Doctor Who-Revelation of the Daleks (1985)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary-Cast and crew Isolated Musical Score Informational Subtitles Featurette-Making Of-Revelation Exhumed Featurette-Behind The Scenes-In Studio, With Optional Commentary Alternative Version-With New CGI Effects Deleted Scenes Featurette-Continuity Announcements Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	1985
Running Time	155
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Graeme Harper
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Colin Baker Nicola Bryant Terry Molloy Clive Swift William Gaunt Eleanor Bron
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	Roger Limb Ron Grainer (theme music)

    By popular consensus, Revelation of the Daleks is regarded as one of the better examples of 1980s Doctor Who. Even fans who dislike Colin Baker as the sixth Doctor generally concede it is one of his better stories. As someone who quite enjoys Baker’s interpretation of the role, but feels he was often let down by inferior scripts, I regard Revelation of the Daleks as his finest hour – which is not to say it’s perfect. But for the most part it’s stylishly directed by Graeme Harper and the writing – by Eric Saward, the series’ script editor at the time – is superior to the rest of the sixth Doctor’s stories.

    There are two major flaws in the story – the first is that the Doctor is not only highly ineffectual, but in fact virtually irrelevant in terms of contributing to the plot progression. This is a serious mistake in that it removes the moral centre of the piece, vital to any ‘good versus evil’ story which is always at the heart of Doctor Who. Consequently, with this and other stories during the sixth Doctor’s era, we see an increasing tendency toward moral ambivalence, which left a bad taste in the mouths of most longtime fans and which seems to undermine the whole point of the program. What is Doctor Who if not a morality tale?

    The second flaw is the inclusion of comedic actor Alexei Sayle (The Young Ones) as a rock and roll obsessed DJ on the planet Necros. Why any writer in their right mind would think for one mad second that an alien being from a distant planet would have the slightest fondness for a musical form that only became popular due to prevailing social trends, music business exigencies and radio payola, is utterly beyond me. Yet this idea keeps cropping up in TV and movie sci-fi (it even appears in a later Doctor Who story, Delta and the Bannermen where we have an entire race of aliens obsessed with rock and roll). It’s called “pandering to the audience”, I think.

    In the documentary that’s part of the special features on this DVD, the production team tries to make a case for Sayle’s character being either comic relief or “Greek chorus” (apparently because Saward wrote the script while on holiday in Greece), neither of which is the least bit convincing.

    The script was inspired by Evelyn Waugh’s novel The Loved One and is a kind of TV drama pastiche. The best thing about the story is of course the inclusion of both the Daleks and their Hitler-esque creator Davros, played here with suitable menace and creepiness by Terry Molloy. The guest cast for this story is very strong and includes Clive Swift (the longsuffering Richard Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances) as vain Mr Jobel, Eleanor Bron as a devious businesswoman and William Gaunt as Orcini, a noble assassin looking for his last kill. In fact, the best thing about the story is these wonderful performances and the strong characterisation offered by the script.

    While there are a few dumb moments in the direction – for example, where two scientists ‘sneak into’ the Tranquil Repose centre making no apparent effort to conceal themselves – for the most part Graeme Harper’s work is far more stylish and imaginative than the average Doctor Who episode of the time.

    The story also features a genuinely stomach-churning moment of horror, where a scientist who is in the process of being turned into a Dalek begs with his daughter to kill him. This is strong stuff thanks to the credible performances of the actors.

Video

    The episodes are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. As is usual with a BBC production of this time, interiors were shot in the studio on videotape and exteriors were shot on film. All the episodes have thankfully been subjected to restoration work; the film inserts display a moderate (and acceptable) degree of grain and the occasional artefacts, but nothing obtrusive, and the video footage looks fine. Thanks to the direction of Graeme Harper, we get some reasonably atmospheric lighting in the studio for a change, instead of the usual overlit BBC sets.

    There is the usual problem with microphony (vibration in the video camera tubes in response to the firing of guns, which manifests itself as horizontal lines across the screen whenever they’re fired) which was due to the limitations of the video cameras the BBC was using during this period.

    Given the quality of the source material, this is likely to be the very best the episodes will ever look.

    NB: A special feature on the disc is the option to watch the episodes with new CGI special effects replacing the originals via seamless branching. Many viewers have commented that there is a problem with this feature and I experienced this myself.

    The Doctor Who Restoration Team (responsible for the restoration of the episodes released to DVD) have issued the following statement on their website:

“There have been reports of problems trying to play this disc on some machines. Generally it plays fine up until 8' 32" into episode one, which is the point at which the first branch to the new CGI sequences occurs. Symptoms include looping, freezing and skipping video. Those having problems should try forcing CGI effects either on or off as desired using the menu option in the Special Features menu and then try playing the episodes - we think a register isn't being set to a default in some players and this will force it.”

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

    Audio options for the disc are a Dolby 5.1 remix, Dolby 2.0 stereo, an audio commentary track and an isolated music score.

    The Dolby 5.1 audio is obviously what most of us would prefer and Mark Ayres, who was responsible for the remix, has done a fine job. As you would expect, use of the subwoofer and rear channels is confined to loud explosions, gunfights and the like.

    No problems with audio sync or dialogue audibility were noted.

    The music for this story is all synthesized and was composed by Roger Limb and despite the fact that the director says he finds it appealing, I much prefer the orchestral music of Dudley Simpson who worked on Doctor Who until 1980. An isolated music track is included on the DVD, but unless you’re a particular fan of Mr Limb you’re unlikely to want to listen to it as the music really doesn’t have enough structure to hold your attention without the accompaniment of the visuals.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Audio Commentary – Graeme Harper (director), Eric Saward (writer), Terry Molloy (Davros) and Nicola Bryant (Peri)

    This is a reasonably interesting and informative commentary, although because both Harper and Saward are also featured in the documentary on this disc, there’s a sense of going over familiar ground. Graeme Harper comes across as very enthusiastic and quite proud of his work (which he should be), while Eric Saward seems, as usual, very bemused by it all and rather aloof (which he shouldn’t be). He also seems to be choosing his words with care. Terry Molloy has some interesting comments about the problems of acting under thick latex. As is always the case with these commentaries it’s a laid back affair sprinkled with the occasional anecdote but hardly gripping stuff.

Text Commentary

    As well as the audio commentary there’s an onscreen text commentary which gives you plenty of background information and trivia, most of which will be of no interest whatsoever to the casual viewer. More than anything, it demonstrates just how exhaustive dedicated fans can be in their research, and the fact that they often seem to lack an ability to discern which facts will be of broader interest and which won’t. This lack of discrimination means that to find out anything of substance you need to sit through loads of stuff you would have not the remotest interest in learning, and will soon lead most people to give up and switch the feature off.

Isolated Music Score

    The music for this story is apparently worth listening to on its own and so gets its own track. One has to consider this somewhat of a contrivance, again designed to bolster the extras list, as I cannot imagine most people finding the score appealing without the accompaniment of the episodes.

Documentary – Revelation Exhumed 45:53

    Despite the cheesy title, this is a reasonably good feature on the making of the story. Its main flaw is that it interviews people who are also featured on the disc’s commentary – director Graeme Harper, writer Eric Saward, actor Terry Molloy – so people who watch this as well as listening to the commentary are in for some repetitious moments. Actor Clive Swift has some very interesting comments on his character and it’s fascinating to see that just about everyone dislikes the work of supporting actor Jenny Tomasin. The affection that the production team and cast members have for the program is nice to see and thankfully we are spared the inclusion of interviews with people who have nothing much to say (often a flaw of these features on other Doctor Who DVD releases).

Behind the Scenes - Revelation in the Studio 15:38

    I suppose there are fans who will enjoy watching this but I found it extremely boring to watch raw studio footage which shows technicians, floor assistants and propspeople helping to prepare actors and props for shooting. To my mind this is simply an effort on the BBC’s part to pad out the extras as justification for the asking price. There is however an optional commentary by Graeme Harper and Terry Molloy which at least gives you an idea of what’s going on (you have no idea without it!).

Deleted Scenes 2:16

    The only point in including deleted scenes on a DVD release is if those scenes are worth watching insofar as they contribute something additional to the story. In this case the scenes were clearly cut simply because they were too long, contained padding and contributed nothing whatsoever to the story. Therefore their inclusion here is pointless – unless you want to know what not to write for a Doctor Who script.

Continuity announcements 3:30

    The inclusion of this particular extra defies comprehension entirely. It’s a collection of the original BBC television station identifications (consisting of a BBC logo and globe of the world with a voiceover announcing that Doctor Who is coming up next) which preceded the episodes’ first UK transmissions. I’m utterly at a loss as to how anyone could justify including this on a DVD release, or why anyone would want to see them.

Photo Gallery 5:57

    A selection of still colour photos taken during filming of the story.

    This is not yet available in R1. The R2 version is identical to ours.

    Probably Colin Baker’s finest Doctor Who story, Revelation of the Daleks is a well-directed and for the most part well-written example of 1980s Who and well worth watching. It has elements of both horror and humour and strong performances by the supporting cast (in particular Clive Swift, William Gaunt and Terry Molloy).

    The episodes have been restored for the DVD release and the video is perfectly acceptable and the audio excellent.

    The extras range from reasonably interesting to completely pointless.

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