"Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and... oh, the end of the universe has come!"
If Doctor Who ever had an equivalent to Khan Noonien Singh, it would be Davros, creator of the Daleks. Insane, brilliant, and megalomaniacal, every time Davros appears in the Doctor's life, it's a major event in the series. Although MIA after the events of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End at the end of Series 4, every Whovian out there knows that sooner or later, Davros will return in some fashion.
But how did Davros come to be this mad genius convinced in the genetic superiority of one-eyed octopi sealed in giant rolling pepperpots with a plunger and whisk for arms? I, Davros attempts, nay, SUCCEEDS at painting the picture of Davros' early days leading up to the accident that cost him his legs and sight, and finally to the creation of the first Dalek.
Do I love the hell out of this series? YES. It's an amazing story, helped along by an amazing cast, with Terry Molloy as the adult Davros. (Yes, that means that part of the story involves young Davros, and it's great!) I say cast because this is not an audio book. I, Davros along with the vast majority of publishings by Big Finish are more like audio plays, with a full cast and soundtrack. I'll touch on some more of their offerings another time, but rest assured, very few fail to impress.
Okay, let's give a little backstory on Davros first for those poor saps who've never watched any classic Doctor Who. We first met him in the 4th Doctor story Genesis of the Daleks, where the Doctor, Sarah-Jane, and Harry are ordered by the Time Lords to either halt the creation of the Daleks, or alter them in some fashion to make them less hostile. During their adventures on the planet Skaro, they encounter Davros, who the Doctor easily deems as irrevocably insane, and is eventually shot and presumed killed by the Daleks. However, it turns out that he entered a hibernative healing state, only accidentally revived a few centuries later by the Doctor and Romana (II), and is taken into custody shortly thereafter by one or another of the human empires as one of history's greatest war criminals. That's the basic backstory. Oh, and eventually he ended up as pretty much nothing but a head in a Dalek casing. But we're going before all that, to by best guess, either years or months before Genesis of the Daleks. Get all that? Now, while there are spoilers coming, I've heavily summarized everything, so just reading what I've had to say isn't nearly good enough, you need to listen to the actual thing. Also, only Part 1 will receive a full summary, in order to hook you in [;)], but I'll cover the other 3 parts in brief. Okay, let's start at Part 1:
Innocence sets the stage and cast of characters, primarily Davros and his family. In terms of Skaro history, the 1000 Year War between the Kaleds and Thals is still going on, although neither side has started nuking the shit out of each other yet. Davros is the subject of a power struggle between his father Nasgard and his mother Calcula (gee, I wonder if she's a schemer at all?); Dad wants Davros to join the military like him, while Mom thinks that Davros' destiny is to join the Scientific Corps (Think Mengele, but with better funding). Davros' sister Yarvell is already joining the Military, and after she's not there, somebody blows up Davros' home with Nasgard and his sister, settling the argument once and for all. As such, Davros begins tutoring under Magrantine, who wishes to take revenge against Davros for his father's crimes against Magrantine's own child. In response, Davros locks Magrantine in a radiation chamber and gives him the Dr. Manhattan treatment.
Needless to say, this isn't an Alan Moore comic, so Magrantine isn't coming back as a god-like being. After roasting his tutor, Davros meets with his mother, and by accident her lover Quested, who is also Davros' real, biological father. Davros also doesn't take this well, and shoots Quested dead before taking Calcula back to Magrantine's lab in a "Look what I did!" moment. At that moment, the rival Thals begin a missile assault on the Kaled city, ending Part One.
Set 14 years after Innocence, Purity tells the tale of how Davros became one of the leading scientific figures among the Kaleds, following a dangerous mission against a secret Thal base. Successful, despite a Thal ambush, on the way back home, Davros discovers an ancient ruin that starts his mind laying the groundwork for the eventual creation of the Daleks. Oh, and that ambush? It was arranged by his own sister who believed that Davros was a dangerous lunatic. So when Calcula finds out, she handles it in her most motherly fashion.
Yeah, she holds her under until the bubbles stop. What a lady! But it gets worse...because the story ends with Davros preparing to experiment with his sister's corpse in order to create some sort of bioweapon. Hey, uh, Calcula, I think your daughter might have had a point about that "dangerous lunatic" thing.
Corruption picks up a few years later with Davros now firmly in charge of the Kaled scientists. But the ruler of the Kaleds, the Supremo (snicker) has decided to order Davros to explain where all the money they're giving him is going. Don't worry, that doesn't last long as a Thal assassin interrupts in order to make an attempt on Davros' life, as their strategists have determined that Davros is the biggest threat to the Thals. Oh, how right they are. Anyway, the assassin is subdues and Davros orders her body delivered to his lab for experimentation. Over the course of the story, Davros decides that victory cannot simply be winning the war, no, they have to kill every last Thal on the planet. But even the Supremo thinks that this is too far, and sends an officer to destroy Davros' research and cripple Calcula. But she doesn't like that, so she turns on all of Davros' heavy duty radiation emitters, killing the officer, and mutating her almost beyond recognition.
More stuff happens, including Davros hanging out in the Kaled maternity facility, but towards the end of the story, the bombs that cripple Davros land, leaving him reliant on his iconic life-support chariot to live, despite the Supremo and others rather wishing Davros would just blow his own brains out instead.
The final chapter, Guilt opens with Davros betrayed and kidnapped by Thal agents. Despite being very glad that Davros is out of his hair, the Supremo knows that it's just as dangerous to leave him in the hands of the Thals. As such, he sends a team led by a Kaled named Nyder (a name familiar to viewers of Genesis of the Daleks) to rescue Davros, which they accomplish handily. Upon his return, Davros demands the Supremo and the ruling council give him total control over any and all Kaled children in order to preserve their "genetic purity". The Supremo and council denies this demand, so Davros tells them that all the anti-radiation drugs he's been giving them are laced with tiny remote controlled explosives, gives them a big "fuck you" in the form of a repeated shout of "EXTERMINATE!" and blows them to kingdom come.
The story ends with Davros converting a Thal spy into the first Dalek, ending on the new life form screaming "I AM ALIIIIVE!" in a traditional Dalek shriek of anger.
So, that's a general summary of the series, and it's a dark, slightly disturbing sci-fi tale. Does it rely on some cliches here and there? Yes. Does it work? Hell. Frigging. Yes. Like I said, if you like Doctor Who, Daleks, and want some insight into their evil creator, you need to listen to this audio series. You can buy the entire series here for about $20 and taxes as a digital download, and it's worth every penny. A standard /10 rating scale is insufficient for this series, so I'll just leave this as highly frigging recommended. Buy it and give it a listen. Sure it's 4+ hours long in total, but a true Whovian shouldn't have too much trouble scraping together some time for it.
Besides, what else are you going to do until the 50th Anniversary Episode in November?
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