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Still searching for Suz, Alby and Pellan have to take on the
Daleks on the storm planet of Guria. Meanwhile, Kalendorf
is concerned that Suz is becoming little more than a collaborator.
Suz is worried too...
In
order to keep the Daleks dramatically interesting it is necessary,
and always something of a challenge, to find different things
for them to do in each story. Writer/director Nicholas Briggs
has succeeded in doing just that. In the previous instalment
of this four-part series, we were surprised to hear the Daleks
showing leniency towards their slaves, although their motive
was to improve the workers' efficiency - and the metal meanies
also have some other sinister purpose in mind. This time,
we get to enjoy the creatures' awkwardness when they are forced
to obey the orders of a mere human, Suz (Sarah Mowat), who
has been granted special powers by the Dalek Emperor. In another
stirring scene, we hear a damaged Dalek being tortured by
human resistance fighters bent on revenge.
The
over-enthusiasm of these rebels prompts a powerful speech
delivered by Gareth Thomas, playing Kalendorf, about the right
time and the wrong time for such acts of defiance. It takes
you right back to the actor's Blake's 7 days, although
Kalendorf remains a significantly different character to that
goody-two-shoes Blake.
Briggs
throws in some romantic interest to counterpoint the more
grisly aspects of this tale of adversity, as Alby (Mark McDonnell)
reveals to his shipmate Pellan (John Wadmore) his true feelings
for Suz. That is not to say that we are placed anywhere close
to Titanic or Pearl Harbor territory in terms
of slushiness; nor do we have to wait until halfway through
the story before the action starts! What we are given
is some much-needed human interest in the midst of inhuman
cruelty, which in this episode includes the moving fates of
a planetary ruler (Adrian Lloyd-James) and his daughter (Georgina
Carter).
The
cowardly Pellan also comes into his own in this instalment,
when he is forced unwillingly to go into battle.
This
is a rousing drama that doesn't overlook the human factor.
Richard
McGinlay
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