Why is such a soul given to me? Why such generosity of spirit? Why such critical ignorance? Is everyone else too picky, or am I just wrong? I'm starting to get nervous here - it almost doesn't matter what the consensus of Who-fans is, because I'm almost certain to disagree with it.
I'm going to a convention in April. What am I going to do? Print out cards saying "I like Tom Baker best, Hinchcliffe'n'Holmes were fantastic and Caves of Androzani is the only episode ever?". I'm just going to have to keep my mouth shut about Adric, the Master, Trial, Warriors of the Deep and King's Demons. As a fan, I feel a failure!
So almost inevitably, I loved Destiny of the Daleks, but to see the vicious job most internet reviewers give it I am AGAIN in the position of going against the consensus and defending as enjoyable an episode much criticised.
Where to start?
First observation - does the TARDIS really land at the Cave of Caer-Bannoch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
Aside from this bizzare image, the location was the thing that really gripped me for the first two episodes. Yes, I know the words "...of the Daleks" should have given it away, but I spent the time thinking "are we on Skaro?" Again, the radiation tablets, the destroyed city, the bunker. More importantly, I was waiting for the Utopia moment - "when will the Doctor work out we are on Skaro?" - and when it came it wasn't disappointing. There was something quite special and very cool in revisiting that same planet yet again (The Daleks was set there too) and seeing it at a different stage of history. Especially returning to those iconic bunkers.
I'm starting to appreciate that the Doctor has always had it in for robots. He abuses the Movellans as "as bad as the Daleks", which isn;t remotely fair considering how sneaky the pepperpots are; but tallied up with Drathro and Kameleon, it makes you wonder. The Movellan costumes are awful if you think about them too hard. But that goes for most Doctor Who, so I tend to not think at all. Except sometimes you can't help it - the Daleks? Robots? This grated every time someone used it. And while there are a thousand ways to retcon it - he meant "robotic" not actually "robot", the Dalek casings are robotic etcetc - I'd just rather presume it was a massive continuity error.
I found the Daleks quite scary in this. One thing you can say is that for the most iconic story, Genesis of the Daleks doesn't really have all that many in. For example, Romana has always shown a quick tongue and a lot of mettle but it's obvious they terrify her - true, she's just regenerated, but it's still a hard scene to watch. I still haven't got a handle on Miss mk. II - nice outfits, but time will tell if I ever like her as much as her predecessor.
The plot is very solid. The digression with Romana and the rocks is no longer than it needs to be, and for once, the Daleks have good cause to bring Davros back. Having watched them out of order, and been thoroghly confused by Lytton's Movellan war exposition, it was great fun to see the Doctor post Davros off to Resurrection of the Daleks.
The Doctor - this is what Tom Baker's Doc is all about. Other actors, for sure, did silly, serious, crotchety, poetic or affectionate better than he did. His skill is to do all of them, at the same time, one after another, so fast you can't keep up, not to mention anticipate. "Mercurial" - that's the word they keep applying to David Tennant, but in comparison he doesn't deserve it because this is the Doctor you just can't nail down.
Is he scared of Davros? Is he not scared? Is he laughing at him, or is that a front; is his willingness to kill him a front, or does the Doctor actually genuinely want to do it? I found myself wondering, because at times boy did he look tempted - God I want to give him a hug - um, when was the last time I declared a definite favourite Doctor? Because obviously, he's always been the best. And always will be.
One thing I have noticed, however, is Four's fondness for the humble explosive. It's still incongruous with my idea of the Doctor.
Of course, the highlight of any episode willo always be the confrontation with the villain - and I so, so wanted to see the Doctor's reaction to finding Davros again. It was not disappointing. I loved the Doctor holing himself up in the room with him. The point is beautifully made that Davros and the Doctor are both the advantage of their relative sides, and they can't beat one another either. Suddenly, I understand this Doctor-Davros duality that people always go on about.
This is a lovely episode to look at. There's something to be said, of course, for a colour scheme - Genesis and Terminus all in grey, Planet of Fire all in red. But the range of pretties. It's nicely directed too - especially when the Doctor goes to rescue Romana from the Nerva device, I like the silent walk. The combination of location shooting and well realised soundstages is completely fluid.
I suppose it has the misfortune to be compared to Genesis, always a hard act to follow, but where Genesis was a superb bit of one-off telly, Destiny is simply a bog standard episode done very well. You do have to remember, there are only two or three stories that can stand firm when compared to Genesis of the Daleks, making this approach strictly unfair.
In other words, a good solid story overly criticised.
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