Davros is determined to wipe the Thals from the face of Skaro. He will stop at nothing and will sacrifice anybody to see his legacy continue.
Davros is determined to wipe the Thals from the face of Skaro. He will stop at nothing and will sacrifice anybody to see his legacy continue.
I, DAVROS: GUILT
In previous reviews, I’ve complained about Big Finish’s regular inability to provide satisfactory resolutions to plot arcs or miniseries. That trend is openly defied with “Guilt,” the final part to the I, Davros series and arguably the best of the four. Writer Scott Alan Woodard has been tasked with taking Davros from the onset of his infirmity through the creation of the Daleks, and the script is unrelenting in its presentation of Davros’s obsessive insanity. Terry Molloy, who showed a restrained anger in his performances as “healthy” Davros, lets everything out in “Guilt,” only allowing Davros kindness or patience when he’s getting exactly what he wants. Taxed with what he sees as the ultimate survival of the Kaled race, and their eventual transformation into gods — and isn’t that a brilliant source of the name “Dalek?” — he doesn’t accept any opposition, sweeping away the entire Council in a brutal coup. Peter Miles returns to the role of Nyder 30 years later, and he sounds exactly the same: just as cruel, just as unforgiving. And yet Woodard gives Nyder and Davros a friendship — perhaps the only time we’ve seen Davros enjoy a moment of levity in this series and, of course, it’s with the SS analogue! Lastly, and most disturbing, is Davros’s motherly concern for his mutant “children” — it explains his relationship with the Daleks in simple terms, but yet it’s truly unnerving.
What of the “guilt” of the title? It’s not about feelings of guilt, but rather responsibility — and everyone we see is responsible for the ultimate rise of the Daleks. Davros’s role is obvious, of course, but consider: the Kaled Council and the Supremo could have stopped him long ago, but overlooked his experiments in the interests of winning the war. Calcula raised Davros to be ruthless, of course, while Yarvell compromised her principles and betrayed her brother’s trust. Yet most guilty of all is Skaro itself, war-torn for so long that its societies are defined by conflict, and its individuals embodied by people like Nyder and Baran (Nicholas Briggs). Little surprise, then, that mutation leads to the “evolution” of the Daleks, the ultimate products of a society that has known nothing but war and hatred. Nor is it a surprise that a Thal mutant is inside the first functional Dalek: they might be biologically different, but otherwise they’re exactly the same.
The I, Davros series is a true achievement for Big Finish. Steve Foxon’s sound design is excellent throughout, his music grim and oppressive. Gary Russell’s direction is similarly effective, with every episode pitched perfectly. It would have been easy for Big Finish to take the lazy way out, making Davros the product of child abuse or having him driven insane by his injuries, but instead they’ve produced a carefully-crafted evolution of a madman. Davros is the inevitable product of Skaro — we know he’ll eventually create the Daleks, but now we know he’s truly a man of destiny. We can also see why the Doctor will become Davros’s natural enemy: both scientists, but possessing diametrically-opposed moral codes. This series was Gary Russell’s final project as Big Finish producer, and it’s only fitting that he went out on a masterpiece.
All Doctor Who fans should own this series.
10/10
Series average: 8.8