This story has a pretty sluggish and confusing beginning. It throws in the Daleks and Davros but doesn't do much with them and hows a couple of characters on a mission that isn't entirely clear. A big problem with these Season 22 stories is that most of them don't progress the story at all during the first episode; there's plenty of build-up but no real development. Revelation of the Daleks is no exception: The Doctor and Peri do nothing and the other characters and settings are introduce but it's a bit unclear exactly how they all connect to the wider narrative. Things don't turn interesting until the unoriginal twist at the climax of Part One. Then the plot quickly turns stale again, as things feel like a rehash from earlier Dalek stories.
Clive Swift is among the funniest actors to appear on Doctor Who, and he's just as wonderful here as he is everywhere else. Alexei Sayle's DJ is the most annoying character the series has depicted in a very long time - he's unnecessary and not funny at all. And he's given way too much screen time. I mean, he's just horrible. Probably my most hated Doctor Who character ever. Jenny Tomasin is okay as Tasambeker, but the love story between her and Jobel feels awkward and takes away from the main plot. Tomasin also has some very bad moments, such as one pretty intense scene halfway through Part Two. The only guest actor I feel is really good is William Gaunt, who plays Orcini. His performance is calm but hard as iron.
This is the Sixth Doctor's first time meeting the Daleks and Davros onscreen, so it's disappointingly vague. A fiercer Doctor would have been expected, particularly in the scenes he shares with Davros.
Peri isn't very interesting here. She shares scenes with the DJ, which is the worst part. For the rest of the story, she does nothing at all.
Davros seems a little off here, despite being played by Terry Molloy again. He seems to be completely insane, rather than just brilliant and filled with madness, which he hasn't been before. And why is he inside that glass cage? The worst things though are that his plan is the same as before and they fail for the same reasons as before. I do love the updated white-and-gold design of the Daleks, however, even if I feel that they're underused and could just as well have been left out.
The production is fine, with many great sets and other less great ones. The direction is nothing special but the visual effects and the Dalek designs are good.
Things begin with an intense and fairly swift pace, then slow down for the remainder of Part One before picking up speed again during Part Two. For a Davros/Dalek story, it's unusually slow-paced, however.
We're back to the darker, more violent and intense atmosphere here, which, quite honestly, works fine for me. It's not dark all the time, however, but in smaller segments here and there, to contrast the atmosphere of Attack of the Cybermen (1985). This story also goes the other way, presenting more lighthearted scenes in an attempt to ease out the atmosphere, but turn out to be annoying instead. The music is also too loud and quite annoying, so many intense moments feel a bit too much. A big part of the intensity gets drowned by the pretty bland plot, so it doesn't make as strong an impact as in other stories. The glass Dalek scene in Part Two is horrifying and tragic at the same time. It's a standout moment of the Colin Baker era.
Davros is starting to feel overused and worn-out by now and the Daleks have once again been reduced to useless goons. This story, unfortunately, doesn't improve the Dalek threat at all.
While far from the worst Dalek story, it's also not a very engaging one, so I won't rewatch it anytime soon.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
The Doctor implies that Peri is fat; that's just one of the unnecessarily harsh things he's said to Peri, particularly when she isn't overweight.
Clive Swift makes his Doctor Who debut here. He will be back playing Mr Copper in Voyage of the Damned (2008). Outside Who, he is mostly known for playing Richard Bucket in the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
DJ's Elvis personality seems more like a very bad Donald Trump impression.
The glass Dalek is a pretty gruesome creation, even if I don't understand how that would work in practice.
Is it just me, or does Kara seem like a combination of XX from Meglos (1980) and XX from The Two Doctors (1985)?
Part Two sees Davros enter his Emperor Palpatine mode, as he electrocuted his enemies.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-10T12:58:05Z
This story has a pretty sluggish and confusing beginning. It throws in the Daleks and Davros but doesn't do much with them and hows a couple of characters on a mission that isn't entirely clear. A big problem with these Season 22 stories is that most of them don't progress the story at all during the first episode; there's plenty of build-up but no real development. Revelation of the Daleks is no exception: The Doctor and Peri do nothing and the other characters and settings are introduce but it's a bit unclear exactly how they all connect to the wider narrative.
Things don't turn interesting until the unoriginal twist at the climax of Part One. Then the plot quickly turns stale again, as things feel like a rehash from earlier Dalek stories.
Clive Swift is among the funniest actors to appear on Doctor Who, and he's just as wonderful here as he is everywhere else. Alexei Sayle's DJ is the most annoying character the series has depicted in a very long time - he's unnecessary and not funny at all. And he's given way too much screen time. I mean, he's just horrible. Probably my most hated Doctor Who character ever. Jenny Tomasin is okay as Tasambeker, but the love story between her and Jobel feels awkward and takes away from the main plot. Tomasin also has some very bad moments, such as one pretty intense scene halfway through Part Two.
The only guest actor I feel is really good is William Gaunt, who plays Orcini. His performance is calm but hard as iron.
This is the Sixth Doctor's first time meeting the Daleks and Davros onscreen, so it's disappointingly vague. A fiercer Doctor would have been expected, particularly in the scenes he shares with Davros.
Peri isn't very interesting here. She shares scenes with the DJ, which is the worst part. For the rest of the story, she does nothing at all.
Davros seems a little off here, despite being played by Terry Molloy again. He seems to be completely insane, rather than just brilliant and filled with madness, which he hasn't been before. And why is he inside that glass cage? The worst things though are that his plan is the same as before and they fail for the same reasons as before.
I do love the updated white-and-gold design of the Daleks, however, even if I feel that they're underused and could just as well have been left out.
The production is fine, with many great sets and other less great ones. The direction is nothing special but the visual effects and the Dalek designs are good.
Things begin with an intense and fairly swift pace, then slow down for the remainder of Part One before picking up speed again during Part Two. For a Davros/Dalek story, it's unusually slow-paced, however.
We're back to the darker, more violent and intense atmosphere here, which, quite honestly, works fine for me. It's not dark all the time, however, but in smaller segments here and there, to contrast the atmosphere of Attack of the Cybermen (1985). This story also goes the other way, presenting more lighthearted scenes in an attempt to ease out the atmosphere, but turn out to be annoying instead. The music is also too loud and quite annoying, so many intense moments feel a bit too much.
A big part of the intensity gets drowned by the pretty bland plot, so it doesn't make as strong an impact as in other stories.
The glass Dalek scene in Part Two is horrifying and tragic at the same time. It's a standout moment of the Colin Baker era.
Davros is starting to feel overused and worn-out by now and the Daleks have once again been reduced to useless goons. This story, unfortunately, doesn't improve the Dalek threat at all.
While far from the worst Dalek story, it's also not a very engaging one, so I won't rewatch it anytime soon.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
The Doctor implies that Peri is fat; that's just one of the unnecessarily harsh things he's said to Peri, particularly when she isn't overweight.
Clive Swift makes his Doctor Who debut here. He will be back playing Mr Copper in Voyage of the Damned (2008). Outside Who, he is mostly known for playing Richard Bucket in the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
DJ's Elvis personality seems more like a very bad Donald Trump impression.
The glass Dalek is a pretty gruesome creation, even if I don't understand how that would work in practice.
Is it just me, or does Kara seem like a combination of XX from Meglos (1980) and XX from The Two Doctors (1985)?
Part Two sees Davros enter his Emperor Palpatine mode, as he electrocuted his enemies.
Score: 47/120