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The Kaled city is now a ravaged ruin. Life for its people
has become one of fear, shielded from the hostile world outside
by a vast transparent dome. When the Thals undertake a desperate
mission to snatch Davros away from his laboratories, the Kaled
Supremo must send a crack squad over enemy lines to retrieve
his chief scientist. Led by the enthusiastic but morally bankrupt
Lieutenant Nyder, the rescue mission is a complete success.
But Davros has been changed by the experience. Where once
he stood for knowledge, he now espouses the total extermination
of the Thal people. To this end, the scientist will stop at
nothing and will sacrifice anybody to ensure that his legacy
lives on...
WARNING:
CONTAINS SPOILERS!
The
final disc in the I, Davros series brings us practically
bang up to date with the events of Genesis
of the Daleks. Interviewed on a bonus behind-the-scenes
disc presented free with this release, producer/director Gary
Russell confirms that this instalment takes place just a few
months before Genesis and, as such, this is the last
ever chapter of the miniseries.
It
is curious, then, that there is no concluding scene set in
the "present" with Davros (Terry Molloy) facing trial by the
Daleks. Perhaps Russell and script writer Scott Alan Woodard
are being cautious in terms of continuity, not wishing to
contradict existing accounts of Davros's rise to power as
the Emperor Dalek, such as the comic strip Emperor of the
Daleks, or stories yet to come.
There
is still a role for Nicholas Briggs, however, and a very significant
one at that. He plays a self-assured Thal agent called Baran.
In a delicious piece of dramatic and inter-textual irony,
Baran becomes the first ever Dalek. His vocaliser, a device
used to disguise his voice in order to trick Kaled security
systems, also comes in useful to the functionality of Davros's
creation - and so Baran ends up providing the Dalek voices
just as Briggs does in real life!
Another
highlight of this episode is the presence of the wonderful
Peter Miles reprising his role as Nyder, my second favourite
character from Genesis of the Daleks (after Davros
himself). Miles sounds just the same as he did before, almost
as though his lines had been lifted from deleted scenes recorded
back in 1975. Many of his actions are intercut with those
of the enemy agent Baran, providing a neat comparison between
two equally ruthless and efficient operatives from opposing
sides of the conflict.
Meanwhile,
John Stahl has modified his performance as the Supremo. The
Kaled leader now sounds markedly less confident and decisive
- ready to be usurped by Davros.
One minor criticism of Woodard's script is that Davros's rise
to power via the extermination of his doubters is rather repetitive
of his subsequent actions in Genesis. Another is that
the scientist is able to survive outside of his wheelchair's
life-support system for several hours, if not days, whereas
in Genesis he stated that he could not survive without
it for more than a few seconds. Perhaps Davros's experiences
in this story weaken him.
In all other respects, though, to the accusation of bringing
this miniseries to an engaging and satisfactory conclusion,
I, Davros 4 is guilty as charged.
Richard
McGinlay
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