Goodbye to 12 - Doctor Who - The Witch's Familiar Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
The Witch’s Familiar
By Steven Moffat

“You are not a good Doctor.”

In Steven Moffat’s recent history his second part of two part episodes has failed to deliver. He does really well setting everything up in part one and giving us a cliffhanger to talk over during the week but when we get the conclusion we are scratching our heads going that was it.  Yes, I have not been a fan of Steven Moffat’s two part stories lately as I thought Series 8 series ender was ok and better than normal but other than that he hasn’t done well with the second part since The Doctor Dances back in 2005’s Series 1.

Goodbye to 12 - Doctor Who - The Magician’s Apprentice Review

We celebrate the Peter Capaldi era by revisiting the 12th Doctor's adventures as we count down the days to his last adventure.

Doctor Who:
The Magician’s Apprentice 
By Steven Moffat

“Davros knows. Davros remembers.”

After months of speculation and rumors since Series 8 has ended The Magician’s Apprentice has arrived and series nine has now begun in earnest.  The episode opens up with a child who happens to have wandered into an area where there are hand mines and is trapped and can’t get out.   The Doctor soon appears and tries to help the child from the trap until he learns the name of the child.  He then leaves the child to his fate and leaves in the TARDIS.

Doctor Who - The Witch's Familiar Review (Spoilers)

Doctor Who:
The Witch’s Familiar
By Steven Moffat

“You are not a good Doctor."

In Steven Moffat’s recent history his second part of two part episodes has failed to deliver. He does really well setting everything up in part one and giving us a cliffhanger to talk over during the week but when we get the conclusion we are scratching our heads going that was it.  Yes, I have not been a fan of Steven Moffat’s two part stories lately as I thought Series 8 series ender was ok and better than normal but other than that he hasn’t done well with the second part since The Doctor Dances back in 2005’s Series 1.

Doctor Who - Remembrance of the Daleks Review

With the return of Davros in The Magician's Apprentice we thought it would be good to look back at some of his Classic Who stories.

Doctor Who:
Remembrance of the Daleks 
By Ben Aaronovitch

DAVROS:  “The Daleks shall become Lords of Time! We shall become all!”
DOCTOR: “ Powerful. Crush the lesser races. Conquer the galaxy. Unimaginable power. Unlimited rice pudding, et cetera, et cetera.”

The Doctor brings Ace to 1963 London where there seems to be a mysterious van outside the school. What makes this interesting is the strange antenna that is on top of the van.  While Ace goes off to get some bacon sandwiches The Doctor investigates the strange van.  The Doctor’s activities are not going unnoticed as a strange little blonde hair girl is watching everything he is doing.   While The Doctor goes into the van he is told by Professor Jenson that there is strange activity coming from the school which is causing strange readings.  While Ace returns with Mike they are joined by Alison and are informed that something is happening at a junkyard that The Doctor is familiar with.

At the junkyard there appears to be a soldier killed by a deathray as Group Captain Gilmore calls it.  It is a lot more than a deathray as The Doctor has some nasty suspicions on who it is.  After blowing up the barricade it is revealed to be a Dalek.  The Doctor was kind of surprised at the type of Dalek it was as he was expecting a different faction of Daleks.  The two Dalek factions want the Hand of Omega and have chosen Earth as a battle ground for it.  The thing is The Doctor wants them to have it and has been planning this for quite some time and everything is going according to his plan.

Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks Review

With the return of Davros in The Magician's Apprentice we thought it would be good to look back at some of his Classic Who stories.

Doctor Who:
Revelation of the Daleks
By Eric Saward

“When you have become a Dalek, you will suffer for every indignity you have ever caused me.”

The Doctor and Peri have landed on Necros to go to the funeral of his old friend Professor Stengos. The funeral is being held at Tranquil Repose which is a place where people go to be frozen and then awaken when a cure for their disease is found.  On the way the pair is attacked by a mutant and tries to kill The Doctor before Peri hits him with a stick.  Before he dies the mutant tells The Doctor that the Great Healer has been doing experiments on him and others.

Unknown to The Doctor and Peri that the Great Healer is in fact Davros and he made the whole funeral for The Doctor’s friend to get him to Necros.   Davros is using Tranquil Repose for his own bidding as he is using the people in suspended animation to make a new type of Dalek.   Those that don’t work out he process them as food as another way to get funding for his new Dalek project.  The Doctor is starting to suspect something is not right with Tranquil Repose and once he is escorted to see the Great Healer and is greeted by Daleks it all makes sense.  Yet another encounter with Davros himself and this time Davros has the upper hand.

Doctor Who - Resurrection of the Daleks Review

With the return of Davros in The Magician's Apprentice we thought it would be good to look back at some of his Classic Who stories.

Doctor Who:
Resurrection of the Daleks 
By Eric Saward

“I'll say one thing for you, Davros. Your conversation is totally predictable. You're like a deranged child, all this talk of killing, revenge and destruction.”

The TARDIS is stuck in a time corridor which they discover leads to 1984 London near the docks.  In one of the warehouses is one end of the time corridor as they begin their investigation they run into Stein who is trying to escape the forces that control the time corridor.  In the warehouse the stumble upon the army that was dispatched there due to something that looks like a bomb.   While looking around the time corridor is activated and a Dalek appears.

While on the other side of the time corridor a Dalek ship is attacking a prison space station.  They are after a particular prisoner and they are hopeful he can find a cure for the Movellan virus that attacks the Dalek tissue inside the Dalek casing.  Davros is soon freed and he is out for revenge against the Daleks and especially The Doctor who he learns is on the other side of the time corridor.  Davros is determined that nothing will stop him this time and he will go to no lengths to achieve his revenge.

Doctor Who - The Witch's Familiar Preview Clip

Doctor Who - Destiny of the Daleks Review

With the return of Davros in The Magician's Apprentice we thought it would be good to look back at some of his Classic Who stories.

Doctor Who:
Destiny of the Daleks
By Terry Nation

“If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us?”

The Doctor is surprised to see that Romana has regenerated into the image of Princess Astra.  He says she can’t be like that and tells her to try again.   She tries a whole bunch of different personas but none of them fly.  She finally decides on looking like Princess Astra and The Doctor reluctantly agrees.   They land on a planet that the randomizer has chosen. The Doctor installed the randomizer to prevent The Black Guardian from finding them.

They land on a planet that The Doctor seems to find familiar. All rocky and looks like a quarry The Doctor and Romana go investigating but earth tremors appear to be happening and The Doctor gets trapped under a rock.  Romana tries to go back to the TARDIS to get K – 9 to help get him out.   The Doctor is soon freed by a group of disco dressed robots called The Movellians.  They take The Doctor back to their ship where they tell him that he is on Skaro.

Romana gets back and finds The Doctor gone and goes looking for him when she falls down a shaft. She is quickly frightened as the tremors start up again and this time the Daleks burst through the wall and quickly capture her and put her in a slave detail removing rocks.  The Doctor asks the Movellians why they are on Skaro and they say they are here to fight the Daleks and stop them from getting to their creator.  The Doctor soon realizes that Davros is still alive and that is bad news for everyone in the universe if he is reunited with The Daleks.

Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks Review

With the return of Davros in The Magician's Apprentice we thought it would be good to look back at some of his Classic Who stories.

Doctor Who:
Genesis of the Daleks
By Terry Nation

“Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear, in peace, and never even know the word Dalek.”

The Time Lords have diverted The Doctor, Sarah and Harry to Skaro for a mission of utmost priority. The Time Lords see a time where the Daleks will have destroyed all lifeforms and have become the dominate creature in the universe.  The Time Lords want The Doctor to prevent their creation or affect their genectic development so that they evolve into less aggressive creatures.

The Doctor, Harry and Sarah have been separated.  Sarah is captured by the Thals and put to work on their rocket while Harry and The Doctor have been captured by the Kaleds.  The Doctor and Harry are being intergraded and end up meeting Davros.  Davros is talking to the other scientist and introduces to them to the Mark 2 traveling device.  The Doctor explains to Harry that it is in fact a Dalek.  The Doctor also explains to Harry that they have to stop Davros from creating the Daleks and must do whatever they can to prevent Davros from being successful.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Remembrance of the Daleks

Doctor Who: 

Remembrance of the Daleks 

By Ben Aaronovitch

DAVROS: The Daleks shall become Lords of Time! We shall become all

DOCTOR: Powerful. Crush the lesser races. Conquer the galaxy. Unimaginable power. Unlimited rice pudding, et cetera, et cetera.”

The Doctor brings Ace to 1963 London where there seems to be a mysterious van outside the school.  What makes this interesting is the strange antenna that is on top of the van.  While Ace goes off to get some bacon sandwiches The Doctor investigates the strange van.  The Doctor’s activities are not going unnoticed as a strange little blonde hair girl is watching everything he is doing.   While The Doctor goes into the van he is told by Professor Jenson that there is strange activity coming from the school which is causing strange readings.  While Ace returns with Mike they are joined by Alison and are informed that something is happening at a junkyard that The Doctor is familiar with.

At the junkyard there appears to be a soldier killed by a deathray as Group Captain Gilmore calls it.  It is a lot more than a deathray as The Doctor has some nasty suspicions on who it is.  After blowing up the barricade it is revealed to be a Dalek.  The Doctor was kind of surprised at the type of Dalek it was as he was expecting a different faction of Daleks.  The two Dalek factions want the Hand of Omega and have chosen Earth as a battle ground for it.  The thing is The Doctor wants them to have it and has been planning this for quite some time and everything is going according to his plan.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Revelation of The Daleks By @Paul_Bowler

Doctor Who:
Revelation of the Daleks
By Eric Saward
Reviewed by Paul Bowler

JOBEL: You know, if the statue actually had been made of stone, I doubt if it'd have killed you.
DOCTOR: Really?
JOBEL: No, it would take a mountain to crush an ego like yours. Goodbye, my pretty.

The Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) arrive at Tranquil Repose on the planet Necros, where a facility run by Mr Jobel (Clive Swift) is used by some of the wealthiest people in the galaxy to cryogenically freeze their remains, until a time where the aliments that caused their deaths can be cured. The Doctor wants to pay his last respects to his old friend, Professor Stengos (Hugh Walters). However, when they are attacked by a horrific mutant (Ken Barker), the Doctor’s suspicions about Stengos’ death are confirmed.

When they arrive at Tranquil Repose the Doctor is almost crushed by a huge memorial that has been fashioned in his own likeness. Once inside Tranquil Repose the Doctor is captured by a new breed of white and gold Daleks that have been created by Davros (Terry Molloy). The creator of the Daleks has adopted the identity of the Great Healer so he can use the frozen bodies stored at Tranquil Repose to secretly build a new Dalek army.