Wrong. Holy crap. If you simply look at this story - look at it, rather than trying to absorb or appreciate the plot - then you might be forgiven for thinking it deserves to be on the other list near the middle, if not somewhere around the top. The new Dalek casings are gorgeous; some of the deaths are truly horrific (if you're into that kind of thing); and oh, Terry Malloy as Davros... we can even forgive the need for a new mask, since that performance is so very, very right. It's only when you try to look at the story as a story that it all falls apart. For one thing, the plot is overly complicated. It's unclear exactly what the Daleks' aims are. Is the goal to find a cure for the plague that has caused them to lose the war with the Movellans...? Now, let that phrase sink in: the Daleks lost a war. To the Movellans. Those androids with tight outfits and silver dreadlocks from the last story. Yes. From that little shocker (which causes even Davros to choke on his own spittle), we descend into further madness: the Daleks are also planning to send humanoid duplicates (because they have those now) to assassinate and replace key figures in Earth's government. This is never referenced again, of course. They also plan to duplicate the Doctor and his friends, send them to Gallifrey, and assassinate the High Council. Um. To what end, exactly? If we look at this in hindsight, maybe, just maybe, it's a revenge volley against the Time Lords for what they did on Skaro way back when and thus this is a planned move in the upcoming Time War, but who was thinking that far ahead in 1984? Not Eric Saward, apparently. And that's not the half of it - this story is simply all over the place, and with the time corridor element included, all over time, as well. It even seems to confuse Davros, who wishes he had been there to see the conflict between the Daleks and the Movellans and thus forgets he was there, at the very beginning. That, and Colonel Archer's disco death. It's all gotten a bit silly, hasn't it? But even this one isn't the worst story of the lot. That dishonour goes to...
Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
