Revelation of the Daleks

I watched my copy of Revelation of the Daleks, which just came out on DVD in the US. This story is the Sixth Doctor's encounter with Davros and the Daleks. And this story is one where the Daleks really do take a back seek to their creator.

After having had Nick Briggs' voice of the Daleks over the course of the 2005 series one of the most noticable pieces of Revelation of the Daleks was that some of the Daleks sounded a bit off.

The story has some stylish direction by Graeme Harper, but the story is a bit of a jumble. It takes the Doctor and Peri most of the first 45 minute episode to get into the plot of the story -- something that would be unthinkable with the new series, even following the same format.

One of the more enjoyable things about Doctor Who is putting old episodes in a new context. Besides the new TV series, you also have the Big Finish audio Davros, which fits naturally in its explanations about how Davros has learned a whole lot more about the Universe -- including the Sixth Doctor's appearance -- than you might expect given that he's been pretty well in hibernation or a prisoner on screen in the TV series since his first appearance in Genesis of the Daleks.

Revelation of the Daleks wouldn't be a piece of original Doctor Who I would go to if you had only seen the new series, but it's certainly one of the stories that you have to watch as you get deeper into the series.