REVIEW: Remembrance of the Daleks

Bonded polycarbide armour: also flammable

Ah, Remembrance. It's one of the best serials of the McCoy era, and a truly great Dalek story in its own right. Not only that, but as a 25th Anniversary special, it has more than a handful of cheeky references to the show's past. On this viewing, it's easy to see why it's a perennial fan favourite: it's got a great story (thanks, Ben Aaronovitch!), the Cartmel Masterplan is starting to play out and the Daleks look spectacular. Well, OK, they do wobble quite a bit, but their arsenal has been turbo-charged and the imperial Daleks in particular are sleek, elegant and they can climb stairs! Yes, this is also the story that finally lays to rest the old chestnut that running up a flight of stairs is all you need to do to outfox a Dalek.

Take that, Russell T. Davies!

So, what's the plot? The Doctor and Ace arrive in London, 1963 (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) to find a Dalek holed up in the scrapyard at Totter's Lane. This is, incidentally, meant to be the very same scrapyard in which the First Doctor parked his TARDIS in the very first episode; although it is disappointing to see that the producers couldn't be arsed to spellcheck I. M. Foreman's name.

An error so grievous that these fans are on the brink of rioting

It's not long before it becomes apparent that there are two factions - renegade and imperial - both out to get their "grubby little protuberances" on the Hand of Omega, a Gallifreyan stellar manipulator which the Doctor hid in London many incarnations ago. In a grand twist, the Doctor actually wants them to get it because he's got plans of his own; although not before one faction has wiped the other out. "Well devious!" as Ace rightly puts it. In the meantime he's keen for Brigadier Group Captain Gilmore and his band of brothers not to get diced in the crossfire.

Chunky to his friends

There's so much to like about this outing. First of all, the effects are top notch, with the Dalek extermination ray being a notable example. It now pulses out of the gun in a burst of energy, briefly giving the victim an x-ray before they die of massive internal injuries.

The Daleks have also overhauled their army, and on the imperial side they've drafted in a new recruit: the Special Weapons Dalek. I can imagine the thinking that went behind this. Over the centuries, Daleks have always been equipped with the traditional egg-whisk gun, and even when they're deployed in large numbers, they have a hard time hitting anything accurately. To be honest, given the fact that they've only got one eye with zero peripheral vision, it's not that surprising they're such poor shots. Not only that, but they spend far too much time telling their victims that they're going to exterminate them before doing so, giving them ample opportunity to scarper. Answer? Just make the gun ginormous and crank up its power by a factor of a zillion. What do you get? A Dalek that's basically just a massive moving gun. He doesn't have a voice or an eyepiece because when you're packing that kind of firepower, who cares whether you can speak or see? Fire at will!

He could do with a hose down, though

It's not just the Daleks who have upped the ante: with Ace at his side, the Doctor is now fully equipped with a battle-ready companion. When she's not bashing Daleks to bits with a Hand-of-Omega-powered baseball bat...

Whatever you do, don't call her small

...she's blowing them up with rocket-propelled grenades!

Hiding behind a piece of furniture from a Dalek, Doctor?
Don't worry, your fans do it all the time.

The chemistry between Ace and Doctor Seven is good in this story. There's a decent amount of playful banter, in amongst which the Doctor is able to offer a potted history of the Daleks and Ace's interjections are often both humorous and perceptive. She labels the Dalek factions as blobs and blobs with bits on, and explains their dispute as being about purity (or otherwise) of blobbiness. There's also a great switcheroo scene in the van after the Doctor gets tetchy about her driving abilities.

This vicar's spectacles would later belong to Josiah Smith.
One hundred years earlier. It's a timey wimey thing.

The underlying plot regarding the Hand of Omega is pure Cartmel masterplan genius. Some fans dislike this dimension to the Seventh Doctor, but I personally think it's brilliant - the only lamentable part being that Cartmel was never able to fully realise his plan before the series got canned in 1989. It's great when the Doctor drops little hints that he's more than just a Timelord, like when he describes the early experiments with time travel on Gallifrey as if he was there (before Ace questions this and he 'corrects' himself). The scene at the funeral parlour is good fun, especially when the undertaker is on the phone asking his guv'nor about the Doctor's appearance ("I thought you said he was an old geezer with white hair?")

Racial purity: not just a Dalek thing

Aaronovitch isn't afraid to use his story as an allegory for a serious moral message, either. The purity of the Daleks is contrasted with racist Mike and his fascist chums, led by Mr. "we were on the wrong side in the last war" Ratcliffe. In addition, one of the finest scenes doesn't involve explosions or even Daleks; just a simple cup of tea in a cafe. It's a superb scene, and I'm so glad Sylvester McCoy fought to keep it in, as it almost got cut out entirely during the edit.

Best thing is to just get on with it.

Aside from the "Forman" slip-up, the other history references scattered throughout the story are really nice touches. We have the Doctor recalling the "Zygon gambit" and the "yetis in the underground". He makes a Dalek jamming device that he says is similar to something he once made on Spiridon, the so-called 'Planet of the Daleks' from the Pertwee era. There's the Doctor's casual "nothing so mundane" line when Ace incorrectly guesses the Daleks want to conquer Earth - because, of course, they already do... in the future. Plenty of "aim for the eyepiece" lines being bandied around, as well as references to Omega himself - who, famously was the villainous Timelord in the classic Three Doctors 10th Anniversary special. Not only is Coal Hill School back - the school at which Susan was a pupil - but Ace picks up a book on the French Revolution, just as Susan does in the first episode of "An Unearthly Child".

Too soon to tell.

Then there's President Kennedy's speech playing over the opening scene, as a reminder that he was assassinated the day before the first episode aired on television. And that very transmission is strongly hinted at when Ace is in the guest house, although the broadcaster's voice is cut off just as he says "Doc-". A lot of fans hate this because they think the show can't reference itself internally, but I just think it's entirely plausible for there to be a sci-fi show called Doctor Who in the universe of the Doctor. Why not? In any case, Ben Aaronovitch only meant it to be a throwaway line as a bit of an in-joke. If we want to talk about things being in the wrong place, we need only turn to Ace's ghetto blaster which - bizarrely - the Doctor seems to believe is more of a risk to the timelines than, y'know, two hordes of rival Daleks killing each other and those around them.

"Can't you at least put some jazz on?"

It wouldn't be a post-Genesis Dalek story without the appearance of Davros at some point, and he duly turns up at the end, having been hidden inside the admittedly improbable Emperor Dalek.

Davros, having had an argument with several corded phones

Terry Molloy is, once again, on fine form as the insane creator. He also throws in a delicious chuckle, which starts out as a standard Davros "Hah-hah-hah" laugh but ends with a higher pitched "he-he", like he's a naughty schoolboy. His ranting gives rise to the Seventh Doctor's immortal line for which he is famous (or infamous if you're not a Seventh Doctor fan; and if so, what's wrong with you?)

UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING! ETCETERA! ETCETERA!

In a reference to Resurrection of the Daleks, Davros also manages to evade an exploding spaceship at the very end by activating his escape pod. If you watch very closely, you can even see it!

Sneaky Davros

Some other nice touches include the overtly Scottish "burrrrrrrrrrrrrrn marks" line from Sylvester, the talking-the-Dalek-to-death scene towards the end and the very subtle hint that a female incarnation lies somewhere ahead in the Doctor's future:

If you look closely, you'll see.

Is there anything bad to say? Well, the Doctor forgets that he isn't actually High President elect of the Gallifreyan High Council anymore (he was deposed in absentia, as we learnt during the Trial of a Timelord). There's the fact that the Doctor actually commits genocide without any apparent scruples; but then, this is the Seventh Doctor and we all know how dark and devious he can be. It's part of his charm. No, if I have to single out the worst thing about Remembrance, it's this:

Terrible.

So, all in all, a very successful Seventh Doctor story and a fine tribute to the show's 25th Anniversary. It's a shame that many of the features it introduced have yet to make it into NuWho. I'd like to see the Special Weapons Dalek make a proper comeback (if you look closely in Asylum of the Daleks you'll notice a dead one in the background), and the whole imperial vs. renegade dimension was a good idea. Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel can be rightly proud of this serial, as can Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred who hit it off splendidly.

In closing, I'd be curious to know if the Doctor is still carrying these around with him:

The Doctor's business card

Maybe it was just an Eighties thing...