I Davros

Editor: Peter Labrow · Last update: Tuesday, April 24, 2007

What made Davros into the character we first meet in Genesis of the Daleks – cold, evil and without pity?

I Davros, DC 1: Innocence

Writer, part 1: Gary Hopkins
Writers, part 2: James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown
Writer, part 3: Lance Parkin
Writer, part 4: Scott Alan Woodard
Director: Gary Russell
Davros: Terry Molloy
Young Davros: Rory Jennings
Nasgard: Richard Franklin
Yarvell: Lizzy Hopley
Calcula: Carolyn Jones
Magrantine: Peter Sowerbutts
The Supremo: John Stahl
Nyder: Peter Miles
Release dates: July-August 2006

Every strong character has a rich back-story – sometimes it pays to know what that back story is, and sometimes it doesn’t. Take the Doctor. Apart from a few snippets, we know very little about the many hundred years of his life before we first meet him on that cold dark night in Trotters Lane in London. This enigma is a key part of the success of the Doctor’s character.

When Terry Nation introduced Davros as the creator of the Daleks, scant thought was paid to what made Davros who he is. We knew that he was crippled and forced to live with the aid of permanent life support and we know that he was the chief Kaled scientist. Much more than that we didn’t know. Why is he so cold? So obsessed? Why is Nyder so loyal to him?

In this four-part audio drama, each part handled by a different writer, Big Finish attempts to answer those questions, by painting a picture of Davros’ life up to the time when we first meet him.

Davros isn’t universally loved by Doctor Who fans – mainly due to the way in which he has been written. Frequently two dimensional in character, he’s often a pantomime villain who pushes the Daleks firmly in the background in most of stories in which he appears. Yes, he is probably one of the great Doctor Who villains – but that status is mainly due to the strength of Genesis of the Daleks. You can’t really fault the acting – as the last actor to handle the role, Terry Molloy always delivers a solid and powerful performance – within the confines of the script.

So I, Davros isn’t necessarily a concept to attract Dalek fans. Those who overlook this series of plays are really missing out though, because this is one of the strongest Big Finish productions.

We first meet Davros in his teens – a self-absorbed and serious child, played wonderfully by Rory Jenkins (who played Tommy Connolly in The Idiot’s Lantern). Davros is born into a noble, respected family. His mother, Calcula, presents a public face of sweetness, but has a heart of steel and is determined to shape Davros’ success. Much of Davros’ ruthlessness comes from her, a woman who even ensured that Davros was not sired by her husband, but by a leading official with ‘the right qualities’. She thinks nothing of killing her own family members once they have become expendable.

Even in the first scene, Davros is fascinated by science, fascinated by the new mutated creatures appearing in Drammankin Lake (which is later to become the lake of mutations which we encountered in the first ever Dalek story). There are other nice touches – nods to the past which never become too indulgent. Davros’ sister is called Yarvell – based on the name originally given to the Daleks’ creator, Yarvelling, in the 1960s Dalek Chronicles. We also meet the Varga plants – and there is a passing reference to Dal history (in the Dalek Chronicles, the Dals became Daleks, rather than the Kaleds becoming Daleks as they did in Genesis of the Daleks).

Calcula wants greatness for Davros – and schemes ensures that his career is in science, not in the military as his father expects. Throughout the series, Calcula continually removes obstacles to Davros’ progress and shapes his life. Davros, a detached child, is closer to his mother than he is to most others – but he later thinks nothing of using her dead body to progress his experiments.

As Davros becomes older, Terry Molloy takes over the role – and gives a superb performance, carrying Davros convincingly from his teens, through his career as a scientist until he becomes part of the scientific elite.

As he becomes older, Davros becomes wiser and more scheming himself, showing no remorse as he drives himself towards his destiny. Knowing that the Kaled race cannot survive on Skaro while the Thals exist, all of his energies go into making weapons to support the war effort. Having realised that Skaro itself will not be habitable by the Kaleds in their present form, he switches his efforts to genetically  engineering the next stage in Kaled evolution.

Even his severe injuries gained during a Thal attack only serve to add to Davros’ determination and he sees no wrong in taking babies from parents by rule of law in order to support his research.

Terry Molloy may lead the performances, but the rest of the cast are just as faultless. Carolyn Jones plays Calcula with a frosty edge that you can almost touch and Shan, as Davros’ assistant and nearly love interest, is an effective foil to Davros’ growing coldness. Peter Miles reprises his role as Nyder towards the end of the series, showing the ruthless efficiency we know from Genesis of the Daleks – and taking the journey from being an ambitious officer towards being Davros’ loyal henchman.

This is one of the best audio plays to come out of Big Finish and an intelligent take on the creation of one of Doctor Who’s most evil characters.