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Title:
Doctor Who: Revelation Of The Daleks: The Colin Baker Years 1984 - 1986
Region:
One
Genre:
Sci-Fi TV Series
Stars:
Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant
Writer:
Eric Saward
Director:
Graeme Harper
Feature
length: 89 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary, Text Commentary, Making Of Documentary, Behind-The-Scenes
Footage, Deleted Scenes, Continuity Announcements, Photo Gallery, Isolated Music
Track
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 6 Per Episode/12 Total
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2006
Home
Video Distributor: BBC Video Through Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
After
reviewing a classic episode of Doctor Who like “Genesis Of The Daleks”
it is sort of unfair to follow it up with what in my opinion was not that great
of an episode as it was since now it seems worse following Terry Nation’s
script. The plot for “Revelation Of The Daleks” has the Sixth Doctor (Colin
Baker) and his American companion Peri (Nicola Bryant), who he seems to bicker
with a bit, appearing on the planet Necros, home of Tranquil Repose, a funeral
home for the galaxy’s elite. The planet and surrounding system is enjoying
some prosperity brought on by the mysterious Great Healer, who has solved strife
due to famine and disease on other worlds and increased the profitable business
on Necros, but of course not everything is as they seem as demonstrated when the
Doctor is attacked by a mutant humanoid that dies shortly thereafter. There are
grave robbers about and the Great Healer is in fact Davros, the creator of the
Daleks, who in return for his anonymity and undisturbed medical experiments has
cured the nearby worlds of famine and health problems while discovering a way to
self replicate Daleks using human and near human DNA. So the sick who might have
sought cryogenic suspension over death in the hope for a cure as well as the
bodies of the galaxy’s wealthiest and most noteworthy citizens are being used
either as a food source to feed the unsuspecting citizens and genetic material
from the dead and terminally ill is being used to create a new race of Daleks
Davros can then control. He offers immortality, but the hideous transformation
into a Dalek gives one pause to wonder what Davros did to create the initial
Kaled mutant specimens on Skaro? I always thought it was something like gene
splicing or alteration through radiation exposure on a microscopic level, but it
appears whatever the procedure is; becoming a Dalek is too high a price for
immortality. Davros plans to create more Daleks by having his Daleks attack the
citizens of the unsuspecting worlds he has saved and then when is army is large
enough, he plans on conquering the very Dalek empire he helped to create before
setting out on a new quest of universal domination.
The
episode has elements to it that are interesting and even thought provoking since
there are several character agendas going on at once. Davros’ presence on
Necros is also a ploy to trap the Doctor. The administrators of Tranquil Repose,
who have been cooperating with Davros, are looking to have him assassinated
while covering up the “Soylent Green” like conspiracy that has been going
on. There are other groups working to stop Davros at the same time while others
are either too blind with their own work to notice the unrequited love around
them. Perhaps the most dangerous threat is that the Daleks from Skaro are on
their way to apprehend Davros to bring him on trial for crimes against the
empire and no doubt learn his secrets. They intend on reconditioning the new
Daleks to serve with the others on Skaro or like everything else that is of no
further use to or alien to them, exterminate the Davros Daleks that won’t
“obey.” The new Daleks have a slightly off-white or crčme colored
appearance to differentiate them from the traditional gray and black Dalek
soldier drones for the viewers as much as for the characters. The action gets
more interesting in the second part and there is a great visual joke involving
the Doctor and Davros. The Dalek reaction to the sight of the sixth Doctor is
also interesting since even a prototype Dalek from “Genesis Of The Daleks”
could identify he and his companions were genetically different from the Kaled
Elite back on Skaro.
In
the end the episode left me feeling like I saw the prelude of something bigger
to come, but annoyed me that I would have to wait to find out what it is. There
are two different versions of “Revelation Of The Daleks” on this DVD. Both
feature the option of a somewhat retrospective and somewhat screen specific
audio commentary track with Actors Nicola Bryant and Terry Molloy as well as
Writer Eric Saward and Director Graeme Harper. It is interesting to note that at
the time the episode was produced, the BBC budget for the series was still only
marginally higher than what the show had been produced for the last 20 years and
the slight increase was only to allow for cost of living. Otherwise there were
new and unproven series being produced with larger budgets while Doctor Who was
being produced with a budget that was not too much more from when the series was
first produced in the 1960s. Both versions also feature an anecdote filled text
commentary track as well as an isolated music track. English Subtitles for the
Deaf and Hearing Impaired are also encoded as an option along with the original
English Stereo Soundtrack and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix that
elevates the production value with a higher fidelity. Both versions are
presented in the original 4 by 3 television broadcast aspect ratio with a
digitally remastered picture quality that is surprisingly clear. The CGI
enhanced version is actually appropriately subtle. The colors seem a bit richer
perhaps as a result of the newly added effects or digital sweetening of the
video in general. Most of the CGI enhancements are improvements to Dalek and
other species laser blasts, a more pronounced effect for when a victim is killed
by a Dalek ray or when a Dalek is destroyed, holographic displays, and some
lengthening of the corridors and so forth to give the location are larger
appearance. Another notable difference is a kind of energy beam that appears
beneath Davros life support chair as well as beneath his Daleks that gives them
the illusion that they can hover and fly above ground. These are elements that
new series Writer/Producer Russell T. Davies incorporated into the Daleks and
one has to wonder if certain story points from the Ninth Doctor series finale
episode “The Parting Of Ways” were in fact based on information added to the
Dalek mythology with this episode. Surprisingly, the model effects do not seem
to have been changed using CGI unless the work was so good I could not tell the
difference. In order to view the version with the CGI effects enhancement you
must enable the option by visiting the extra features menu before playing the
episode.
There
is a new documentary entitled “Revelation Exhumed” (46:00) that focuses on
the production of the episode with new cast and crew video clips. The
documentary is supported by a reel of narrated behind-the-scenes video footage
from the production (15:36), a reel of three short deleted scenes (2:16), some
continuity TV spots (3:30), and a motion photo gallery (5:57). You know as I
conclude this DVD review I find myself actually liking the episode more than I
did when I started writing the review. Perhaps I’ve digested it all in a
different way or while it is not a strong episode in my opinion as I had hoped,
as a part of a larger tapestry, “Revelation Of The Daleks” makes Doctor
Who richer for it’s inclusion into the ongoing storylines.
Doctor Who: Revelation Of The Daleks:
The Colin Baker Years 1984 – 1986 is available
on Region One DVD – Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of BBC
Video.
©
Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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