Revelation of the Daleks [TV/1985.3.23 ~ 3.30]

★★★★★

  For its use of incidental characters, Revelation of the Daleks might just be one of the best TV serials/episodes Dr. Who has ever made. Eric Saward goes crazy and makes practically every single character with a speaking role the most memorable they can ever be, from sleazy businesswomen to disgraced space knights working as hired killers, from a creepy old funeral manager drunk in his own majesty and a lovesick employee who aches for his attention to a truly odd DJ who hides his bashful and snarky personality... and so many more. There's certainly an argument to whether or not Dr. Who qualifies as prestige television (in the same vein of The Sopranos, The Wire, or even Game of Thrones), and I'm not one to say that Dr. Who didn't start as a simple BBC family entertainment television show... but if we're looking at individual stories, Revelation is undoubtedly prestige material. The script is jam-packed with black comedy and incredible worldbuilding, Davros is at his most manipulative and menacing and (when the situation calls for it) outright top-of-his-lungs insane, and Graeme Harper steps up again as one of the classic series' breakout directors. Tranquil Repose is one of the show's most vivid and horrific places not just because of its status as a funeral company, but because of the people there revealing the messy underbelly of Necros and the Daleks' body horror experiments. 

  I hear all the criticisms that the Doctor and Peri are all but sidelined, and I get that. Sure, they're supposed to be the main characters of the entire show, and they barely make an appearance in part 1. Me personally, I quite like that they're presented as just another cog in the machine, as it were, and that for one serial, Tranquil Repose itself is the main "character". Instead of a typical Doctor-saves-the-day scenario, we instead delve into the inner workings of a world and see how rotten and corrupt its core is. It's not your everyday Dalek adventure by any means, but it's still such a fantastic slice of telly, and it contains one of the scariest Dalek scenes -- where Natasha finds her father (or what remains of him) in the middle of being converted into a Dalek. Gruesome stuff, and the actors sell that horror so well. In fact, another important strength of Revelation is its incredible cast. Well-written as they are, it's their performances and minor touches that seal the deal, and everyone from Orcini to Kara is played to the absolute hilt. Lovely double acts, lovely location shoots and direction (unlike many, I love Harper's "floor by floor" sequence that gives you the illusion of taking a lift descending the many floors of Tranquil Repose), and I love Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant getting more to do in the second half. Baker in particular shines, deliveirng a fantastic performance as he is shocked, angered, and worried for Peri's safety. Terry Molloy's Davros, as stated before, is at his most cunning here, and therefore it's the actor's greatest performance onscreen; it's wonderful, too, that such is their implied history together (Davros isn't surprised by the Sixth Doctor, and even knows what the current incarnation looks like) that Big Finish's Davros gives this serial an extra layer of depth for those initiated with the audio drama. Bloody great stuff, I'm fairly sure Revelation of the Daleks is in my top 10 classic serials list. Pretty much perfect, this is -- and yes, I love the DJ too!