I adore it when through prose we get to see into the heads of characters that we don't get to see the perspectives of in the main show, and that's exactly what this story is.

The insights into Davros' mind are brilliant, and pairing him up with Eleven for these stories is a stroke of genius. His thoughts about The Daleks, hearing how he sees them as his kids is just great, the moments where he talks about knowing the true feelings of the daleks, how they can only feel hate, but how he sees more emotion than that, and you can't quite tell how much of it is delusion and how much is maybe true, maybe they can only hate but maybe there's varying levels in it. The but where he talks about how the daleks would be a lot calmer if everyone else would just die as well was great, and the choice to have daleks fight krillitane, almost exact opposites, was spectacular.

And then the ending, The Doctor's plan to prove to Davros that 'Dalek' can mean something else if he makes it do so, the daleks blowing themselves up and leaving Davros, never to call on him again. The fact that he almost considers The Doctor's offer until The Daleks call him one last time for the Time War.

It's just another great character piece.

📝5/10

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! 

"A Festive Feast with Davros and Daleks"

The second story in The Wintertime Paradox takes a strange and ambitious turn, exploring the Doctor’s complex relationship with his greatest foe, Davros. The premise—a Christmas dinner tradition where the two meet in stunning locations across the universe to simply talk—has the potential for sharp, intriguing dialogue, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

A Case of Offbeat Characterisation:

Rudden’s portrayal of both leads feels oddly out of step. Davros, usually cold and menacing, comes across as too polite and composed, lacking his usual venom. Similarly, the Eleventh Doctor feels uncharacteristically flat. There’s even a baffling moment where Eleven drinks wine, directly contradicting Steven Moffat’s established trait that he doesn’t like it. These inconsistencies sap much of the energy and fun from the story.

Themes of Christmas and Creation:

The dialogue largely focuses on the Doctor’s and Davros’s contrasting philosophies, with reflections on Christmas and Davros’s twisted role as the “father” of the Daleks. While this could have been a fascinating clash of ideologies, the conversations feel somewhat pedestrian and fail to deliver the tension or insight one might expect from such an encounter.

A War Overshadowed:

Meanwhile, a Dalek-Krillitane war rages in the background, but it’s treated as an afterthought. Instead, the story shifts to Davros’s inevitable attempt to kill the Doctor, only for the Daleks to once again betray their creator—exactly as the Doctor predicted. This overused plot device makes for an anticlimactic ending that feels disappointingly familiar.

Final Thoughts:

Though the premise of a holiday meeting between the Doctor and Davros is intriguing, the mischaracterisation and lacklustre plot ultimately undermine the story. The potential for a truly unique exploration of these iconic characters is left unrealised, making this a forgettable entry in The Wintertime Paradox.

A promising idea fizzles out, leaving behind an uneven tale that’s neither festive nor particularly engaging.