Who Reviews Revolution of the Daleks by DJ Forrest

 

When the episode aired on New Year’s Day, I admit to not feeling as overwhelmed about it as I should have been. I was looking forward to Jack Harkness playing companion, and there he was, a little older, but as ever, larger than life. The ‘fam’ was there, and yes, there were Daleks – another reason to be excited for the episode, but I felt underwhelmed and disappointed. 

So, I left it a while. I waited until 16^th January to rewatch the episode, and this time with the subtitles on. This helped enormously. 

One of the things I’ve discovered in many episodes of previous Who from 13^th Doctor, and indeed from SJA over the years, is that you’re often competing with the sound quality. Either the voices are too quiet, or the music is too loud and often drowns out the dialogue. In my excitement of looking forward to Jack Harkness coming up against Daleks again, I put that to one side, but I missed the important dialogue between Jack Robertson (Spider guy) and the soon to be elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, carving out a niche in the market, with upgraded Daleks, who were to become something less threatening to those operating them. So, for much of it, I was struggling to really make sense of what was going on, and felt a little let down by the battle on the bridge. 

Watching it a second time, made more sense, and where I couldn’t hear the conversations between Spider guy and Prime Minister to be, I could read their dialogue, albeit a little slow in the post up, but it helped. 

The result was - I loved it. I was able to flick between the dialogue and still focus on the characters, mostly. The battle scenes made sense. I even got emotional at the ending when Ryan and Graham left the TARDIS. I’ve never felt like that before. I almost shed a tear. I probably would have done if I’d been in the room on my own! 

It was a fantastic episode. Chibbers really put together a cracking story and it all made sense, and unlike Moffat episodes where sometimes even re-watching it several times still made no sense, I really, really enjoyed it. 

At the start of the episode featuring Jack Robertson, I was a little surprised, because I thought the spider had got him in the Arachnids episode, so it was a bit of a shock to see him again. I know time lines are all a bit wibbly wobbly, but it was clear that everyone knew each other since that day. 

I loved the ending with Graham and Ryan where Grace made a reappearance, almost a shining light, her final parting, knowing both her boys are going to make it, and make it spectacularly. 

Yaz and the Doctor, like Jack and the Doctor. They both have a deep feeling for that travelling alien in the blue box. Something more than perhaps either Ryan or Graham have. The dialogue between Jack and Yaz, I loved it. I mean, I loved it before I sat down to rewatch the episode. 

We’ve travelled with the Doctor, and travelled to all those magical places, and one day, maybe, we won’t see the Doctor again. They may never regenerate. So, we need to keep making memories. 

Revolution of the Daleks deserved the rewatch. I think from now on, I need to watch with subtitles on. It helps when some people decide to talk over it. (hate it when that happens). The new Daleks looked far more menacing than the pure Daleks – but oh, so awesome.