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SF HOME | DOCTOR
WHO HOME | BIG FINISH AUDIOS
| 8TH DOCTOR NOVELS | EPISODES
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The late John Nathan-Turner often talked about how the "memory cheats", and that phrase certainly applies to his recollections of season 21's Resurrection of the Daleks. Nathan-Turner - in his last interview before his death - claims that the production team turned to the Daleks every season, when Resurrection was the first time they'd had a story to themselves in over four years. And although they faced off against all three of the 1980s Doctors, they were actually used far more sparingly than during the Hartnell or Pertwee eras. It's a shame that the 1980s production teams couldn't have been that restrained about the use of old monsters in general... To be honest, Resurrection of the Daleks is one of those stories that I've never really rated, although watching this time around I found there was more to enjoy that I'd expected. Perhaps it benefitted from my conscious decision to watch it one episode at a time rather than in one go. However, the story is still deeply flawed, and it certainly follows the eighties Who trend of being a series of set pieces linked together rather than a coherent story. Stien's behaviour when he's alone is a prime example - why does he still act like he's one of the rebels? Although I feel that Davros ultimately began a bit of a liability for Dalek stories, at least he's on better form here than in the decidedly average Destiny of the Daleks, although where he gets that convenient injection device from is a complete mystery. Even so, I'd still have preferred that Michael Wisher's definitive portrayal from Genesis had been the character's only outing. As the booklet notes, his creations are also better when they're scheming - as they are here - rather than simply being megalomaniac ranters. The story's best remembered guest character is Lytton, excellently portrayed by the late Maurice Colbourne. Shame about his troopers' silly helmets though (although Lytton's use of the stalk as a handle to remove his is hilarious)... Even for this period in the show's history, the story is packed with deaths. Writer Eric Saward has always said that the show shouldn't shy away from the effects of violence, but in one of the extras even he admits that the body count is too high. However, in one or two cases, I did find myself cheering when someone bit the dust - Chloe Ashcroft's character is so useless that I wasn't remotely disappointed when she got killed off. Having skipped some of the Who DVDs so far, this was my first experience of a Peter Davison story in the format. He, Janet Fielding and director Matthew Robinson provide a commentary to all four episodes, which is pretty good as far as these things go. They appear to have had some instructions halfway through the story as the second half is more serious than the first, although they it's still fairly lighthearted, mixing piss-taking of Mark Strickson's constant looking back at the camera in with more informative comments. Other audio options are a choice between the original mono, a new 5.1 mix or Malcolm Clarke's score. Other extras include newly-recorded interviews with Nathan-Turner, Robinson and Saward, a couple of features from Breakfast Time, deleted/extended scenes (mostly time-coded) and the BBC1 trailer for part one. There are also the usual production subtitles, photo gallery and the pointless TARDIS-cam. Resurrection of the Daleks was slightly better than I'd expected, although watching it one episode at a time certainly helped. And, once again, the Restoration Team have put together an impressive package of extras that make this a worthwhile purchase for any Who fan. back to the top |
RESURRECTION OF THE
DALEKS |
