Revelation of the Daleks (TV story)

"If you ever loved me, Natasha, kill me. Kill me!"

- Arthur Stengos

Revelation of the Daleks was the sixth and final story of Season 22 of Doctor Who. It was the last Doctor Who story to be produced in 45-minute episodes until Rose in 2005. It was also the last Doctor Who story to be produced using a mixture of video (for interior studio scenes) and film (for exterior locations). This story was nearly the final Doctor Who serial ever made; ultimately, the show was put on hiatus for the next 18 months instead.

Synopsis
The Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet Necros where, in a facility called Tranquil Repose where the wealthy can have their newly-deceased bodies cryogenically frozen until such time as medical science can cure whatever killed them. The Doctor wishes to pay his last respects to his friend Professor Arthur Stengos, but it turns out that this is just a ruse to lure him into a trap, and that the Great Healer masterminding Tranquil Repose is Davros, who is using the organic material in the cryogenic storage units to create a whole new army of Daleks with which to take control of the universe. The Doctor (Colin Baker) must foil Davros' evil plans to produce more Daleks.

Part 1
The TARDIS lands on Necros, the location of the funeral home and suspended animation centre Tranquil Repose. The Doctor and Peri have come to visit a deceased scientist acquaintance. On the way, the Doctor points out great numbers of flowers that are similar to the soybean in terms of food versatility. The Doctor is attacked by a mutant, and Peri is forced to kill him to save the Doctor. Before he dies, the mutant tells the Doctor that the Great Healer used him as a genetic experiment and his appearance and hostility were a direct result of the experiments.

At Tranquil Repose, a disc jockey plays songs and chats as a form of entertainment to those who are in suspended animation. He keeps the asleep aware of current events, but saves for moments of private reflection the fact that cures for some of the afflicted have been perfected decades ago.

A couple, Natasha and Grigory, have illegally entered Tranquil Repose, also looking for the man the Doctor is visiting — Arthur Stengos, Natasha's father. Upon finding his assigned suspended animation capsule, they discover it is empty. Shocked, they continue looking and head downward. They find a dark room filled with pulsating brains and other experiments. Grigory walks past a Glass Dalek casing with a mutating red creature inside it. It opens its eye, and Grigory comments on how gruesome the thing is. When Natasha looks at it, the creature opens its mouth and starts saying "Na.. tasha? Natasha?". Natasha is shocked as she realises it is the head of her father, and he is being metamorphosised into a Dalek.

Kara, who owns a company which distributes food throughout the galaxy (though one of many), is a pawn of the Great Healer, who is in actuality Davros (now apparently reduced to a disembodied head in a tank as a result of being infected by the Movellan virus). He takes virtually all the money she makes. To dissolve this arrangement, she has hired the mercenary Orcini and his squire, Bostock. She provides a transmitter to Orcini which has a five-button passcode. This must be entered when Orcini enters Davros's headquarters. Orcini accepts the contract solely for the honour of killing Davros. With Davros eliminated, she believes she will have the power and the capital necessary to control the galaxy.

Arthur Stengos, who is now just a head with red flesh growing over him, explains to Natasha and Grigory what's going on. He tells them that the brains of everybody in Tranquil Repose are being used to metamorphosise into new Dalek mutants. He says that his mind has been conditioned to serve 'The Great Healer', but he can't remember who 'The Great Healer' actually is. As a last request, he orders his daughter to kill him before he fully mutates. While hesitating, Grigory pulls up his own gun willing to do it, but Natasha stops him and shoots her father herself. The two are then captured, thrown in a cell, and questioned by Takis and Lilt, who try rum on Grigory as a truth serum.

As they are about to enter the Tranquil Repose, the Doctor and Peri find a giant statue of the Doctor, which suddenly collapses on him.

Part 2
The statue was not made of stone, so the Doctor isn't harmed. He believes somebody erected it to get his attention. Inside the Tranquil Repose, he and Peri are greeted by Tasambeker. Intrigued by the DJ's recordings, Peri wants to meet him and the Doctor urges her to do so, despite having Jobel as a companion. The Doctor wants to see the person who erected the statue dedicated to his passing and the Doctor suspects trouble.

Orcini destroys a Dalek and Davros is notified. He is convinced Kara has sent assassins, so he deploys some Daleks to bring her to him. They arrive, kill her secretary, and take her back.

Peri departs, and the Daleks capture the Doctor. He is thrown into a cell with the Natasha and Grigory who are soon rescued by Orcini as scapegoats. Orcini penetrates Davros's lair, and he and Bostock empty their guns into Davros' life-support system. Davros appears to be killed by the ensuing explosion, but Orcini realises that the kill was too easy. Sure enough, the real Davros - who in fact survived the virus unscathed - appears with a group of Daleks. Orcini and Bostock try to shoot their way out, but the two are quickly subdued, with one of Orcini's legs being blown off in the process. Kara is brought in and he betrays her motives to Davros. Shocked, Kara states that they are both dead. Orcini responds "You before me," and kills her for her betrayal — the "transmitter" was actually a bomb.

Natasha and Grigory infiltrate the incubator room yet again, and plan to destroy the brains that are scheduled for metamorphosis. When Natasha tries to fire her gun, it dies due to lack of power. Grigory reckons there's a self-destruct switch on the brain incubator console. He presses some buttons, but stops as Natasha spots a glass Dalek incubator materialise, and she cries "There's another Dalek!"

The Doctor, via communicator, warns Peri to get back to the TARDIS and hail the President's ship which is on en route carrying the body of the deceased First Lady. The DJ persuades Peri to use his equipment. Overhearing the transmission, Davros orders the DJ killed and Peri captured. The DJ produces a sonar weapon which blows up two Daleks as they enter his room, but is killed when a third Dalek enters. Peri is captured. The Doctor overhears the events via broadcast audio and rushes to save her but is caught by two Daleks en route. Both meet back in Davros' laboratory where he reveals that he has a new army of Daleks, hidden in catacombs somewhere underneath his laboratory.

Natasha and Grigory plan to escape the incubator room before the Dalek fully grows. They make their way to the door, but Natasha turns around and notices that the glass Dalek has disappeared. The two look up to spot a Dalek machine hovering high above the ground towards them. The two try to open the door, but the flying Dalek exterminates them before self destructing.

Daleks not loyal to Davros arrive from Skaro, called by Takis, who now realise what has been going on. The Skaro Daleks demand to be taken to Davros. Takis leads the way, and shortly some of the Imperial Daleks appear and the two factions engage in battle. The Renegade Daleks win and progress toward Davros.

Davros is shocked when the Renegade Daleks enter the room and tries to persuade them that it is the Doctor who should be captured. However, the Renegade Daleks do not recognise the Doctor due to his regeneration. They take Davros back to Skaro to be executed for crimes committed against the Daleks.

Orcini wants to explode the bomb before Davros's ship leaves - he hesitates and allows all to leave only because of the Doctor. The Doctor wants to create a timer, but Orcini claims there is no time. They all rush out and Orcini blows the bomb after hugging the body of Bostock, who was exterminated by a Dalek a few minutes ago. The Doctor states that Orcini did die for something very honourable: the destruction of Davros's new generation of Daleks.

Peri wants a vacation, so the Doctor agrees: "All right, I'll take you to--"

Cast

 * The Doctor — Colin Baker
 * Peri Brown — Nicola Bryant
 * Davros — Terry Molloy
 * Kara — Eleanor Bron
 * Vogel — Hugh Walters
 * Jobel — Clive Swift
 * Tasambeker — Jenny Tomasin
 * Takis — Trevor Cooper
 * Lilt — Colin Spaull
 * DJ — Alexei Sayle
 * Orcini — William Gaunt
 * Bostock — John Ogwen
 * Grigory — Stephen Flynn
 * Natasha — Bridget Lynch-Blosse
 * Head of Arthur Stengos — Alec Linstead
 * Computer Voice — Penelope Lee
 * Daleks — John Scott Martin, Cy Town, Tony Starr, Toby Byrne
 * Dalek Voices — Royce Mills, Roy Skelton
 * Mutant — Ken Barker

Production Crew

 * Writer - Eric Saward
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Jo O'Leary
 * Costumes - Pat Godfrey
 * Designer - Alan Spalding
 * Film Cameraman - John Walker
 * Film Editor - Ray Wingrove
 * Incidental Music - Roger Limb
 * Make-Up - Dorka Nieradzik
 * Production Assistant - Elizabeth Sherry
 * Production Associate - Angela Smith
 * Script Editor - Eric Saward
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Don Babbage
 * Studio Sound - Andy Stacey
 * Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - John Brace
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Director - Graeme Harper

Daleks

 * Bastic bullets can destroy Daleks.

Davros

 * Davros' Daleks recognise the Doctor, but those of the Supreme Dalek do not.
 * Davros and his Daleks can hover.
 * Humans are aware of Davros and know what he (mostly) looks like, despite this he is able to construct a robotic head of himself that the humans do not think is he.
 * Davros knows about regeneration, and already has ambitions to be Emperor.
 * Davros can now fire electric bolts from his hand.
 * Davros' blood is green. He came straight to Necros from his escape pod (having escaped the effects of the Movellan virus), having got a lift from a carrier.
 * The galaxy is free of famine, thanks in part to the 'Great Healer' (Davros).

Individuals

 * Arthur Stengos, the agronomist, was an old friend of the Doctor's.
 * The galaxy is ruled by a male President called Vargos.

Story Notes

 * This story had a working title of The End of the Road.
 * A transparent Dalek (frequently known as a Glass Dalek) appears for the first time - an idea devised by the series' original story editor, David Whitaker, for his 1964 novelisation of the creatures' debut story.
 * This is the first time Davros and his Daleks are seen on screen to hover above the ground (however Remembrance of the Daleks would be the first to show a Dalek hovering up stairs).
 * The story was supposed to end with the Doctor saying "Blackpool" to Peri, however this was cut prior to transmission (as a result it ends with the Doctor saying the letter 'B'. This was to have lead into the story The Nightmare Fair, production of which was cancelled due to the hiatus, though it was later adapted as a novel by Target Books; the adventure would have featured the return of the Celestial Toymaker, last seen in the 1960s.
 * This was the last Doctor Who story to alternate between video and film, with film being used for exterior locations, a practice that had been in place since The Reign of Terror in 1964 and in many other British television productions, although it had been falling out of favour since the start of the 1980s. Discounting the 1996 telefilm, it wasn't until Rose in 2005 that a film-like look was once again applied to Doctor Who, although in fact the series is recorded on standard-definition video and then "filmized". Therefore Revelation of the Daleks remains the last standard television story to use true film.
 * The Doctor explains to Peri that if he took her to Earth after she had died, it would be possible for her to see her own gravestone. In Silver Nemesis, Lady Peinforte shows her servant, Richard, his grave.
 * Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant appear entirely on film in Part 1 and have no interaction with the actors portrayed in the video segments.
 * This was the final serial to use Peter Howell's arrangement of the "Doctor Who Theme" that had been introduced in 1980.
 * Following the broadcast of this serial, the BBC decided to postpone the broadcast of the next season of Doctor Who. Although frequently called an "18-month hiatus", the broadcast of the next episode of Doctor Who was only delayed by about 9 months. It actually marked a return to an autumn premiere, as had been the standard during most seasons of the Hartnell, Troughton and earlier Baker eras. While this was technically the longest break between seasons of the 1963 version of the show, it was not entirely without precedent. Throughout the show's broadcast history, the BBC changed the part of the year in which the show was broadcast, meaning that there was no "standard" gap between seasons. Viewers then used to a gap of only about three months between seasons were forced to endure a six-month gap between Seasons 6 and 7. A gap of six months then became the de facto standard of the Pertwee/Baker eras. However, the exact inverse of what happened between Seasons 22 and 23 occurred between Seasons 12 and 13. Then, the BBC moved the broadcast of Doctor Who up by a quarter, collapsing the gap between the two seasons to just three months in its desire to return the show to the autumn schedule. Things changed substantially immediately upon Baker's departure. Viewers had to wait nine months between his final story and Peter Davison's first. The new twice-weekly broadcast schedule reduced the total time for a broadcast season to just three months. Nine-month gaps then became the standard for the rest of the original series' run. Viewed in this light, an 18-month gap was thus the equivalent to the 9-month gap that had occurred between Seasons 18 and 19.
 * The synthesis of food protein from those Tranquil Repose clients Davros considers unworthy of becoming Daleks is highly reminiscent of "Soylent Green".
 * Eric Saward confirms fan speculation that the Evelyn Waugh novel, "The Loved One," was his main inspiration for this story in the 2005 DVD commentary, with several characters in Tranquil Repose based directly upon names from Waugh's novel.
 * When this story was broadcast in the United Sates, Australia and New Zealand it was as four 25-minute episodes.
 * Peri first appears in episode 1 eating something as she exits the TARDIS, and when she makes a remark about her outfit being too tight, the Doctor makes the untactful remark that she eats too much. If this was ever intended to be an ongoing issue with Peri, it was not mentioned again after this story.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 7.4 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 7.7 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations

 * Bolinge Hill Farm, Buriton, Petersfield, Hampshire (Location of the TARDIS's arrival)
 * Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Gravel Hill, Horndean, Hampshire
 * Park Lane, Halnaker, West Sussex
 * Butser Hill, Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Horndean, Hampshire
 * IBM North Harbour Building, Portsmouth, Hampshire
 * Tangmere Aerodrome, Tangmere, West Sussex
 * BBC Television Centre (TC1 & TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot holes and Errors

 * Davros and his Daleks recognised the Doctor. When the Renegade Daleks come to take Davros, he tells them to take the Doctor instead, but the Doctor's image does not compute with their known appearance of the Doctor. Renegade Daleks and Imperial Daleks possibly don't share the same knowledge or Renegade Daleks simply didn't believe Davros. "Many fans see Davros' Daleks in this episode as Necros Daleks as it was before the Dalek Civil War [War Of The Daleks by John Peel] but also Davros mentions in the episode that he himself planned for the Doctor to come so he must of known of his appearance, were the Renegade Daleks did not.." The Big Finish Productions Audio Drama Davros provides an explanation for Davros' recognition of the Doctor, and since Davros recongnises the Doctor then the Necros Daleks, created after the audio, were probably programmed to recognise him too.
 * Why doesn't Bostock die the first time he is exterminated? A Dalek's gun can paralyze, too.
 * How exactly does the fake head of Davros work, and what's the point of it? Probably to fool people (especially assassins) into thinking he was crippled and weak, an easy target.
 * Why do the Renegade Daleks bother to take Davros back to Skaro to 'stand trial' instead of simply exterminating him on the spot? Since when have Daleks observed Due Process? They intend to make a spectacle of him to the whole of the Dalek race for propaganda purposes, or else Davros is in possession of certain useful information they wish to extract. Alternately, perhaps these are the same strain of more progressive Daleks who would later try and (apparently) execute the Master for his crimes (see Doctor Who).
 * Would the Renegade Daleks really take the risk of leaving a man who might be the Doctor, their greatest enemy, alive simply because his physical appearance doesn't match their records of him, especially when they know full well this is perfectly mutable? Being only a small incursion force, they have a limited supply of time/ammunition, or else, being so unimaginative, are constrained merely to adhere to the mission directive of capturing Davros they were dispatched with.
 * When the Renegade Daleks encounter Davros, why does the Imperial Dalek run off? There are several reasons why it might have done this, one is, perhaps one of the Renegades telepathically ordered it do, and with his leader captured, the Imperial decided to do it, or perhaps it decided to escape while it can, where it went is a mystery though... 

Continuity

 * It is never explained how Davros survived the Movellan virus which he contracted at the end of Resurrection of the Daleks. Although Davros says that he managed to escape the Dalek ship via an escape pod, no mention is made of his condition. The Big Finish Productions audio adventure Davros portrays another encounter between the Sixth Doctor and Davros set between Resurrection and Revelation, which goes some way to explain the inconsistencies between the two serials. In particular, the Doctor insists in Revelation that this is their first meeting since Resurrection.
 * Davros next appears (within his own continuity) in BFA: The Juggernauts, however he next appears on screen in Remembrance of the Daleks.
 * In NA: Lucifer Rising the origins of the Grand Order of Oberon are explored further.
 * DW: Bad Wolf also features a similar concept as this story; Daleks made of human corpses.
 * In DW: The Parting of the Ways bastic bullets are used to repel the Daleks, they are moderately effective (though not as effective as seen in this story).
 * The Doctor's last line was meant to lead into the next story TME: The Nightmare Fair.
 * In this story Davros' hand is shot off by Bostok. In DWM: Emperor of the Daleks/"...Up Above the Gods..." he is seen with a robotic claw replacing his lost hand. In DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End this has been replaced with a more hand-like robotic version.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after ST: Turnabout is Fair Play
 * This story occurs before ST: Gold and Black Ooze

DVD and Video Releases
DVD Releases



Released as Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks.

Released:
 * Region 2 11th July 2005


 * PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1357


 * Region 4 1st September 2005
 * Region 1 6th June 2006


 * NTSC- Warner Video E2504

Contents:
 * Commentary by Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy, Eric Saward and Graeme Harper.
 * Revelation Exhumed - The cast and crew of Revelation of the Daleks look back on the making of the story in this specially-made documentary.
 * CGI Effects - The option to watch this story with some of the original effects replaced with new CGI versions.
 * In Studio - A 15-minute look behind the scenes showing re-takes, fluffs and the working pattern of a BBC studio.
 * Deleted Scenes - Three short scenes excised from the finished story.
 * Optional Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Mix - A new sound mix created especially for this DVD.
 * Music-only Option - Listen to Roger Limb's music score on an isolated soundtrack.
 * Continuity Announcements
 * Photo Gallery
 * Production Subtitles

Notes:
 * This DVD is also available in Region 2 in a box set collection of Dalek stories. The set is exclusive to Amazon UK. The set was released on 27th January 2007.
 * The DVD was re-released with a special "O-ring" slipcover on 2nd July 2007.
 * It is also being released as part of the limited-edition Davros box set with Genesis of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks on 26th November 2007.
 * Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

Novelisation

 * This story was never novelised by Target Books due to unsuccessful negotiations with the story's author Eric Saward.
 * However the NZDWFC / TSV have novelised this story and is available to read / download from their website Revelation of the Daleks By Jon Preddle.