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| Davros (Terry Molloy), taunts the Doctor. |
2 episodes. Approx. 90 minutes. Written by: Eric Saward. Directed by: Graeme Harper. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.
THE PLOT
The planet Necros is home to Tranquil Repose, a facility in which people with enough money and status have themselves stored in suspended animation until a cure is found for their assorted diseases. The Doctor and Peri have come because Arthur Stengos (Alec Linstead), a professor and friend of the Doctor's, has died and his services are to be held at Tranquil Repose.
But something isn't right here. The two have barely arrived before being attacked by a hideous mutant, a pathetic figure who croaks about the experiments of "The Great Healer" before he dies. A great wall separates the outside from the facility within: A wall with no door. Inside, Jobel (Clive Swift), the chief embalmer, prepares for the funeral of the President's wife, even as the staff worries that Tranquil Repose's best days are behind it.
Meanwhile, the wealthy Kara (Eleanor Bron) has hired the infamous assassin Orcini (William Gaunt). Orcini is a former Knight of the Order of Oberon, and he has dreamed of ending his career with an honorable kill to make him feel like a knight once again. Kara has such a kill for him. On Necros, at the heart of Tranquil Repose, the Great Healer resides. But the Great Healer has another name, one he refuses to use on an open channel. That name... is Davros!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Much has been made about the Doctor's limited screentime in this story. Perhaps too much, given that he does have a sizable role in Part Two. But instead of focusing on the size of the part, I'd like to observe just how much Colin Baker does with it. His performance is noticeably softer and more subdued than in most of the rest of the season. In a fairly typical "bickering" bit at the start, he avoids delivering his lines as barbs, even responding to Peri's question about whether the local animals bite by putting a note of sympathy in his voice as he says, "Only each other." Even when confronting Davros, Colin remains subdued, showing as much with a glance at a dead body as with his voice. It's very good work, one that stands in stark contrast to his reputation in some circles as "the shouty Doctor."
Peri: Nicola Bryant is also more restrained here than in previous stories, which leads me to think director Graeme Harper was pushing the actors to embrace the funereal atmosphere. Her interactions with the Doctor continue to show that, for all the spikiness, these two are quite fond of each other. When she thinks the Doctor is dead, Jobel asks if the Doctor was a friend. Unhesitantly, she says he was "the best." When they are reunited at the story's end, the Doctor immediately expresses sympathy to Peri for the death of a friend she made in the course of the story.
Davros: "He sits like a spider at the heart of this planet, using the money he extorts from us to rebuild his disgusting creatures." Davros is the dark heart of this story. He lurks, watching the interactions of those who work at Tranquil Repose. Like any group, there are weaknesses, imbalances, and Davros pushes at the weakness of Tasambeker (Jenny Tomasin) at just the right moment to make her do her worst. He doesn't even have any real purpose: It simply provides a diversion while salving his wounded ego. When he's done, he disposes of Tasambeker like a child might do to a used-up and broken toy. Terry Molloy's performance is the best of his three televised showings (bettered only by the Big Finish audio story, Davros); he dominates the proceedings with a gloriously malevolent glee.
THOUGHTS
Doctor Who's final serial before the infamous 18-month hiatus that would cripple the show, that makes this the final classic Who story that was made when the series was still at full strength. Thankfully, this is no "so-bad-it's-funny" runaround, but rather a meticulously-crafted, wonderfully shot piece that demonstrates that this series was far from the tired husk its fiercest critics made it out to be.
Revelation has an ambitious script, the most ambitious of Eric Saward's writing efforts by a considerable margin. Saward does an enormously good job of making Tranquil Repose into a place that feels convincing and real. The personalities of the egotistical Jobel (Clive Swift), the fawning Tasambeker (Jenny Tomasin) and the stable and steady Takis (Trevor Cooper) feel right, not just as characters in their own right, but as characters who fit into this setting and who fit in their relationships with each other.
The structure is made up of strands: Character pairs and interactions that form a tapestry as we see them building on each other, even when they don't directly intersect. Like everything about this serial, this structure is ambitious: Jobel and Tasambeker's strand has no connection with Orcini's story, and both characters only lightly brush up against the Doctor and Peri. But all of the strands feel like parts of the same whole, because they all "fit" within the setting.
I'm generally no fan of Eric Saward's, but this is his best work and shows that he did have some real ability. No punches are pulled - This is Season 22 at its purest, with black comedy and grim horror co-existing to ghoulish effect. It also gets an incredible boost from director Graeme Harper, who constantly finds ways to keep things visually interesting within his meticulously framed shots. Whether by color schemes emphasizing the coldness of Kara (Eleanor Bron)'s ship, or by color tints on the lighting, or by smoke in the frame, there's almost always something to push the visual element and keep the action dynamic. This is one of the best-looking stories of the classic series, with very little here that invites the viewer to laugh at the cheapness.
Harper's direction emphasizes the greatest strength of Saward's script: The atmosphere. The cold and somber mood of a funeral home in decline. That atmosphere can be felt in every scene, every performance. More than any other element, the craftsmanship behind the camera pushes this from simply being a good story into being a great one.
Rating: 10/10.
Next Story: The Trial of a Timelord - The Mysterious Planet (not yet reviewed)
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