Customer Reviews
Could Have Been Better - By: AH, 03 Sep 2008 
Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks [1985]
Although I felt that the story is good in places, there were a few faults. For example, you could completely see through the dalek voices & they didn't sound that convincing & the two fifty minute episodes were far too long. I was nearly asleep because fifty minutes is just far too long for a show which was normallly twenty five minute episodes. Despite its faults, if you are a dalek fan it is still worth getting as you see plenty of the daleks & Davros.
You Could Call it a BURIED Treasure! - By: D. Wright, 30 Aug 2008 
In a word: superb. A pacy, dark thriller filled with black humour that is more than the sum of its parts. Okay, the special effects are pretty ropey, the Doctor & Peri are given too little screen time & there are some of the campest deaths by Dalek ever committed to video. Yet this odd, eccentric tale is easily the best story in the Sixth Doctor's brief tenure in the TARDIS. Director Graeme Harper is one of the few people to work for both the new series & the old. If you watch this story you can see why. Terry Molloy delivers a great performance as Davros; he depicts the bald baddie as a scheming genius lurking in a web of intrigue on the planet of Necros.Clive Swift also deserves credit for a great performance as the vain, nasty, sleazy Jobel & his demise is a classic Who moment not to be missed. Bizarrely this adventure is loosely based on "The Loved One" by Evelyn Waugh but reallly is an affectionate tribute to the great Robert Holmes, the script-editor & scriptwriter of many Who classics.Writer Eric Saward held Holmes in great esteem & "Revelation" has a distinctly Holmesian flavour: a sharp focus on the horror elements of the plot; black humour with exceptionallly witty dialogue & a double act among the supporting cast. The most gaping flaw of the adventure is the tangential relationship between the Doctor & the main thrust of the plot. In part, I would suggest, it is due to the seemingly prickly relationship between Saward & Baker: Eric wasn't particulary enamoured of Colin's larger than life portrayal of the Timelord. Nevertheless, a great story.
The Commentary is fun & informative with Nilcola Bryant (Peri) admitting that several of her legion of male fans like her running , jiggling escape from an explosion as she almost experiences a "wardrobe malfunction." The documentry is great & shows Harper's determination to complete a difficult shoot despite the sudden cold snap that meant his shooting schedule on location was so disrupted it had to be rewritten ad hoc.
This may not be on a par with classics like "Genesis ..." "Caves of..." but a cracking adventure for fans of "classic" or "new Who".
Redeeming the Sixth Doctor's era. - By: Mr. Andrew Young, 16 May 2008 
The Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, takes on his oldest & most popular enemies, the Daleks. This is perhaps the most unusal Dalek story of them alll. The story successfully mixes horror & black comedy, to produce a story which is one of the highlights of Doctor Who from the Eighties. It's quite remarkable how well this story works, considering how little the Doctor & his assistant Peri actuallly do. There is a fine alll-star cast including William Gaunt, Elanor Bron & Alexi Sayle. Terry Molloy also returns as Davros & is much more impressive, portraying Davros as an intelligent schemer, rather than a mad ranter.
There are two moments of horror, which stand out in this story, & may be a bit disturbing for younger viewers. Watch for the scenes where the Doctor encounters a mutant at the beginning of the story, & when we see the head of Stengos inside the Dalek casing. Watch out also for a rare glimpse of a glass Dalek, which had originallly been conceived as part of the original Dalek story, although never used. It is worth noting that this is the story, which introduces us to the idea of two warring Dalek factions. This concept would continue into the Seventh Doctor's era with `Remembrance of the Daleks.'
The DVD contains the usual additional features, including a commentary, a documentary depicting the making of the story (Revelation exhumed), studio footage & continuity links. Sadly, the commentary & documentary are overshadowed by the rare absence of Colin Baker! However, here's a thoroughly entertaining Doctor Who adventure, & along with Vengeance on Varos, I would rate it as the peak of Colin Baker's brief time as the Doctor. The Sixth Doctor's era was maybe not the most popular of the series, but here's a story which can stand up among the greats of Doctor Who.
The way it should have been.... - By: andy, 18 Apr 2008 I am not going to go into great analytical depth with this story, since a good many other reviewers have done this here already.
Suffice it to say that not only is this probably one of Colin Baker's best story, if not the best one; it is also one of the best Doctor Who stories of the 80's, with a real creeping sense of horror at the things Davros is up to, some brilliant dialogue, & some very black humour.
It is my opinion that this one story equals the classic Hinchcliffe era of Tom Baker stories in its tone.
By that i mean its level of violence, humour & feeling.
Those stories, (Pyramids of Mars, Seeds of Doom, Deadly Assassin etc) are revered as classics, & this one should be too.
Only a few things jar, & that is the Alexsei Sayle DJ character which is a bit over the top, & significant in that producer would repeat this mistake in future series of casting tv celebs in unlikely roles that would jar terribly. (There are a lot of 7th Doctor tales that can be included here.)
The only other thing that is a shame, is that of the ending, where Colin Bakers last line linking into what was supposed to be a real cracker of the opener of the next season, was deliberately missed off.
This is because the series was temporarily shelved due to a lack of support from BBC bosses & pandering to silly people who callled it too violent, & would next year go into a decline from which it would never recover,(until 1996,and then 2005 with the new series) with the start of the 'new direction' which would increase the humour content at the expense of realism, thanks to pandering to the Mary Whitehouses of this world, something that thankfully does not affect the new series, where the balance is pretty good.
The Trial of a Timelord that would follow, would see the episode count effectively slashed to half, & with the introduction of more dodgy casting to follow....
Colin Bakers last line?
Well, he was originallly supposed to say,
"Alright, I'll take you to Blackpool."
The reason?
This was to be where the Doctor was to have a return match with the Celestial Toymaker, a foe first encountered by William Hartnells Doctor in the story of the same name.
This was to be followed by another story with the return of the Ice warriors for the first time since 1974, & then it was rumoured, a story set in either Hong Kong, or san Francisco, with the return of the Autons....
Instead, we got the Trial Of a Timelord.....
Doctor Who should be scary, violent, & black humoured occasionallly, & this story depicts that perfectly, with Colin baker doing a star turn.
Enjoy this, & think about what could have come after in the same vein when you hear the last line that never was!
This story, could, & should, have been the start of a new classic, dark scary era for Doctor Who, with Colin Bakers Doctor seeing a longer tenure.
Alas, it was not to be, but this story stands talll in its own right as a good one.
????????? - By: C. J. Mccolgan, 18 Dec 2007 
what happened here? Eric saward wanted a chance to redeem himself??? Well what a poor job he did, the acting is rubbish, the dalek voices are way off track & what a poor cliffhanger & story!!! just do this- DON'T BUY THIS
