint Zeta Minor’s position in space, and she even braves the jungle to rescue the Doctor after he miraculously survives falling into the blackness of antimatter pit.

It is from this black pit, where the delicate balance between two universes has been disturbed by the Morestran expedition to find a new renewable power source for their people, that Sorenson’s experiments to refine the antimatter crystals around the edge of the pit have incurred the wrath of the terrifying antimatter creature that dwells within its inky depths. The Planet of Evil is also our first clear example of how Season Thirteen was beginning to encapsulate the new direction that script editor Robert Holmes and producer Philip Hinchcliffe had envisaged for the series. The shimmering red antimatter creature seen in The Planet of Evil is no doubt inspired by the Sci-Fi classic Forbidden Planet (1956), writer Louis Marks clever script plays to the strengths of this premise, and with the adaptation of many more classic themes from Sci-Fi & Horror Films, these transposed elements of Gothic Horror would go on to become one of the defining factors of the Hinchliffe and Holmes era of Doctor Who.

The incredible jungle sets created for The Planet of Evil by Robert Murray-Leach at Ealing are truly remarkable. Never before had such a diverse alien environment been created for Doctor Who, portions of the set are even flooded to create a small stream. These filmed inserts as incredibly atmospheric, particularly in the first and second episodes as the expedition team succumbs to the transparent antimatter monster, and then later as the Doctor and Sarah explore the forbidding depths of the alien jungle. Zeta Minor seems to alter drastically in the hours of darkness, becoming even more oppressive and menacing, as the antimatter creature sweeps through the jungle like a crackling portent of doom. The alien vegetation is like nothing we have ever seen before, the slimy looking trees and dangling creepers have a putrid quality about them, almost as if Zeta Minor has become a corrupted reflection of the dark forces contained within the antimatter pit itself.

After the Morestran ship comes under attack by the antimatter creature the Doctor realizes that Sorenson’s work has potentially damaged the very fabric of the universe, unleashing primal forces beyond anything he has encountered before. He takes a small sample of Sorenson’s refined antimatter crystals with him in a tin, hoping it will protect him from the creature, which proves a wise move as the phantom-like monster rises from the pit and overwhelms him – sending the Doctor tumbling into the abyss as Sarah and the Morestran crew watch in horror as the images are relayed by their mobile oculiod scanner.

Its unclear quite what the Doctor experiences in the bizarre realm the antimatter creature seem to inhabit between the two universes, but his stature as a Time Lord seems enough to grant him an audience with this entity, enabling him to convince it to leave the ship alone so long as all of Sorenson’s antimatter samples are returned to the pit. While the ships captain, the indecisive Salamar (Prentis Hancock), argues with his more experienced first officer, Vishinskey (Ewen Solon), Sarah manages to slip away to see if she can help the Doctor. She arrives back at the pit and is relieved when the Doctor finally emerges from its sable depths, and with Vishinskey’s help, they return to the ship as it prepares to leave the planet.

The interiors of the Morestran spaceship provide a marked contrast to the alien jungle of Zeta Minor, with its sparsely furnished rooms and corridors, director David Maloney still succeeds in creating a palpable sense of dread as the ship begins to be pulled back towards the planet – especially when a savage creature begins to prey on the crew when the vessel is plunged into darkness. While the Morestran blindly follow every order Salamar issues, even standing their ground to defend the ship as the antimatter creature slaughters them, it falls to Vishinskey to ultimately provide the voice of reason. He quickly realizes that the Doctor and Sara are not responsible for the unexplained deaths. He openly defies Salamar on a number of occasions, demanding that he follows the Doctor’s advice to link the force field to the atomic accelerator to save the crew from the antimatter monster, and even leads a team to help Sarah retrieve the Doctor’s unconscious body from the pit before the ship departs.

Although his experience makes him a natural leader, Vishinskey’s many years of service has obviously left him battled hardened and chillingly efficient. When he oversees the funeral of a crewmember the first officer calmly explains to Sarah that while they may have to play the last rites, they don’t have to listen to them, before ejecting his fallen comrade into the silent void of deep space – to drift forever on a sea of perpetual darkness. Sarah may find the whole process deeply unsettling but Vishinskey reminds her that it is simply clean and efficient. He is from a future where the natural resources have begun to run out, possibly even a veteran of many conflicts, and is a prime example of how alien even our humanity might become one day in the face of such an ecological apocalypse.

It is perhaps ironic then, when Vishinskey saves the Doctor and Sarah from suffering a similar fate when Salamar tries to eject them into space – blaming them for all the deaths on board the ship. The Doctor has already deduced that Professor Sorenson has become monstrously hybridised by his experiments, causing him to mutate into a bestial creature that feeds on life energies to sustain it. Until now the Professor has been able to stabilize his condition with drugs, but when his supply is lost Sorenson is unable to stop himself from transforming into a grotesque anti-man and feeding on the life force of the Morestran crewmembers – draining them until all that is lefts is a withered husk.

This uncanny take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde (1886) may not offer quite such a startling metamorphosis, but it highlights the savage nature of the primal forces at work on Zeta Minor, and mirrors them in Sorenson’s gradual transformation into a salivating mockery of humanity. He has become consumed by his work, so obsessed with his goal to find a new energy source that he ignored the obvious risks to himself and his team, and the cost is his having to watch his own intellect slowly crumbling away as he gazes in horror at the molten fire that now burns inside his own eyes.

Tom Baker gives one of his finest performances as the Doctor in The Planet of Evil. Here we see how even the Doctor is weary of tampering with the forces Sorenson has unwittingly unleashed on Zeta Minor. When the Doctor confronts Sorenson in his cabin about the consequences of his actions, he reminds him that as scientists their privilege to experiment comes as the cost of total responsibility. The Professor tries to commit suicide by ejecting himself into space, but he is unable to control his bestial side, and transforms back into his savage self again.

With the ship being dragged back to the planet, Vishinskey assumes command of the vessel, but in a desperate bid to prove his worth Salamar takes the atomic accelerator and uses it to attack Sorenson in the ships hold. By using the accelerator on Sorenson in his unstable state Salamar not only signs his own death warrant, but also causes the professors body to divide and multiply, unleashing an army of rampaging antimatter creatures that attack the crew. In a last ditch attempt to advert disaster the Doctor leaves Sarah and Vishinskey in the relative safety of the command deck to find Sorenson. He uses a pistol to stun the rabid creature that Sorenson has become, before dragging him inside the TARDIS and returning to Zeta Minor.

Once the TARDIS materialises on the planet Sorenson breaks free of his bonds and attacks the Doctor. They race out of the TARDIS where they fight on the edge of the antimatter creature’s domain, but Sorenson loses his balance and tumbles helplessly into the bottomless pit. The Doctor throws the rest of Sorenson’s antimatter samples into the black void, honouring his side of the bargain with the antimatter monster, and when Sorenson is released unharmed the pair of them escape in the TARDIS as the creature slowly begins to rise  from the pit.

The Planet of Evil is one of the best adventures from the 4^th Doctor’s era. Tom Baker’s incredible persona imbues this incarnation with an indomitable charisma, effortlessly contemplating the fragile boundaries between the known universes one moment, then casually telling Sarah Jane how he met Shakespeare as they search the jungle, finally offering Sorenson the astonishing concept of harnessing the kinetic energy of planets in a discreetly mumbled afterthought before he departs with Sarah in the TARDIS for their next adventure. As the TARDIS spins away into space we look to the future, and are left marvelling at the wonderful adventure still to come.

The Walking Dead #116 Review

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All Out War, Ezekiel, Image Comics, Jesus, Michonne, Negan, Rick Grimes, The Saviors, The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead #116, Walkers, Zombies

The Walking Dead #116

Review by Paul Bowler

 

Rick has led the combined forces of Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom to the Saviors base where they confront Negan. While Rick wants to avoid going to war, Negan refuses to agree to his terms, and reveals that he also has a secret ally: Gregory, the Hilltop leader, who then orders his people to return to their homes.

The second part of All Out War begins with Rick having to face up to Gregory’s betrayal, as The Walking Dead #116 explodes into action when Gregory seriously underestimates how many of his people are amongst Rick’s forces. Rick gives Negan one last chance to surrender, before launching a devastating attack on the Savoir’s base, with Rick, Jesus, and Ezekiel leading their forces in the attack, using the busses for cover as they avoid Negan’s snipers.

All the noise attracts hordes of Walkers to the Savoirs base, exactly as Rick intended, and with Dwight secretly helping inside the fortress, it looks as if Negan and his forces are outgunned and about to be overrun by Walkers as well. The key to Rick’s plan is for him to drive a truck into the gates to let the Walkers into the Savoir’s camp, while Ezekiel and Jeseus lead the retreat back into their territory. However, Holly has other ideas, and isn’t prepared to let Rick take such a risk as he is too important to the new alliance. Determined to get revenge for Abraham’s death herself, she knees Rick in the stomach, and then takes the truck and crashes it into the gates.

The Walkers pour in through the gates as Holly staggers from the wreckage of the truck. She is almost killed by a Walker, but Negan isn’t about to let her get off that lightly, and smashes the Zombies skull in with Lucile and takes Holly prisoner. After they regroup, Ezekiel and Jeseus discuss what happened with Michonne, just as Rick suddenly returns, informing them all that there is no time for celebration, and that the war has only just begun.

Robert Kirkman has taken his time setting up these events, but The Walking Dead #116 finally kicks into high gear, as Rick leads his new alliance against Negan and the Saviors to unleash the opening salvo in All Out War’s first big skirmish. What a battle it is, although Gregory’s betrayal doesn’t really impact that much on Rick’s forces, but when Negan refuses to back down the bullets quickly start to fly and the Walkers begin to close in. I think it’s very clever how Rick uses the undead as a weapon against Negan like this, but his plan hit’s a snag when Holly intervenes and takes the truck herself and drives it into the gates.

Charlie Adlard’s art on The Walking Dead #116 is excellent, this issue is really dynamic and action packed, and its great to see huge numbers of Walkers attacking, and it seems ages since we’ve seen this many in one issue. For this storyline, Stefano Gaudiano joins the art team. Gaudiano’s inks bring an added level of sharpness and depth to Charlie Adlard’s pencils, and this action packed issue really benefits as a result.

The Walking Dead #116 is a great issue, with some really exciting action sequences, lots of zombies, and with the addition of Stefano Gaudiano’s ink, it look like All Out War is going to be one hell of a ride.

An Adventure in Space and Time Trailer

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An Adventure in Space and Time, Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary

An Adventure in Space and Time Trailer

This special one-off drama travels back in time to 1963 to see how Doctor Who was first brought to the screen.

Check Out The Trailer for An Adventure in Space and Time!

The Night of the Doctor Mini Episode

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Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, The Night of the Doctor

The Night of the Doctor Mini-Episode!

Check Out The Night of the Doctor Mini-Episode

Batman #25 Review

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Batman, Batman #25, Batmobile, Dark City, DC Comics, FCO Plascencia, Greg Capullo, James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Zero Year

Batman #25

Review by Paul Bowler

Contains Spoilers

Gotham has been plunged into darkness by the Riddler, leaving the city in the grip of a frenzied crime wave as the GCPD resolve to hunt down the Batman. With a major storm set to hit Gotham in the next few days, Batman investigates a series of grisly murder scenes as he waits for the Riddler to make his next move. Old wounds are reopened when Bruce clashes with Lieutenant Gordon, the Batmobile takes to the streets of Gotham for the first time, and a new enemy prepares to strike at Bruce Wayne from the shadows…

Batman #25 starts with an intriguing prologue in Nigeria before Snyder and Capullo’s Zero Year: Dark City returns us to the streets of Gotham, where the CGPD are going all out to capture Batman and his new Batmobile! After evading the GCPD, Bruce returns to the Cave to evaluate the Riddler’s plans with Alfred and find out what killed the two Wayne Enterprises researches. Both victims were injected with a formula that caused their bones to grow rapidly, tearing their bodies apart, and it seems the serum was developed by a former Scientist at Wayne Enterprises…

After a tense meeting with Lieutenant Gordon, where secrets about the murder of Bruce’s parents are confronted but left unresolved, Bruce goes to Gotham University to meet Lucius Fox. Knowing that Lucius was trusted by his father, Bruce asks him about the scientist who was hired and the formula he developed. As he learns the truth about the serum, Bruce is shocked by betrayal and a new adversary is revealed…

Batman #25 is a great example of how Snyder and Capullo’s new take on the Batman’s origin continues to thrill and surprise at every turn. This issue is much more than Batman roaring around Gotham in his brand new Batmobile, which is great fun, and Snyder and Capullo ingeniously orchestrate how the vehicle escapes the GCPD. The “new” Batmobile itself is very much a reflection of this younger Batman’s personality, as is the way he drives it, and I think Capullo’s early version of Batman’s iconic vehicle is absolutely brilliant!

We also get some great scenes with Lieutenant Gordon as he investigates the gruesome murder scene, and later when he almost stumbles on the entrance to the Batcave. This leads to a superb moment between Bruce and Gordon, where it becomes clear there is a lot of bad blood between them, due to Gordon’s involvement on the night Bruce’s parents were murdered. The dialogue in this scene crackles as Bruce makes no attempt to hide his animosity towards Gordon, and we are left wondering for now exactly what happened to cause such rift between them.

It’s no secret that Poison Ivy would be making her debut in this section of Zero Year, and Pamela Isley does indeed appear, but it is the unexpected introduction of another villain from Batman’s past that will surprise many. It’s great to see another of Batman’s villains redesigned by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, especially as it embraces so many elements of the past, while fitting in perfectly with Zero Year and their new approach to Batman’s early career.

The art by Greg Capullo is as awesome as ever, with inks by Danny Miki, FCO Plascencia’s colors, and letters by Nick Napolitano. With the Riddler’s attack on the cities power grid causing a blackout, Capullo makes the Gotham skyline seem even more menacing than ever before. The spectacular opening, where searchlights from the GCPD blimps cut through the darkness as they attempt to track the Batmobile, is really effective. You get a real sense of a city on the brink, with Batman maintaining order as he runs rings around GCPD, before we come to that aforementioned scene with Bruce and Gordon that really heightens the dramatic tension – and the excellent use of tone and color by Danny Miki and FCO Plascencia accentuate every scene perfectly. The gory murder scenes are also vividly detailed, with the corpses horribly twisted and distorted almost beyond recognition.

The back up story for Batman #25 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, with art by Andy Clark, features a young Harper Row and her little brother Cullen who are left on their own by their father during the blackout caused by the Riddler. This is a great little tale, were Harper looks after Cullen when he is afraid of the dark, and it also nicely illustrates how Zero Year is about to spin-off into a number of other DC titles as Harper fixes a lamp.

Batman #25 is another exciting and compelling issue by Snyder and Capullo. Zero Year continues to impress, offering new insight into Jim Gordon and the events surrounding the Wayne’s murder, a fleeting glimpse of Pamela Isley, and the surprise appearance of an old villain from the past makes Batman #25 unmissable.

Doctor Who The Day of the Doctor The Second Trailer

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Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Trailer, The Day of The Doctor, The Day Of The Doctor 2nd Trailer, The Day Of The Doctor Trailer

The Day Of The Doctor: The Second TV Trailer!

Check out the awesome second TV trailer for The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary

The Day of the Doctor

Doctor Who The Day of the Doctor TV Trailer

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Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, The Day of The Doctor, The Day Of The Doctor Trailer

New Doctor Who Trailer for: The Day of the Doctor

Check out the TV trailer  for the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor!

Trailer from the BBC on You Tube

Earth 2 #17 Review

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Arkham, Darkseid, DC Comcs, Doctor Fate, Earth 2, Earth 2 #17, Nicola Scott, Superman, The Flash, Tom Taylor, Trevor Scott

Earth 2 #17

Review by Paul Bowler

Steppenwolf is dead, slain by his own henchman, the powerhouse known as Brutaal – who is revealed to be the previously deceased Superman of Earth 2! Transformed into the herald of Darkseid, the greatest evil in all creation, Superman killed Steppenwolf and left Dherain to burn in the raging energies of the murdered god. Commander Khan and the New Wonders retreat to the World Army Arkham Base, where the government forces have hidden dark secrets. But not even this secret location can keep them safe from the furious Man of Steel, as a new wonder is created, Doctor Fate valiantly battles Superman, and the new Batman breaks into the lower levels of Arkham to unleash the horrors imprisoned there…

Earth 2 #17 is very much all about new beginnings, as this is the first issue by the series new writer, Tom Taylor, who joins fellow Australian, the artist Nicola Scott, on charting the ongoing adventures of Earth 2. With the shocking return of Superman in Earth 2 #16, former writer James Robinson’s final issue set the stage for a whole new chapter on this parallel world. The Dark Age: Begins throws us right into the middle of the action, with Dherain consumed by fire, the World Army and the New Wonders escape to Arkham where a well-known General and Doctor Craine are overseeing a crucial upload of data to the Red Tornado.

Superman arrives and attacks Arkham as the Red Tornado comes online. Commander Amire Khan orders a full retreat, but Sloan knows there is something in the base that Superman wants. Mr Terrific knows Superman is vulnerable to kryptonite, but it is Khalid Ben-Hassin who, as everyone notices Green Lantern is missing and wonders if he managed to escape from Dherain, suggests using his magic as Doctor Fate to fight Superman.

While the mysterious new Batman breaks into the lower levels of Arkham, Superman and Doctor Fate clash in the sky above the base, where Darkeid’s servant unleashes his terrible power against Doctor Fate’s magic and the Helm of Nabu. The aftermath of their fight pummels the base into the ground, Flash manages to save Doctor Fate, and the Red Tornado emerges from the rubble as tragedy strikes. In the bowels of Arkham, the Batman has reached the stasis chambers, where the worst of the criminally insane are held, and now he must convince Major Sato to set them free…

Tom Taylor’s first issue of Earth 2 hit’s the ground running and doesn’t give you chance to pause for breath, as the New Wonders are confronted by the unstoppable fury of Superman’s attack on the World Army Arkham Base. It’s reassuring to find that although Taylor ramps the action all the way up to eleven in Earth 2 #17, none of the rich characterization and attention to detail which has been so intrinsic to the series during Robinson’s tenure, has been sacrificed in any way whatsoever.

There are some great scenes featuring Khalid Ben-Hassin as he contemplates using his magic against Superman, and later Jay Garrick’s bravery as the Flash shines though after he rescues Doctor Fate before returning to face Superman alone as the base is evacuated. The personality inhabiting Red Tornado offers a surprising twist to this issue; and her role is bound to impact on Superman’s return now that he is allied with Darkseid.

Needless to say the art by Nicola Scott for Earth 2 #17 is as stunning as ever, with Trevor Scott’s inks and colour by Pete Pantazis, this has to be one of their most dynamic issues yet. Doctor Fate’s fight with Superman is short, brutal, and shakes Arkham right down to its very foundations. The Helm of Nabu is also cracked in the battle, which has a profound effect on Khalid’s mind. The final scenes in the lower levels of Arkham as Batman confronts Major Sato offer a tantalising glimpse of some very familiar prisoners inside the stasis chambers, and Batman’s argument for releasing them hints at the new Dark Knight’s identity.

Green Lantern is conspicuous by his absence, having been beaten up by Steppenwolf and Brutaal/Superman last issue. I’m sure he would’ve escaped somehow before Dherain was destroyed; although it seemed a little odd that everyone should only noticed he was missing after they escaped to Arkham. I also hope that we catch up with Hawkgirl again soon, she’s a great character, and it’s a shame that Hawkgirl has been sidelined a little by recent events.

Earth #2 #17 is a confident start to Tom Taylor’s run on the series, any misgivings are quickly dispelled as the story follows on quickly from last issues shocking cliff-hanger, with everyone getting a good share of the action. Earth 2 #17 features a striking cover by  Ethan Van Sciver, and there is also a  variant cover by Doug Mahnnke. Earth 2 #17 is an excellent first issue by Tom Taylor, the story had  plenty of exciting surprises and art was excellent, and I’m really  look forward seeing to what Taylor has planned for the New Wonders of Earth 2 in the issues ahead.

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Doctor Who Classic Series Genesis of the Daleks

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4th Doctor, Amy Adams, Daleks, Davros, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Classic Sereis, Elisabeth Sladen, Genesis of the Daleks, Harry Sullivan, Ian Marter, Kaleds, Michael Wisher, Philip Hinchcliffe, Sarah Jane, Season Twelve, Skaro, Terry Nation, Thals, Tom Baker

Genesis Of The Daleks

By Paul Bowler

Season Twelve would prove to be a time of great change for Doctor Who. After the gradual fragmentation of the UNIT family during the Eleventh Season it fell to the incoming creative team of Robert Holmes and Philip Hinchcliffe to take the helm and usher in their gothic vision of Doctor Who, a regeneration of sorts; which would go on to be regarded as one of the most successful periods in the programmes history.

With the transitional comedy of Robot out of the way, Hinchcliffe and Holmes could at last cast away the trappings of Season Eleven and finally get to work on developing scripts more akin to their new direction for the programme. Coming in at only twenty episodes, Season Twelve was shaping up to be, up to that point, one of the shortest seasons of Doctor Who ever produced. This led to some extremely clever budget saving ideas; allowing sets to be re-cycled for two of the stories as they were set in the same location, albeit in different time zones, as well some extensive location shooting. Another unique feature was the linking theme which ran from The Ark In Space to Revenge Of The Cybermen, which created an intriguing, and tightly plotted, narrative between episodes. However, there is one story which rests firmly at the heart of this aforementioned mini-trilogy that has become as synonymous with Doctor Who as the TARDIS itself – Genesis Of The Daleks.

Genesis Of The Daleks sees the Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companions, intrepid reporter Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) and the dependable Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter), whisked off by the Time Lords on a mission to prevent the creation of the Daleks – having foreseen a time where the Daleks might one day become a threat to the entire universe. The Doctor is given a Time Ring to transport them back to the TARDIS once their mission is complete, then they are cast back through time to the planet Skaro, arriving in the barren wastelands at the most critical juncture in the Thal/Kaled War of attrition.

With the war falling into an unyielding stalemate, and natural resources on both sides almost exhausted, the Kaled’s turn to their revered scientist Davros (Michael Wisher) to turn the tide of the conflict in their favour. Entrusted with developing a weapon which will help the Kaled’s achieve victory over the Thals, Davros begins his heinous work. After decades of radioactive fallout from the nuclear war many Kaled’s have begun to exhibit horrific mutations; providing perfect fodder for Davros’ experiments to accelerate the Kaled race into it’s final mutated form. Where his own people to know the full extent of his work, they would probably have looked on Davros as a butcher rather than a saviour. Until now the reasoning behind the atrocities breeding in Davros’ underground bunker have gone unchallenged, with any threat of descent quickly quelled by Davros’ ruthless right-hand man Nyder (Peter Miles). This stringent regime is suddenly threatened when the Doctor manages to convince senior ranking Kaled officials to investigate the experiments being carried out in the bunker.

Furious that his research has been halted by his own people’s reluctance to accept their destiny, Davros conspires with the Thals to bring about the demise of the spineless officials who conspire against him, leading to the Thals launching a devastating nuclear strike on the Kaled dome. Only those chosen by Davros survive, taking shelter in the bunker beneath the city. With no one left to oppose him Davros unleashes the Daleks on the unsuspecting Thals. The ensuing massacre inside the Thal dome decimates the Thal population almost to the point of extinction.

Having found himself unable to complete his mission for the Time Lords, and commit genocide by destroying the Daleks incubating chamber, the Doctor and his companions join forces with a small band of Thal survivors and manage to blow up the entrance to Davros’ bunker. Entombed beneath the ruins of the Kaled city, the Daleks turn on the Kaled scientists and exterminate them. Too his horror, Davros realizes he is no longer able to control his creations, and is powerless to save himself from their wrath.

As Davros’ screams are drowned out by the sound of Daleks extermination rays, the Doctor, Sarah and Harry use the Time Ring to re-join the TARDIS back on the Nerva Beacon. The Doctor solemnly reflects that their actions may not have stopped the creation of the Daleks, but it would have perhaps slowed their development by at least a thousand years.

With such a rich storyline and memorable characters, there are few who could dispute that Genesis Of The Daleks is one of Terry Nation’s finest Dalek stories. Some of his scripts for his creations in previous seasons had adhered to a more familiar format: Planet Of The Daleks (1973) plays like a virtual re-enactment of the Daleks debut story in 1963, although the enticingly titled Death To The Daleks (1974) did provide a highly enjoyable Dalek story with a neat twist – making their weaponry as powerless as the humans and the native savages on Exxilon.

Like many of Terry Nation’s scripts, Genesis Of The Daleks is heavily imbued with the writer’s fascination of the more horrific aspects of warfare – in particular themes dealing with nuclear Armageddon and military dictatorships. While previous Dalek stories drowned under the weight of such heavy-handed moralizing; here these keynotes serve only as a disquieting backdrop, allowing a far greater story to play out. Terry Nation successfully uses Genesis Of The Daleks to ram home the horrific fate of the Kaled’s and Thals, a fate that is wholly of their own making; fermented from all the worst qualities the Kaled race has to offer.

The war which shaped Skaro’s destiny has only barely been touched upon in the past; few could have imagined the terrible price paid by the people of Skaro when the TARDIS first materialised there in The Daleks (1963). When the Doctor returns to the planet in Genesis Of The Daleks he finds a world entrenched in the squalid turmoil of trench warfare. Each race has fortified themselves in the relative safety of huge domed cities, both facing each other across a barren wasteland shrouded in the bleak haze of a nuclear winter. Nothing can survive on the surface of Skaro for long, and those who are forced to live in this hellish place are horribly mutated by the radiation; pathetic shambling things who were once human – now outcasts from their own people. With the planets natural resources running low and civilization suffering a retrogressive decline, the Kaled’s and the Thals have found themselves locked in an uneasy stalemate.

Much has been made of the Nazi undertones associated with the depiction of the Kaled people in Genesis Of The Daleks, so much so that it seems almost trite to indulge in such well evaluated territory – suffice it to say that the Kaled people seem to be an innate fascist society like no other ever seen before in the annuls of Doctor Who. For all their sadistic ways, the Kaled’s are, after all, not the only participants in this conflict. The Thals, it would seem, are not as whiter than white as previous continuity might have led us to believe. Those captured by the Thals are forced into slave labour on the Thals enormous rocket, working with hardly any rest or food, until they either collapse or die from the radiation leaking from the missiles warhead.

When Sarah Jane and her Muto friend Sevrin are captured by the Thals, they too find themselves forced to work on the deadly super-weapon. Sarah rallies the prisoners to try to escape, but their flight to freedom proves to be short lived. As they frantically climb the scaffolding around the missile the Thal soldiers pick them off one by one with sniper fire. For all their efforts, Sevrin and Sarah are re-captured before they can reach the summit of the dome, where a Thal soldier callously threatens to drop Sarah to her death from the top of the rocket gantry for little more, it would seem, than his own twisted amusement. Even when they obtain the secret formulae to breach the impervious Kaled dome from the treacherous Davros, the Thals make no attempt at negotiating a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Instead the Thal government seize their opportunity to decisively win the war, and fire their missile at the weakened Kaled dome, blasting their enemies from the surface of Skaro forever… Terry Nation’s previous Dalek stories may have painted the Thals as peacemakers, but here we see that they would seem to have been cut from the same cloth as the Daleks themselves; their actions in Genesis Of The Daleks casting them in a very different light indeed.

With the multiple threads weaving throughout the plot of its six episodes, Genesis Of The Daleks could easily have swamped Tom Baker’s fledgling presence beneath the sheer weight of its epic narrative. Right from the fog-bound opening with his fellow Time Lord, Tom Baker’s indomitable persona is already beginning to make it’s presence felt: with Baker’s trademark thundering inflections; passionate speeches, pockets filled with useless clutter, and manic surges of action all clearly defined here, giving us a tantalizing glimpse of the bohemian eccentric that the fourth Doctor would soon become.

His mission for the Time Lords may seem to have the Doctor working more independently than usual, yet his first priority is always the safety of his companions. Even though he skilfully manages to play the political game of cat and mouse – an unusual feat for this most anti-establishment of all the Doctor’s incarnations – with each of Skaro’s opposing factions, the Doctor doesn’t hesitate to attempt to rescue Sarah from the Thal dome or help Harry escape the jaws of a giant clam, even though it may mean jeopardising their mission. Such selfless acts, though, are perceived by Davros as a weakness he can exploit. He lures the Doctor and his companions into a trap, where he demands that the Doctor disclose his secrets or he will be forced to witness Sarah and Harry subjected to agonising torture. Torn between his mission for the Time Lords and watching his friends suffer, the Doctor makes the only choice he can…

Following this dramatic cliff-hanger the Doctor divulges the reason for every future Dalek defeat to Davros, giving the Kaled scientist everything he needs to know to change the course of their destiny. With Sarah and Harry carried back to their cells, Davros decides to continue his deliberations with the Doctor – alone. Here we are treated to probably one of the most riveting confrontations ever filmed in Doctor Who; the celebrated ‘glass vial’ scene, where the Doctor offers a sinister point of conjecture to Davros by comparing the Daleks to a deadly virus that will kill any life-form exposed to it. For a moment, social and political analogies aside, you could almost forget you were watching a children’s programme. Michael Wisher and Tom Baker both deliver a totally captivating performance, creating one of Doctor Who’s rare moments of flawless brilliance where you can blissfully forget the programmes minor flaws and bask in the glory of the scenes grand sublimity.

Genesis Of The Daleks is also one of the unique instances where little seems to come of the Doctor’s actions; because he doesn’t actually achieve any real sense of victory. Long time viewers would by now be all too familiar with the fact that travelling with the Doctor can sometimes be fraught with risks; some that even the Doctor himself is powerless to prevent: The Massacre (1966), The Dalek Master Plan (1965-1966), Power Of The Daleks (1966), and Inferno (1970) have all placed the Doctor in impossible no-win scenarios, some of which have even cost the lives of his travelling companions.

In many ways we hold a highly idealized view of the Doctor’s adventures, so that when he does fail it hits home all the more because we know the reverence he holds for all forms of life. This passionate zeal makes any loss, however insignificant it may seem, almost impossible for him to bear. For all his extraordinary power and technology even the Doctor has his limits, there are some things that are beyond even his influence, and Genesis Of The Daleks serves to clarify this most frustratingly cruel aspect of time travel.

The first Doctor once stated in The Aztecs (1964): “But you can’t rewrite history! Not one line!” a case in point which often proves to be a bitter pill to swallow. In Genesis of the Daleks the 4^th Doctor is forced to comply with his own omniscient mandate. Just as in many of the early William Hartnell historical stories, the Doctor and his companions are simply swept along with the tide of events which occur in Genesis Of The Daleks; unable to make any real headway against the raging torrent of fate that is Skaro’s inevitable destiny.

With much of Genesis Of The Daleks centred around the Doctor and Davros it is perhaps inevitable that some characters are pushed to the sidelines, unfortunately one such person to suffer this fate is the newest member of the TARDIS crew – Harry Sullivan. It’s a great pity that the early potential Ian Marter displayed as Harry in the seasons second story – The Ark In Space – is almost completely overlooked by the frenetic pace of the plot; with little time really given to developing the character, which seems strange given Harry’s military background. It is painfully clear, even at this early stage, that the casting of the ardent Tom Baker has made the role of Harry Sullivan’s bumbling medical officer fundamentally obsolete.

Fortunately Sarah Jane Smith does not suffer the supernumerary fate that befalls poor Harry. In fact she positively blossoms in this story; recovering from the rapid dilution her spirited character suffered towards the end of Season Eleven, allowing Elizabeth Sladen to really shine in her role as companion.

True, Sarah does spend most of her time in Genesis Of The Daleks flailing from one peril to another, but it is because of the newfound camaraderie she now shares with the Doctor and Harry that makes her plight all the more genuine. This story shows Sarah like we have never really seen her before: hopelessly lost in the wastelands of Skaro, witnessing firsthand the horrific realities of war, and forced to overcome her own initial revulsion of Sevrin’s physical deformities if she is to stand any chance of surviving the nightmare she has suddenly been forced to live through.

Even when Sarah and Sevrin are captured by the Thals and forced to work on the highly radioactive rocket warhead, Sarah Jane refuses to accept her fate, bravely rallying her fellow prisoners to mount a bold escape attempt.

More than anything, though, it is Sarah’s blossoming relationship with the new Doctor that will go on to make their partnership one of the most endearing of all. With the Fourth Doctor prone to bemoaning his quintessential alien qualities to justify his behaviour, it often falls to Sarah’s stubborn reasoning to question the Doctor’s actions, tempering his infinite wisdom with her common sense and compassion. In spite of the moral carte blanche the Time Lords have bequeathed him, when the Doctor finally has the chance to destroy the Dalek Incubating Room, he turns to Sarah for help when he finds himself unable to make such a monumental decision. When the Doctor asks her: “Do I have the right?” she of course agrees that he does, but the Doctor is finally able to see the bigger picture. Comparing the opportunity to commit genesis against the Daleks to the foreknowledge of the child who would become Hitler, he asks her: “…could you then kill that child?”

You simply could not imagine the Third Doctor allowing one of his companions to question his judgment in such a direct fashion, Pertwee’s Doctor would have either just dismissed or belittled them into submission. It quickly becomes apparent that the Fourth Doctor is not afraid to learn from his companions, moreover trusting his own perspicacity to let them use their own individual strengths and acumen to help them achieve their full potential.

Any Dalek story is in itself a special event for Doctor Who, none more so than this one. Up until now there had only ever been thee distinct hierarchies controlling the fate of the Dalek race, the all powerful Emperor Dalek, the tyrannical Black Daleks, and the many countenances (Or should that be successors?) of the Supreme Dalek. Terry Nation changed everything we had so far discovered about Dalek hierarchy when he introduced a character who would go on to enjoy nearly as much popularity as the Daleks themselves, their creator Davros.

On his many travels the Doctor has faced countless horrors that lurk in the darkest regions of the universe, but in Davros he encounters a being with probably the blackest soul of all. Although Davros’ past is never explained in Genesis Of The Daleks, it is clear from his physical deformities that he was either a victim of a terrible accident, or a tragic mutation sired in the contaminated twilight of Skaro’s nuclear winter.

Whatever his origins, his crippled body belies his awesome intellect. In fact, the life support systems of his wheelchair are so sophisticated it would lead us to believe that Davros was no mere conscript to the Kaled war machine. Later we learn of a Kaled scientist who was implanted with an artificial heart manufactured by Davros, indicating that perhaps Davros began his career in medicine. His brilliant mind would have pushed forward with anything that would have helped the Kaled race survive the ravages of radioactive contamination, no matter what the cost – ethical or otherwise. This ruthless dedication would have brought Davros to the attention of the Kaled government, the potential his genius could offer the Kaled military would have seemed almost limitless.

Once recruited to the Kaled military Davros found a new ally to his cause, the ruthless Nyder. Both men share the same twisted aim to lead the people of Sakro towards their insidious design for a new, superior, breed of Kaled. The Dalek is much more than a means to exterminate the Thals; it is the pure embodiment of their faith in the Dalek as the ultimate expression of the Kaled’s racial superiority. Whatever the origin behind their sinister alliance it is obvious Davros has a great respect for Nyder, for without him Davros would probably have never achieved his eminent status – granting him unparallel political influence disguised under the banner of the feared agents of Nyder’s Elite.

Indeed they complement each other perfectly, and Peter Miles makes Nyder a truly loathsome character, but it is Michael Wisher’s chilling portrayal of Davros that really makes Genesis Of The Daleks so memorable. The fact that Michael Wisher’s features are totally obscured by the latex mask and his movements are severely restricted by the wheelchair; only able to make the smallest of gestures with one hand, it is all the more remarkable how Wisher manages to convey such an evil presence using only the power of his voice.

Just as Mary Shelley’s Dr Frankenstein is consumed by the ramifications of his heinous work, Davros is also driven to create life; sculpting the horrific Kaled mutations in his laboratory until their humanity is all but erased. Having imbued his monstrous creations with all the qualities he deems necessary for the purity of the Kaled race, all that remained was for Davros to build an armoured war machine in which to house his bubbling seeds of hate. The Dalek is the perfect synthesis of a dream gone mad, blood, flesh and metal dubiously crafted in it’s creators own image.

Davros is initially sceptical about the Doctor’s sudden arrival, quickly sensing there is more behind the Time Lords jovial façade, his every instinct strangely drawing Davros to the Doctor like a moth to flame. This is probably the first time Davros has ever encountered anyone with sufficient intellect to challenge him, and he seems to positively relish every chance he has to intellectually spar with the Doctor. As egos go, the Fourth Doctor’s takes some beating, but even this is almost eclipsed when Davros states that he believes the Doctor’s intellect may almost rival his own! For one so deformed it seems all the more ironic that it is Davros’ own vanity that provides the chink in his armour the Doctor needs to complete his mission.

Though Davros may be a dictator in waiting, even his influence is not without limits. When the Doctor convinces the Kaled government to suspend the Dalek production line, until the full nature of Davros’ experiments can be evaluated, Davros has little choice but to comply with his superiors wishes. Unable to except defeat, Davros sets about a new course of action which will see him forge an alliance with the Thals, one that will effectively sign the death warrant for his own people. It could be argued that it is at this point that the Doctor fails in his mission, as his interference causes Davros to instigate a new course of action that will ultimately assure the Daleks ascension to power. Instead it is this precise moment, pushed by the apparent betrayal of his own people that Davros’ pride in his ghoulish scheme causes his sanity to topple into the bottomless abyss of megalomania.

With their mass extermination of the Thals complete, the Daleks return to the bunker beneath the ruins of the Kaled city. As soon as they are inside the Daleks assume complete control of the facility, initiating the complete automation of the Dalek production line and shepherding all personnel into Davros’ laboratory. Though Davros tries to reason with his creations, he is powerless to stop the Daleks exterminating his entire staff. Too late, Davros realises that by creating the Daleks in his own image, as well as imbuing their very DNA with his own twisted morality, he has also inadvertently made himself surplus to requirements. Unable to reason with the Daleks, Davros makes one last desperate bid to reach the controls of the production line, but his crippled body is too slow and the Daleks exterminate him. After sacrificing his own world to the flames of Armageddon just to insure his egotistical criterion ambitions, it seems ironic that, because of the providence of the Daleks; Davros ultimately suffers the same fate he dealt his own people by the very weapons of the creatures he had fought so hard to conceive.

With the Daleks entombed beneath the ruins of the Kaled dome the Doctor and his companions use the Time Ring to sail off through time to be reunited with the TARDIS. As they dematerialise and begin their journey, the Doctor concedes to Sarah and Harry that he may have failed in his mission to end the Dalek menace once and for all, but he hopes their intervention may have had some significant effect on future events when he solemnly states: “I know that although the Daleks will create havoc and destruction for millions of years. I know also, that out of their evil, must come something good.”

In fact, the Doctor’s simplest wish is really the victory that the Time Lords were secretly hoping for all along. The members of the High Counsel would have instinctively known that the Doctor would be incapable of committing genocide against another sentient race – even one as evil as the Daleks – but they could be assured that the Doctor’s meddling at such a significant period in Skaro’s history would guarantee a major divergence to the Dalek time line – the survival of Davros.

If history had continued along its preordained path the Daleks would have been forced to become even more inventive and ruthless to escape the confines of their barren home world. Stripping Skaro of its natural resources to feed their military might, the Daleks would soon take to the stars and become one of the most feared forces of death and destruction throughout the universe. By the time of The Dalek Master Plan (1965) the Daleks have become so powerful they are on the verge of mastering control of time itself, the consequences of which – no doubt – would have proved the catalyst for the Time Lords intervention.

While the Doctor may feel he has failed his mission, the Time Lords have knowingly set in motion a chain of events that will effectively re-write Dalek history; resulting in far-reaching ramifications for the Daleks time line – simply because Davros survives. Either by fate or design, it seems that Davros’ chair holds his exterminated body in a state of suspended animation, perhaps employing some form of hitherto unknown nano-technology to regenerate his vital organs sufficiently enough to subsist until such a time when his body can be restored.

Whether this remarkable feat of engineering is just a contrivance from a writer desperate to recycle such a remarkable character, or a surreptitious arc planted by Nation to show Davros had simply been extra cautious considering he now has considerable knowledge of the Dalek time line – along with their penchant for treachery – allowing him the prescience to develop such contingency measures should his creations betray him, is difficult to evaluate.

Though the circumstances behind Davros’ miraculous resurrection provides a point for endless conjecture, yet survive he does, so when the Daleks return to Skaro to find their creator in Destiny Of The Daleks (1979) to enlist his help in their war with the Movellan’s his life-support systems revive Davros as the Daleks approach. The centuries spent in suspended animation have done little to dilute Davros’ thirst for power; his desire for universal domination now forever entwined with his creations; a destiny he envisions with himself as their absolute ruler. It is therefore not the Doctor’s interference that will forever condemn the Daleks to the ignominy of defeat, but rather Davros’ insane ambition which will become the oblique onus the Dalek race will be forced to bear.

Genesis Of The Daleks is a true Doctor Who classic. It is also one of those rare instances where hardly any padding is evident to bolster the plot, a common fault in most six part Doctor Who stories. This, aided by extremely high production values, allows David Maloney’s understated direction to captivate the viewer with the nightmarish scenario that the Doctor and his companions have found themselves in. Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen are in the early stages of creating what will probably become the most fondly remembered TARDIS crew of all time, while the Daleks make a triumphant return to ruthless form. If there is one fault to be found with the script, it has to be the constants use of that old Terry Nation plot contrivance; the loss of the vital component needed ensure the time travellers escape in the TARDIS – the ubiquitous Time Ring.

Some might say that Davros should never have been resurrected after Genesis Of The Daleks, as the character was gradually diluted with each successive appearance, until the Daleks creator was reduced to little more than a raving madman. There is some degree of truth to this, as many of the Dalek stories during the 80’s often tied themselves up in knots simply to accommodate the Daleks creator – although arguably Resurrection of the Daleks (1984), Revelation of the Daleks (1985), and Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) form a trilogy of superficially entertaining stories that allows Davros the chance to evolve like no other villain in Dr Who‘s history.

Big Finish audios have gone so far as to build on Davros’ immense popularity by delving into the mysteries of the characters origins in the superb audio play – Davros (2004). Here we learn some of the events which led to Davros being crippled during the Kaled/Thal war, and his subsequent descent into maniacal fanaticism. Davros has featured in many more Big Finish audio adventures, and still remains a popular reoccurring adversary for the range.

When the Daleks returned in Russell T Davies new series of Doctor Who in 2005 they were more popular than ever, but it would take the Cult of Skaro’s failed experiments to genetically manipulate their ailing species in Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks (2007) before circumstances would ultimately lead to the return of their creator, Davros, in The Stolen Earth/Journeys End (20008). Julian Bleach played Davros for his triumphant return to the new series. In some ways he is as much a refugee from the Time War as the lone Dalek in Van Statten’s Vault, but Davros is no fool, and there is no way he would ever remain subservient to  the Supreme Dalek’s will for long. Although Davros and his Daleks are defeated in this story, the characters penchant for survival does however pose us with the tantalizing question of just how long will we have to wait for a certain Kaled scientist to return? Davros is now inexorably linked with his creations, indeed the Daleks return for the season premier of Doctor Who’s Seventh Season in Asylum of the Daleks was a spectacular episode. We got to see the stunning Dalek Parliament, a new caste of the Dalek hierarchy in the form of the Dalek Prime Minister, some classic Daleks appeared in the dank chambers of the Asylum, and even the surprise debut of new companion Jenna Louise Coleman – who has been transformed into a Dalek! Although the episode was incredibly exciting, offering a wealth of possibilities for the Doctor‘s future companion, as well was the all too brief glimpse of the Special Weapons Dalek, Steven Moffat has finally engineered the return of Davros (Julian Bleach) to do battle with the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi) in 2015’s The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar – the two-part opener of Series 9. The Daleks have ensured that Doctor Who has never been far from the public’s imagination, they were instrumental in helping the new show achieve the many awards and accolades that it so rightly deserves after being abandoned in the wilderness of cancellation for so long. Indeed, with the Daleks return in the 50^th Anniversary episode: The Day of the Doctor, the circle is now complete.

When Davros glided from the shadows to test his Mark Three Travel Machine on that fateful Saturday teatime in 1975 and changed the course of history with just a flick of a switch as Sarah Jane watched on in horror, the legacy of that moment redefined Dr Who for generations to come. There can be no doubt that Genesis Of The Daleks rightly deserves it’s “Classic” status as one of the all time greats of Doctor Who, and I still believe the reason for this stories enduring success lies squarely with Michael Wisher’s superb performance as Davros. When all is said and done, Genesis Of The Daleks is really Davros’ story, and for that reason alone we owe it a huge debt of thanks. So it is probably fitting that because of Terry Nation’s extraordinary revision of Dalek continuity, Davros has gone on to become one of the greatest adversaries the Doctor has ever known.