BOOK OF LISTS: TOP FIVE DALEK STORIES - NUMBER THREE

Well, I said at the end of the last entry that I might cheat a bit more with this Countdown. You probably thought I was joking....

If you took the trouble to read my first entry in this List (here it is if you haven't: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/12/book-of-lists-top-five-dalek-stories.html), you'll see that I bothered to discuss what I believe didn't merit the title of "True Dalek Story". One type of adventure that I claimed I wouldn't include in my selection is when the Daleks form an alliance with another recurring villain and/or monster. Most of the time that this sort of thing happens, I find that the Daleks are kept too much on the back-burner in the plot. Even the most recent episode displays this. They still play a significant role in the whole tale (and it was wickedly cool to see Ace beat one up with a baseball bat and then destroy it with some Nitro 999!), but their presence isn't really strong enough to make it worth being considered for this Countdown. 

Before I even wrote a word for that first entry, I had mentally compiled what my list would be. For some reason, Fave Dalek Story #3 did not properly register in my brain as I wrote out the types of stories that I would disqualify. Only as I was about halfway through writing about Fave Dalek Story 4-A that it, suddenly, dawned upon me. 

"Hey Rob!" I said to myself,  "You do realize that the Master is also in the third Dalek Story on your list, right?!"

Oops. 

So it looks I won't be bending the rules just for Number Four...

HOOKED RIGHT FROM THE FIRST SCENE! 

So I remember all the leaks that were coming out about Series Nine. I especially loved hearing that most of the stories were going to be multi-parters. This would give the adventures a running time similar to what we were getting in Old Who. So the entire season was going to have a more classic vibe to it. 

I'd also heard that the first two-parter of the season would feature the Daleks. Which helped me to make some very important deductions during the pre-titles. Seeing a war zone with a strange mix of technologies could only mean one thing: we were watching the Thousand Year War on Skaro. I immediately had suspicions about the boy in handmine field, too, of course. But I wasn't entirely certain. 

I do love how that scene plays out. The timing is just perfect. Even a half-decent fan is going to be asking: "Is that Davros?!" We're held in suspense just long enough, though. Had it taken any longer for the boy to announce his name, we would have grown tired of the wait. Any sooner, and the pay-off wouldn't have been as good. 

The expression on Capaldi's face is prceless. It really does seem to say: "Crap! What am I gonna do with this kid?!" 

This just might be the best pre-titles the show has ever done. I certainly couldn't wait to dive into the story that was coming once the title sequence was over. So it did its job well! 

AN IMPORTANT POINT IN THIS LIST

Discussing that opening scene leads us to a very important point. I seem to be very stuck on the idea that a good Dalek Story must feature the Skarosian Tyrants adequately. We have to see enough of them and they have to be central to the plot. Quite often, though, when a Dalek adventure also has Davros in it, he tends to steal a lot of the attention. In the case of Genesis of the Daleks, he genuinely hogs the spotlight! So should I be disqualifying Davros Stories from this list, as well?

Clearly, I'm not. For several reasons. On the most superficial of levels, Davros resembles the Daleks enough that we can consider him one. He is a mobility-impaired Kaled Mutant that uses special technology to get around. In several stories, he even has a weapons system to help protect himself. As we get into some deeper comparisons, we see that he is a more articulate version of the Dalek Mentality. Because of their slow, monotonous voices, scriptwriters have resisted giving the Daleks too much dialogue. Which means they're not allowed larger speeches where they can really delve into some of the heavier aspects of their philosophy. Davros became the character the Daleks could speak through. He programmed them and, thus, believes in all the same things that they follow. Even Terry Nation explained that he made Davros to give the Daleks a sort of spokesperson who can express the things that were too complex for them to say. 

On a physical level, Davros resembles his creations quite a bit. And, mentally, he is definitely a Dalek. So the Daleks aren't trying to share focus with him. He is an important part of their culture. Which means, of course, that a good Davros Story is, quite often, a good Dalek Story, too. 

Which is fortunate. This won't be the only Dalek Tale on this list that will include their mad creator. 

THE NEW STUFF 

Steven Moffat once made a very important point about the Daleks (well, he probably made it more-than-once, but I've only seen it in one interview!). He said something to the nature of: "It doesn't make sense to bring the Daleks back unless the story reveals something new about them that we've never known before." Or words to that effect. Of course, he really should have said: "It makes sense to bring the Daleks back, at least, once a season because we have a contractual obligation with the Estate of Terry Nation!" But, somehow, that doesn't sound as wise. Even if it is honest! 

There are a few interesting things that we discover about the Daleks for the first time in this two-parter. One of them is that they have sewers. Or graveyards. Take your pick! 

As Clara and Missy explore the cave system under the City, we also learn a bit more about the lifespan of a Kaled Mutant. It does sound absolutely horrible that they are hardwired to never die but do still, eventually, degenerate to the point of turning into mush. It almost makes us feel ever-so-slightly sorry for them. That is a pretty awful life that they live. Sure, they're xenophobic jerks trundling around in a tank for quite a bit of their existence. But to eventually end up as goo on a wall is just a bit sad. 

Of course, this fact becomes a wonderful plot convenience. Twice over. First, it helps Missy to hi-jack a Dalek casing and throw Clara into it. Thus enabling them to move about the Dalek City freely as prisoner and escort. But it also resolves the entire central conflict of the plot. And leads us to one of my all-time favorite quotes ever: 

"Supreme Dalek, your sewers are revolting!" 

You don't get too many opportunities to make a pun that beautifully awful. So glad the Doctor took it! 

MORE NEW STUFF

The other new and interesting thing we learn about the Daleks occurs when Missy gets Clara to climb into the casing and actually patches her mind into the circuitry. We'd seen other people do this before - but not quite in this way. Watching Missy demonstrate to Clara how what she says gets altered to Dalek vocabulary just might be one of these most fascinating things that's been done with a Dalek. It almost doesn't really matter what that poor Kaled Mutant wants, the equipment it's attached to makes the choices for them. It was a very cool scene that allowed us to understand these horrible monsters all-the-better. 

The restrictions imposed upon someone wired into a Dalek casing become a legitimate Horror Factor as we watch Clara begging the Doctor to see that it's her trapped inside. We really do feel her helplessness as she shouts who she is but "I AM A DALEK!" is all that comes out. It definitely gave us some of that creepiness that is required in any good Dalek Tale. And it did it in a very original way. 

The idea that the actual casing seems to be, at least, partially-powered by the occupant's anger and hatred also added an interesting new dimension to these creatures. There was a lot of great introspection, here. And it didn't require Davros to explain it. This time, he didn't need to be their spokesman. 

DAVROS STUFF

While on the topic of Davros, we should probably delve into the treatment his character got in this adventure. This is, without a doubt, his best story. Never has he been given so many layers. In fact, I'd say he's come a long way from the man who once delivered a huge, over-excited monologue about a hypothetical virus! 

Most impressive is how several minutes of the story are spent with Davros and the Doctor having a bit of a heart(s)-to-heart talk. I love when sci-fi is capable of doing something like this. So often, the genre depends upon action to keep its audience engaged. The production team is sure we need laser fights or spaceship battles every couple of minutes or we'll get bored. It's great when they take a chance like this and just allow two characters with a long history between them to sit down and talk. This season would do this sort of thing again near the end of the Zygon story, of course. And that moment would be quite magnificent, too. But it happens here, first. And it's quite stunning. Especially when Davros actually opens his real eyes. 

It is almost a bit of a relief to see that Davros isn't such a sympathetic character, after all. That the whole thing was just an elaborate trap to leach off of the Doctor's regeneration energy. Davros really is just the cruel bastard we've always known him to be. Still obsessed with improving upon his creation in any way he can so that their quest to control the Universe can, ultimately, succeed. But it was fun to believe, for just a few minutes, that the guy might actually have a softer side. 

THE END 

Magician's Apprentice/Witch's Familiar is a wonderfully-compelling adventure all the way through. Really, this story doesn't stop for a moment to let you rest. Even when the Doctor and Davros have their nice chat, we're still on the edge of our seats the whole time. It's been teased that Davros is up to something with Colony Sarf, so we feel a whole bunch of tension as the Time Lord and Skarosian Mad Scientist enjoy their conversation. This tale really does have a great atmosphere the whole way through. 

But the ending of Apprentice/Familiar is what truly propels it to a status that merits making it onto this list. The twists, here, are wonderful. Davros manipulates the Doctor into helping him. Which enables his most sinister of plans to reach fruition. But the Doctor knew all along what the Dalek Creator was up to and had his own counter-measures in place. It's great stuff. 

And, as mentioned already, it leads to one of the most gloriously terrible puns, ever. The "completely armless" pun in Rose and "no arm in trying" joke from Revelation of the Daleks are still tied for First Place in the Worst Puns in Doctor Who Hall of Fame (perhaps this could make a good COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS Entry, someday!). But "sewers are revolting" comes in at a close Second! 

The conclusion to the tale feels a bit Seventh Doctorish (even the pun!). Which is always a wonderful thing. I love when the Doctor goes a bit pro-active and is more manipulative and deceitful than his enemies could ever hope to be. It's mainly a Seventh Doctor Trait, of course. But other Doctors can do it from time-to-time!    

The other stuff that unfolds after the Doctor pulls the carpet out from under Davros is also really well-done. I've spoken, already, of how effective the scene with Clara stuck in the Dalek is..But finally rounding out the whole plot thread with Young Davros was also quite moving. The Cliffhanger for Magician's Apprentice leaves us thinking that he's actually going to kill him. Once more, we get another nice twist. And there's this wonderful insinuation that the Doctor will be responsible for that little bit of mercy that Davros will allow the Daleks to have.

It all wraps up quite beautifully. I really do enjoy the whole story, but the ending is truly awesome. 

Although, I do think I might be just a little too obsessed with that pun!  

FINAL VERDICT

While the Daleks do share the spotlight with Missy a bit, Apprentice/Familiar still feels more like a Dalek Story than anything else. And, to me, it's a very well-told one. Offering us interesting insights into the background of both Davros and the monsters he created. And it's got a few really well-executed twists at the end. It's everything you could want in an adventure involving a time-travelling hero and a race of tank-driving mutants that want to overthrow the Universe. 

It was especially nice to finally see a return to Skaro in the New Series. It was even better that Moffat bothered to address continuity that had been established in Remembrance of the Daleks by explaining that this was a sort of New Skaro (a popular fan theory for quite some time).  I was just a bit apprehensive that we were seeing old models of Daleks, again. They made sense in Asylum of the Daleks but, in this tale, it just seemed more like fan service. Although I did come up with a bit of headcanon that gets it all to make sense to me (I explain it all here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/11/chronologies-and-time-lines-history-of.html). 

Other than that, though, I can't find a lot problems with any of these two episodes. It seems, perhaps, a bit ludicrous to hide an entire planet. Like, maybe, it was being done more to create a great Reveal in the plot than for any practical reason. But that's about the only other gripe I can find. 

Otherwise, this is a very solidly-built story. I do still remember how a friend who doesn't normally watch Doctor Who decided to give Magician's Apprentice a try when it came out. He loved it and had to watch the second episode. He made an effort to continue with the season but it just wasn't doing as much for him as the Opener did. He didn't think the other stories were bad. They just didn't compare to what first lured him in. 

This, I think, speaks more greatly for this tale than anything. Someone who doesn't usually bother with the show fell totally in love with it for just two episodes. When a story has the power to do that, it must be pretty damned good. 

The rest of the Countdown:    

Five: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/12/book-of-lists-top-five-dalek-stories.html

Four-A:

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/12/book-of-lists-top-five-dalek-stories_11.html

Four-B:

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/12/book-of-lists-top-five-favorite-dalek.html