"Doctor Who", The Evil of the Daleks (Dr Who Radio Collection)

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Book Reviews of "Doctor Who", The Evil of the Daleks (Dr Who Radio Collection)

Book Review: The final end?
Summary: 4 Stars

'Evil of the Daleks' is in my opinion, the first real attempt by the BBC to bring Doctor Who to an adult audience. We must remember that this story was orginally broadcast in 1967 by which point, the series and more importantly, the Daleks had been around for some four years. Consdiering that this story was intended to be the 'end' of the Daleks, it is fair to say that the production team were trying to introduce new methods and ideas to the show. Witness at this point the regeneration of Hartnell into Troughton - it seems logical therefore, that if Hartnell, the first of two who helped to cement the series is replaced, then the Daleks, who were also instrumental in the beginning, could also be written out.

Evil of the Daleks is seen as a classic by fans - but in reality, is this the case? At seven episodes, it was one of the longer stories at the time, but unlike previous stories of a similar length, the listner is always occupied with the plot, and the seven episodes whizz to the chilling climax.

Similarly, the characterisation of the story is excellent and each of the roles are aptly defined. The double act of the reluctant scientist Waterfield - terrified by the Daleks, bullied by Maxtable and fearful for his daughter and Maxtable - the greedy, self obsessed scientist with a ludicrous dream to transmute metal into gold, reflect this new adult theme. Although the Daleks are present, their characterisations are more effective at reflecting the difference between 'good' and 'evil' than those of the Daleks.

Similarly, Troughton's Doctor is made more sinister - at the original time of transmission (one episode per week and the end of season 4) the viewer did not know whether the Doctor himself had turned traitor against his friends. As always, compliments must go to Troughton for his performance - so far, I have yet to listen to any of his stories in which he is off par.

The Daleks themselves are kept in the background compared to their previous adventures, although essential to the plot, they do not drive it. Similarly, they do not walk around merely shouting 'Exterminate' as has been the case in the past, and Whitaker's story portrays them as cunning, ruthless creatures and a worthy foe for the Doctor. The sole apperance of the Emperor Dalek, what this story is remembered for, is effective, giving the Daleks substance and a hierarchy. His preachings that 'The Dalek race will live forever,' is a subtle pun on the fading 'Dalekmania' at the time and implies that the series is finally moving to something different.

As with all these BBC releases, they are of excellent quality, and Hines' narration is much better than that of the original Tom Baker cassette release in the 1990's. Whilst fans would love to see the real visuals, the true saving grace with this audio release is that it keeps the classic story as that: a classic. The listener is able to visualise the epic civil war with the special effects of a blockbuster film and not, as was the true case, toy Daleks fighting with lots of gunge spewing out of them.

Perhaps, the audio CD's real purpose is to keep the mythical status of this excellent story alive - recent finds of 'lost' episodes have been met with disappointment i.e. Tomb of the Cybermen.

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