The second chapter of I, Davros rejoins Davros as a 30 year old member technical operative in the Military elite. Davros, however, is desperate to be part of the Scientific elite but finds his aspirations hindered and frustrated.

This chapter plants further seeds for Davros’ eventual descent into insanity. He is clearly a genius but is ignored by the scientific community. He is forced to work with substandard technology and has his ideas and proposals for winning the interminable war rejected out of hand. The only person who has faith in him is Calcula.

Calcula, though, is seemingly clinging on to her sanity by the fingertips. Her position of the power in the council is clearly unstable and the death of her husband (at her own hand) has lead to financial difficulty with Davros’ unattainable trust fund the only glimmer of hope. It is fascinating to see Calcula struggling to cling to her old life by living it through Davros’ success. It leads to a horrendous, disturbing scene where she murders her own daughter, Yarvell when she discovers that she had passed information to the Thals about Davros’ secret mission nearly causing his death.

Davros’ secret mission forms the core of this chapter. Recruited by the Supremo – the head of the Kaleds, Davros and his colleague Reston are sent to gain intelligence about the Thal operations, along with soldiers including the ineffectual Major Brint. The mission affords us a look at Skaro’s wasteland and a glimpse into the Thal base.

The series continues to tie elements of television stories into Davros’ background. Here we find Varga plants (from The Dalek’s Masterplan) in the wasteland as well as the ‘mutos’ seen later in Genesis of the Daleks. I also wonder if the title of Supremo is a reference to the Supreme Dalek rank seen on television. There is even a sequence where a character is paralysed from the waist down by Kaled gunfire much like Ian in The Daleks and later the Doctor himself, in Planet of the Daleks.

Terry Molloy plays Davros from this chapter onwards and does a sterling effort at playing a 30 year old version. The rest of the cast, as in Innocence, are wonderful (although Gary Russell crops up as a slightly stilted Thal guard) and special mention must again go to Carolyn Jones as Calcula. This chapter also features Andrew Wisher, son of Davros originator Michael Wisher, in the role of Davros’ ‘best friend’ Reston – and very good he is too.

A strong continuation of the series with some interesting character developments and a touch more plot.