Review of The Evil of the Daleks by glass_shard
29 April 2024
This review contains spoilers
So a fun fact: this was originally intended to be the final Dalek story ever, since the creator of the Daleks, Terry Nation, wanted to make his own Dalek TV series, and the Doctor Who crew thought they were gonna lose the rights to use them. I think it's a really good finale, and honestly I wouldn't have minded if this was the last Dalek story ever made.
So the plot is, the Daleks have captured these two guys and are blackmailing one and bribing the other to go along with their plans to find the "Human Factor," the mysterious factor that makes humans triumph over Daleks every time. (spoiler: it's compassion, bravery, camaraderie, curiosity, etc, all that good stuff.) And the Doctor, meanwhile, seems all too keen to go along with their plans. Seeing how everyone reacts to the manipulation is really interesting, with one guy being nervous about the outcome, and the other guy being all too keen to go along with it.
It's set in Victorian England for most of its runtime and I really like that; the whole thing has a bit of a gothic feel to it, and especially with the animation's color being able to grant some additional atmosphere, the setting really comes alive.
I do think it kinda drags in the middle, but that's just most long Classic Who stories. This one honestly keeps up its intrigue most of the time, which I'm glad about considering that it's a seven-part story and it would be a really rough watch if the pacing didn't hold up. The climax is worth it, anyway.
What happens near the end is, three test Daleks gain the Human Factor and gain compassion, which the Doctor predicted to cause a Dalek uprising. But as it turns out, we meet the Supreme Dalek, who reveals that they were never looking for the Human Factor – they wanted the Dalek Factor, everything that humans aren't, and they want the Doctor to spread it across Earth.
This was a fantastic twist that really hooked me, and the climax involved the Doctor almost being infected with the Dalek Factor, then tricking all the Daleks into gaining the Human Factor and revolting against the Supreme Dalek. This moment really shined in the animation especially, and I love the whole idea of the Daleks gaining humanity and rising up as a final end for them. I almost wish it would've stuck, but the Daleks won't be back for a while at least anyway.