Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks

Doctor Who's twenty-second season (Colin Baker's first season as Doctor Number Six) closed in the spring of 1985 with Revelation of the Daleks, written by then-script editor Eric Saward and directed by Graeme Harper. Revelation may not be as strong as Genesis of the Daleks (with Tom Baker) or Resurrection of the Daleks (with Peter Davison), but it is one of the stronger Sixth Doctor stories.

The Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) arrive on the funeral planet of Necros, home of the cryogenics repository run by Jobel (played by Keeping Up Appearances' Clive Swift). The time travelers have come to pay their respects to the late agronomist Arthur Stengos. Terry Malloy returns as Davros, the creator of the Doctor's oldest enemies, the Daleks. Malloy is the third actor to play Davros, and the only actor to repeat the role. Davros has created a whole new breed of Daleks obedient only to him rather than the Supreme Dalek on Skaro, the Daleks' original homeworld. I love the ivory and gold color scheme for Davros' Daleks.

Eleanor Bron (who made a cameo in the Tom Baker story City of Death) plays Kara, who runs a factory which produces and distributes protein concentrates as food for developing planets. Kara's profits are being sucked away by The Great Healer (a.k.a. Davros) to fund the creation of his new Daleks. She hires Orcini (William Gaunt), a former member of the Grand Order of the Knights of Oberon, to assassinate Davros. Alexei Sayle of The Young Ones fame adds some comic relief as the DJ, who provides music along with humorous announcements.

Producer John Nathan-Turner had been gradually increasing the violence over the past three seasons with Peter Davison's Doctor, and Season 22 was the most violent yet, and Revelation was, without a doubt, the most violent story of the season. The story's greatest strengths come from acting performances - especially from the supporting cast, including Swift, Bron and Gaunt - as well as Eric Saward's writing (Saward also wrote Earthshock and Resurrection of the Daleks, two of the best stories from the Peter Davison era) and the direction of Graeme Harper (The Caves of Androzani).

Graeme harper joins Eric Saward, Nicola Bryant and Terry Molloy on the commentary track. Other bonus features include the featurettes "In Studio A" and "Revelation Exhumed," a behind the scenes look at the making of Revelation of the Daleks as well as a photo gallery and a CGI effects option. Revelation of the Daleks made a strong close to a largely disappointing season, and I expect this to make an excellent DVD release.