marq_evans@hotmail.com 2000-04-03
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
The problem with the Daleks is that in the hands of a sloppy writer they can prove to be disappointing villains. Alas, this is all too true of the first tape - "Planet of the Daleks", written by their creator, Terry Nation, who obviously had other projects on his mind at the time. This story is pretty much an amalgam of 'The Daleks" and "The Daleks' Masterplan", and the Daleks are here portrayed as being awkward, cranky and rather dim adversaries. Jon Pertwee (as the Doctor) obviously wasn't all that impressed either, judging by his bored performance throughout, and who can blame him with some of the hokey dialogue he's given in this adventure. Yes, there are some memorable set peices in this yarn (The Thals pushing the Daleks into the ice pools, the cold storage room holding the Dalek army), but the whole is never as good as the sum of its parts. John Nathan-Turner was fond of reminding fans that "the memory cheats" and here he was right. The same cannot be said for "Revelation of the Daleks", surely one of the best "Doctor Who" tales ever made. Writer Eric Saward keeps the Daleks pretty much in the background, choosing instead to focus his attention on Davros (Terry Molloy) and a plethora of fascinating minor characters played by well-known British television stars. Standouts here are Eleanor Bron, deliciously underplaying the character of Madame Kara, and Alexei Sayle as the manic DJ. Colin Baker's Doctor is a little abrasive, but still finely drawn, and Nicola Bryant gets her teeth into some great lines as Peri. The various subplots and characters make this a difficult story to catch hold of on the first viewing, but a second and third look will reveal all, and well worth the return visits it is too! I don't think that black humour has ever been used so effectively in a "Doctor Who" story. If the latter video had been released on its own, it would have scored five stars, and the former no more than two, so it's only fair to give the boxed set an average of three stars. However, the set is still certainly well worth buying, because "Revelation of the Daleks" is one of the all-time classics of the series.