Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - Destiny of the Daleks [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you listen to most Dr Who fans, this is the least liked Dalek story of them all. Tom Baker is over the top, they will say, the Daleks look battered and worn, Davros is a bit of a joke ... Don't listen to them. This is great fun. It is also an example of Dr Who at the peak of its power. When first aired by the BBC in 1979, it drew over 13 million viewers (a substantial amount in the UK). The script editor of Dr Who at the time was Douglas Adams, who went on to become famous for 'itchiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and it shows; the script is quite lighthearted in places, but rather than detract from the eeriness of the story, this approach only enhances it. Of course, it would be easy to poke fun at the occasional dodgy special effect and the odd lacklustre performance. But it has always been the conviction on behalf of the production team and actors that makes this show great fun. And great fun is surely something we could all do with a lot more of.

The Doctor and a regenerated Romana land on "not the most inviting planet," but the Doctor feels that he's been here before. Upon examining the ruins of a city, he and Romana see a ship shaped like an inverted pyramid corkscrew its way into the ground, are assaulted by seismic tremors, and subterranean explosions, one of which causes a pillar to fall on the Doctor.
Romana goes for help but an explosion traps the TARDIS. Before long, she is captured by the Daleks in a moment that mimics the cliffhanger to Episode 1 of the first Daleks story.

The Doctor finds some allies, the Movellans, a race of dark-skinned people with silver dreadlocks, white one-piece suits, and cone-shaped laser guns. They are calm, orderly, efficient, and extremely strong, as they lifted the pillar from the Doctor (offscreen). They are on an intelligence mission to find out what the Daleks are up to. A trip to the old Kaled city reveals the answers. However, when a Movellan is exterminated by a Dalek, why isn't the Doctor allowed to examine his body, apart from a Movellan code of honor?

Goofs: The Daleks are actually half-organic, but they are constantly referred to as robots here. Another is Commander Sharrel in Episode 4. During the struggle with Romana, it's clear that he isn't played by Peter Straker. And the Doctor tells the Daleks to "spack off" instead of "back off."

This is kind of a sequel to Genesis Of The Daleks, as it involves Davros, but it might actually succeed Planet Of The Daleks. With the radiation count on Skaro strong, there might have been a final nuclear war between the Daleks and Thals where the Thals were the runners up.

The concept of portraying the Movellans with African actors is interesting, rather than having the "token black�Eperformer. There are competent performances by the three lead Movellans, but note that they are all light-skinned. There are some darker-skinned Movellans, but they have non-speaking parts.

The name of the script editor--Douglas Adams, hence the silliness of dialogue in some areas. The scene where Romana tries on several bodies before reappearing in a duplicate of the Doctor's costume is definitely his trademark. And the Doctor has a cheap shot at a Dalek's expense as he escapes up a shaft. "If you're supposed to be the superior creatures of the universe, why don't you climb up after us? Bye bye!" He ducks as the Dalek fires up at him. And a Dalek grates: "Seek, locate, exterminate!�E Hmm, that rhymes. Why not do a dance remix? I'm sure it'll debut at #1 on the Skaro pop charts.

Tony Osoba (the Movellan Lan) later played Kracauer in the Who story Dragonfire. Peter Straker (Sharrel) and Suzanne Daniel (Agella) effectively play the calm Movellans. David Gooderson has a good try as Davros, but Michael Wisher played him better hand down. And Lalla Ward is near-perfect in her first go at Romana, good-natured, logical, but more sensible, a compliment to the goofy Doctor.

OK, so the Daleks are made fun of here as repetitive killing machines wrapped in cold logic, but goofs aside, it's enjoyable. The Movellans are realized so perfectly it's a pity they didn't make another appearance.

I can't figure out why this isn't a more popular episode. It moves much more quickly than a lot of other Doctor Who adventures, it features Romana, who unlike a lot of Doctor companions had a brain and an active role in the Doctor's adventures and, in fact, this is the first series in which Lala Ward (the princess from the Androids of Tara episode in the Key to Time series) plays Romana.

The Doctor and Romana find themselves on Skaros, the Daleks' home planet. Discovering significant seismic activity, they discover that the Daleks have enslaved a group of humans whom they are forcing to engage in mining activity for a purpose which the Doctor and Romana must ferret out. At the same time, another race, the wonderful Molvians (who always remind me of Rick James in full-on Superfreak mode), befriend the Doctor and Romana but turn out to have their own agenda.

The Daleks are great in this episode. Not a lot of chatter, just a lot of typical Dalek bluster -- "seek, locate, exterminate," etc. Not to mention the glorious return of the megamaniacal Davros, creator of the Daleks. This is one of the more action-oriented, straight-forward Doctor Who episodes and comes across as a lot less dated than even some of the later episodes. Not as humorous as many Tom Baker episodes once it gets going (if you're looking for humor and cheese, check out The Pirate Planet), but great action and characters. Highly recommended.

"Destiny" may not be the best "Who" or "Dalek" adventure, but to really enjoy it, one must understand who the script editor was at this time: Douglas Adams. "Hitchhiker" in-jokes a-plenty! The Daleks themselves aren't that bad, Romana's regenration doesn't have a lot of emphasis on the story(which partly good), and the Movellans are one of the most ridiculous looking humanoid robots. Production values during this season are surely not on the spectacular side( Davros' mouth, the special effects, ect.), but to fully appreciate this story and the rest of the seventeenth season, you have to remember who the script editor was at the time!

This episode is one of my favorite Dalek adventures. The story features our favorite manic evil doer "Davros." Buried in the bottom of the bunker on Scarro, Davros waits in a state of hibernation as the Daleks, who are losing a war to another robot race called the Mavelins, anxiously dig out their infamous creator. You see, the Daleks cannot win their war against the Mavelins because both robotic races are using logic against each other and therefor no one can gain an advantage over the other. The Daleks think that only their original creator can aid them in defeating the Mavelins in this very costly war. The Doctor and Romana (who, by the way marries the doctor in real life) the blonde haired version, land on Scarro but forget what this planet was all about until they discover their first Dalek. It isnt long before the Mavelins, who also have landed on Scarro, meet up with the Doctor and together they try to determine what is going on at the deserted bunker that would bring so many Daleks back. The Doctor and the Mavelins quickly learn that the Daleks are attempting to locate Davros and begin to search for him themselves. Fortunately, the Doctor finds Davros first while poor Romana falls captive to the Daleks. The race is now on for either side to gain an advantage over the other. Davros, for the Daleks and the Doctor for the Mavelins. The Doctor quickly learns the Mavelins are not entirely as innocent and trustable as they want to appear and the Doctor has to quickly find a way out of this latest predictament.

This is another keep episode if you enjoy Tom Baker and the Dalek themes. Actually, it is one of the better episodes. Please add this exciting story to you collection and you will find yourself watching it again and again. For those of you that refuse to heed my review.... well, you must be EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED! He he he.

The Doctor and a regenerated Romana land on "not the most inviting planet," but the Doctor feels that he's been here before. Upon examining the ruins of a city, he and Romana see a ship shaped like an inverted pyramid corkscrew its way into the ground, are assaulted by seismic tremors, and subterranean explosions, one of which causes a pillar to fall on the Doctor.
Romana goes for help but an explosion traps the TARDIS. Before long, she is captured by the Daleks in a moment that mimics the cliffhanger to Episode 1 of the first Daleks story.

The Doctor finds some allies, the Movellans, a race of dark-skinned people with silver dreadlocks, white one-piece suits, and cone-shaped laser guns. They are calm, orderly, efficient, and extremely strong, as they lifted the pillar from the Doctor (offscreen). They are on an intelligence mission to find out what the Daleks are up to. A trip to the old Kaled city reveals the answers. However, when a Movellan is exterminated by a Dalek, why isn't the Doctor allowed to examine his body, apart from a Movellan code of honor?

Goofs: The Daleks are actually half-organic, but they are constantly referred to as robots here. Another is Commander Sharrel in Episode 4. During the struggle with Romana, it's clear that he isn't played by Peter Straker. And the Doctor has trouble telling the Daleks to "back off."

This is kind of a sequel to Genesis Of The Daleks, as it involves Davros, but it might actually succeed Planet Of The Daleks. With the radiation count on Skaro strong, there might have been a final nuclear war between the Daleks and Thals where the Thals were the runners up.

The concept of portraying the Movellans with African actors is interesting, as this story shows more Africans with speaking parts than any other. There are competent performances by the three lead Movellans.

The name of the script editor--Douglas Adams, hence the silliness of dialogue in some areas. The scene where Romana tries on several bodies before reappearing in a duplicate of the Doctor's costume is definitely his trademark. And the Doctor has a cheap shot at a Dalek's expense as he escapes up a shaft. "If you're supposed to be the superior creatures of the universe, why don't you climb up after us? Bye bye!" He ducks as the Dalek fires up at him.

Tony Osoba (the Movellan Lan) later played Kracauer in the Who story Dragonfire. Peter Straker (Sharrel) and Suzanne Daniel (Agella) effectively play the calm Movellans. David Gooderson (Davros) is no match for Michael Wisher (voice-wise) but maybe Davros's voice changed after centuries of sleep. And Lalla Ward is near-perfect in her first go at Romana, good-natured, logical, but more sensible, a compliment to the goofy Doctor.

OK, so the Daleks are made fun of here as repetitive killing machines wrapped in cold logic, but goofs aside, it's enjoyable. The Movellans are realized so perfectly it's a pity they didn't make another appearance.

This has to one of my favorite Tom Baker episodes. He is in top form, and the Daleks have never been more devious! The Doctor and Romana arrive on a barren wasteland of a planet, and as usual, the doctor has to find out the "where's" and "why's". After a little investigating, they discover where they are, and who's in their company...THE DALEKS! It seems they are attempting to free Davros from his grave, by digging to him. Everyone is in great form, and the Doctor/Davros banter has never been better! The Daleks are bent on evil as usual...A must have for any fan! I highlight....Tom Baker reading a book about the creation of the unvierse while trapped under a fallen beam....Also...make sure you watch GENISIS OF THE DALEKS before veiwing...

A poor sequel to the best Dalek story of all, Genesis of the Daleks. The Daleks and Movellans race to Skaros to find Davros, creator of the Daleks. The idea being that they hope he will be able to end the stalemate in their logical war. The concept is great, but the execution leaves a little to be desired. Writer Terry Nation and Story Editor Douglas Adams do not make a great combination. The story has some good moments and the introduction of Lalla Ward as the newly regenerated Romana is handled well. Overall, this is certainly a better story than some of the Patrick Troughtan and Jon Pertwee Dalek episodes. It also sets the stage for Davros' saga, continued in Revelation, Remembrance and Ressurection of the Daleks.

The Doctor comes face to face with his most dreaded enemies once again. This time the Daleks are engaged in a war with the Movellens, a race of androids, and have returned to their home planet to find somebody who might be able to help them overthrow their robotic enemies.

Bringing back Davros was proved to be a good idea in later Dalek stories, but nobody ever came close to imitating Michael Wisher's Oscar-worthy portrayal of the twisted scientist in 'Genesis of the Daleks'. In 'Genesis' Davros was a genuine character - in later adventures he was just a baddie. The Davros in 'Destiny' is, it has to be said, a pretty laughable figure, actor David Gooderson wobbling along in a chair quite obviously designed for a different actor. And the Daleks' habit of repeating their lines over and over becomes very monotonous after a while.

That's not to say this is a bad story. It has its good moments, it manages to be mostly entertaining, and a late-'70s Dr Who story without that dreadful robot dog is certainly something to be made the most of.

The Doctor and his newly regenerated companion Romana have landed on the planet Skaro and get caught in the crossfire of a battle between the Daleks and a race of robots called the Movellans. Written by the Dalek's creator Terry Nation, and The Doctor being played by the talented Tom Baker makes this one of the best Dalek episodes ever. It contains a reasonable amount of action and has a very creative plot. The Daleks look very old and weatherbeaten, and the Davros costume has seen better years, but this doesn't let the story down too much and most Doctor Who fans should ignore this downfall.