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“Davros: A Chilling Exploration of Power and Morality”

The second instalment in Big Finish’s Villains Trilogy pits Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor against his arch-nemesis Davros in a two-part audio drama that masterfully intertwines tension, character study, and moral quandary. With Terry Molloy reprising his iconic role, this story dives deep into the psyche of the creator of the Daleks, offering one of the most compelling depictions of Davros in any medium.

The story begins with a striking monologue from Davros, who defiantly vows to overcome death itself. This dramatic introduction sets the tone for a tale steeped in desperation and defiance, immediately plunging listeners into a narrative rich with intrigue and danger.

Molloy delivers a career-best performance as Davros, portraying him as a vulnerable yet manipulative figure. His emotional depth and fractured humanity are explored through flashbacks, particularly in a poignant scene involving his unspoken love, Shan. These glimpses into Davros’s past provide a haunting backstory, showing how tragedy and ambition forged the monster he became.

The narrative keeps listeners guessing about Davros’s true intentions. Is he genuinely seeking redemption, or is his cooperation with the Doctor and Transallied Inc. just another step in his grandiose schemes? This ambiguity heightens the tension, culminating in a climactic revelation of Davros’s ultimate plan for intergalactic domination.

Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor is as commanding as ever, delivering a fiery performance that perfectly contrasts with Molloy’s Davros. The Doctor’s moral struggle is palpable as he reluctantly works alongside his nemesis, all while warning others of Davros’s true nature. The dynamic between the Doctor and Davros is electric, with their philosophical duels providing some of the story’s most gripping moments.

Bernard Horsfall shines as Baines, the overconfident CEO of Transallied Inc., whose optimism and self-serving decisions add another layer of conflict. Wendy Padbury’s eerie portrayal of Mrs. Baynes, a historian dangerously fascinated by Davros, is a revelation. Her performance is unrecognisable from her time as Zoe, showcasing her versatility and adding an unsettling edge to the story.

The narrative raises thought-provoking questions about power, ambition, and morality. Davros’s manipulations expose the dangers of unchecked corporate greed and the moral compromises people make for the “greater good.” The interplay between the characters highlights the fine line between heroism and hubris, making this a story as intellectually engaging as it is emotionally impactful.

The two-part structure, with each part running approximately 75 minutes, maintains a steady pace filled with suspense and intrigue. The cliffhanger to Part 1 is particularly effective, leaving listeners questioning Davros’s motives. While the second part slows slightly in places, the overall narrative remains compelling, culminating in a ferocious confrontation between the Doctor and Davros.

📝Verdict: 97/100

Davros is a masterclass in audio drama, blending sharp writing, exceptional performances, and a thought-provoking narrative. It offers a fresh and nuanced exploration of one of Doctor Who’s most iconic villains, while also delivering some of the best moments for the Sixth Doctor in Big Finish’s catalogue. With its intense atmosphere, moral complexity, and unforgettable performances, Davros stands as a highlight of the Villains Trilogy and a must-listen for fans of Doctor Who.

Like many good Davros scripts this brings to mind the look and feel of Genesis of the Daleks, though there is much more comedy to be had out of the "is he evil or not?" central premise of part 1. I like that Davros and The Doctor both begin as pawns in this story with Baines being the actual villain. Having heard I, Davros many years back, this story definitely reads as a pre-cursor. It leaves you wanting to learn more about him, learn more about his journey.

I appreciate how Davros sees the doctor as an equal here. To the point that he stops his murder to keep him an assistant. I adore how clever the 6th Doctor is, e.g. asking the food robot for copper wire to eat (to aid his escape).

Of course Davros ends up manipulating his way to power, hoping to create his own twisted vision of the future. So far so normal, but softening him with an (almost) former love interest was a fascinating choice and a difficult one to pull off. I love the revelation that she is the person who proposed the idea of the Daleks, with Davros stealing the idea for himself. It is shocking how he throws her under the bus when it transpires that she is in a relationship - not that they ever explicitly state that this was his reasoning.

Its an almost perfect play but is a little overlong, with the ending not being quite as innovative as the rest of the production (among other things The Doctor outruns an atomic bomb...!) It definitely leaves me wanting to dip back into I, Davros after all this time.

Is it maybe a bit overrated? I suppose, but it’s excellent!
With this we get such a great Character Piece, delving further into Davros, and honestly it’s great to have a Story where he is the sole focus, no Daleks to be seen.
Malloy and Baker are great here, and I love their Interactions, dare I say Baker is the one who has the best banter with Malloy out of any Doctor really, so it was great seeing them face off again. Overall, really enjoyed this one!

Dang.  I was pretty excited for this audio.  Sure, I found Omega a little underwhelming, but it is generally considered the weaker of Big Finish's "Villain Trilogy" from these early Main Range releases.  Surely Davros and Master would impress me!  The jury is still out for the Master, as of writing this review, but Davros, well, Davros let me down in a lot of ways.

First, the good.  Davros' character is really well done here.  We do a good job getting into his past and delving into his history.  I like some of it.  It pairs nicely with the content we've seen in The Witch's Familiar and Magician's Apprentice.  And it fits well with Davros as he was established in the original series.  This was Big Finish's big debut of this character, and it was largely impressive overall.  It's cool having a Davros story completely independent of the Daleks.

I don't love the idea of Davros making the Daleks over some lost love and hurt feelings, rather than other stories that tend to focus on them being a more natural consequence of war, discrimination, and hatred.  It feels like Davros the audio adventure opts for character work more than the political side of the Daleks, and it does so at great cost.  Because the politics feel more relevant here than your average Davros story.  The whole point of the plot is that this corporation finds Davros and tries to use him.  The Doctor is forced to work with Davros while navigating the CEO, his wife, and an ongoing labour dispute kind of existing in the background for this.  It feels like the perfect set-up to examine the relationship between capitalism and fascism.  That's history.  That's how the Nazis were able to consolidate power and build their war machine, and there's a reason they went after the socialists and trade unions first.

So for the Davros story to kind of touch on these plot points, but never really examine it, is a missed opportunity.  I'd argue, if anything, writer Lance Parkin seems to not only miss the point, but kind of presents CEO Arnold Baynes in a sympathetic light.  I don't know if it was intentional, but it is laughable.  So even if the story has the right idea at heart - Davros does eventually take over the company while Baynes and his wife are completely irresponsible about it - it really feels like it fails to deliver on any concrete message about fascism.  Which kind of defeats the whole point, or what I most like, about Davros and the Daleks.

It's hard for me to get past this stuff.  If it were just a character focused story, then Davros would be a pretty solid audio.  I would have been okay with that - not every Dalek story needs to be serious, after all.  I'm not the one that brought up all this stuff about capitalism and corporations, though.  I wouldn't have even thought about it, if that wasn't the focus of the story.  If one is going to feature these ideas in any story, and bring it up as much as it is focused on as it is in Davros, than I expect that story, or any story, really, to have some purpose in doing so.  That Parkin fails to deliver a coherent point about this stuff means that it felt like a lot of the content around both Baynes characters was a pointless distraction.  I don't like how in both Davros and Omega now, we've had two different women obsess over the villain and basically serve as their mommy-therapist.  So when we are left with a fairly underwhelming ending, well, I'm left feeling dissatisfied, to a degree.

If it weren't for that good character work around Davros, I would rate this much lower.  He really gets to shine here.  Terry Molloy performs the character so well, and he delivers a full suite of emotions here.  We start off with familiar character beats - experiencing his rage, his bitterness, and his ability to scheme.  But near the end, we even get to see some new stuff - Davros gets very scared near the end of the audio and it is a performance to behold.  So I'm not blind to the strength of the Davros story.  I just had trouble getting past these weaknesses, because they are pretty serious faults in what could have been something special to me.

The Monthly Adventures #048 - “Davros" by Lance Parkin

Getting into the second instalment of the villain’s trilogy and getting away from what is definitely the third most iconic Doctor Who villain (totally), we are now diving into what would most certainly constitute as the Doctor’s two biggest rivals and, in a way, his two equals. We’ll get to the obvious next story, but now, it’s time for an old foe: a distillation of evil, a being of guile and hate and rage. It’s time to learn all about Davros.

Called to investigate megacorporation TIA and their affairs, the Doctor finds himself hired as their new head of R&D, along with an old enemy - Davros. But it seems Davros has turned over a new leaf. Can evil really change?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Davros has always been a bit of a strange concept for me; on one hand, is it more interesting to have Daleks be a product of themselves, the natural route when hate and fascism takes over, slowly poisoning their minds and bodies (in the most literal sense) with their ridiculous ideals until it consumes them or have them be the product of a mad scientist’s experiment, like something out of a 1950s pulp sci-fi novella? When put like that, the answer may seem obvious, but then you actually watch the stories with Davros and it turns out he’s always the best part of whatever episode he’s in. I actually consider Genesis of the Daleks the most overrated episode of Doctor Who ever (I mean, come on guys, it’s a 7/10 if we’re being generous) but I can’t deny the absolute masterwork Nation did writing the scenes between the Doctor and Davros. But what about here? In the story named after the scarred tyrant. Well, I think this is the absolute best he’s ever been. And in no small part because of Terry Molloy, whose maniacal, crazed performance is captivating from start to finish, delivering some of the best dialogue I’ve heard in The Monthly Adventures so far. Parkin gives Davros several monologues here but easily the best is when he describes his dwindling sanity during his cryostasis, every regret, night terror, hate and guilt running through his head, bringing him to the point of madness, only for his heart to beat, along with the realisation it had been a single second. It’s a moment that makes the blood run cold and from the sharp stringed music to Molloy’s viscous delivery, it’s easily my favourite part of this whole 150 minutes audio. And that’s saying something, the story here is great. The Doctor and Davros have both been hired by a megacorporation to develop new tools for human benefit, and Davros sees it as a chance at redemption, whilst the Doctor fears Davros will inevitably slip back into his old ways, just now with the largest company in the galaxy backing him up. Not only is it a great concept, it's endlessly fun watching these two bicker in a lab and honestly, I wished there were more of them stuck working together, constantly sabotaging each other’s projects. It would’ve been a very different tone but it would’ve been fun. But that’s the thing, this audio isn’t fun, it’s as grim as can be. It’s about change and inherent evil, it’s about redemption and the point at which your past wrongs become too great. We get to see bits and pieces of Davros’ backstory here, showing how he stole the idea for the Daleks from a female colleague he was in love with before, being driven mad by jealousy over her idea, eventually killing her when she confronted him about it. For a moment, it looked like it was trying to make Davros a sympathetic villain but then, much akin to the characters in the story, the rug is pulled out from under you as you realise just how sick and twisted Davros truly is. It’s a twist you know is coming; like the Doctor, you know Davros, and you know he’ll inevitably change. And that’s the other thing, through its examination of evil, Davros also manages to fit in a nice little criticism of neo-nazism. I mean, the main plot is basically what if Tesla revived Hitler and got him to work alongside Churchill, so you just know that there’s some nice mockery of modern fascism, mainly through the CEO of TIA’s Dalek-sympathising wife. It’s not the focus, but it’s always a nice addition to a story.

However, Davros is a character-piece first and a story second it would seem because I have a couple complaints. My main one is that the first and second halves don’t really flow into one another. Davros feels like he’s becoming better one second and then is back to murdering thousands of people the next. He seems to flip mindsets within the space of a scene and it can be somewhat jarring, especially when everything leading up to it had been so subtly done. And then there’s TIA itself, the megacorporation who hires the Doctor and Davros. They’re odd because it feels like Parkin tried to make some anticapitalist comment but then just stopped short of going all the way. The CEO - Arnold Baynes - and his wife, Lorraine, are both oddly sympathetic characters. You’d think they’d be money-making sociopaths, akin to Rochester and Miriam from Jubilee, but on the whole they’re just normal characters, and perfectly reasonable people. But then you have Lorraine being a published neo-nazi and Arnold murdering a character in the third act only for it to never be brought up again. It’s weird because the fact that this story did nothing with the giant capitalist money making farm and even showed them as somewhat likeable was just a strange choice to me.

Davros is as distilled as a character piece can get, insightful, twisted and intelligent, it’s filled with great performances and even better characters. A few hiccups in the story don’t impact what is an incredible entry into the villains trilogy and a brilliant portrayal of one of Who’s oldest enemies.

9/10

Pros:

+ Davros has never been more terrifying, cruel and fascinating

+ Terry Molloy’s performance is sickeningly mesmerising

+ Amazing dialogue that fuels some all time great monologues

+ Chilling portrayal of evil and insanity

+ Brilliant take down of neo-nazism

Cons:

- The switch from recovering megalomaniac to tyrannic ruler of all in Davros’ behaviour feels unnatural

- Confusingly sympathetic portrayal of a megacorporation