The Dalek Masterplan completes a sell-out performance

28 October 2007

Interalia Theatre has completed its production of the stage production of the Dalek Masterplan to a full house at every performance.

With smoke still thick in the air from the final scene of The Dalek Masterplan, the cast of the production took their bows to a rapturous and well-deserved applause.

Notionally an ‘amateur’ production, there was little that could be called amateur about it. Those who saw the show would agree that the performances were all excellent and that the script (considerably but respectfully revised from the original television version) was well-paced, exciting and funny.

The cast takes a bow ? left to right, Dale Fletcher as Governor Zephon, James Adamson as Stephen Taylor, Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks and Nick Scovell as t he Doctor.The cast takes a bow – left to right, Dale Fletcher as Governor Zephon, James Adamson as Stephen Taylor, Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks and Nick Scovell as t he Doctor.

With so little to find fault it, it’s still worth mentioning some of the most outstanding elements of the production. Top of the list has to be Nick Scovell’s performance as the Doctor. Although Nick had unquestionably ‘borrowed’ some aspects of the character from other Doctors (most notably the second) it would be wrong to say that this was any form of impersonation: Nick made the character his own.

The Daleks take a bow ? and get a bigger applause than the cast!The Daleks take a bow – and get a bigger applause than the cast!

Nick’s other triumph was his adaptation of the script – quite a challenge when you consider that the original had originally taken place over twelve episodes, plus a one-episode prequel. All of this was condensed down to two 45-minute acts – carrying the pace and humour of the new series as well as all the essential elements of the original story.

To have Nick Briggs playing the Daleks was a benefit at every turn: Nick is such a versatile voice artist that many people didn’t realise that all of the Dalek voices were played just by him, live (apart from when more than one Dalek spoke at once).

Nicolas Briggs voices the Daleks from on high during The Dalek Masterplan.Nicolas Briggs voices the Daleks from on high during The Dalek Masterplan.

Martin Johnson’s music was at the same time both powerful and understated – always creating the required mood but never dominating.

The Dalek operators performed flawlessly, and could perhaps even give the wonderful Barnaby Edwards a run for his money!

But in truth, every one involved in the performance – from actors to Dalek builders, lighting technicians to sound crew – pulled together an outstanding and memorable event.

And of course there was the mini-convention on Saturday, an event that was fun, lively and made the whole production that much more special.

Peter Labrow of Dalek Links (centre) is asked an awkward question by David J Howe (left); Nick Scovell looks on (left).At the convention, Peter Labrow of Dalek Links (centre) is asked an awkward question by David J Howe (left); Nick Scovell looks on (left).

All of the proceeds raised will be given to charity.

We’ll be adding some final reviews, articles and media clips to the Dalek Masterplan section on Dalek Links. If anyone attended the event and would like to send their comments to us, we’ll add those to the reviews.

Finally, a special thank you to all of the people who came to me and expressed their thanks for the work which goes into Dalek Links. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to maintain the site and the one single comment made by a (very) young man, that he visited the site every day and it was his home page, made it all worthwhile.