Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred

In Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks, the Doctor and Ace find themselves in the midst of a civil war between the Daleks!

Part 1

In Shoreditch, 1963, the Doctor’s past begins to pick up with him at the Toffer’s Lane junkyard where the series began. And where an old foe is returning.

Ace: What are you expecting to find down here, anyway?
The Doctor: The unknown.
Ace: Oh, isn’t that a bit dangerous?
The Doctor: Probably. But then if I knew what was down here, I wouldn’t have to look.

Part 2

Renegade Daleks battle Imperial Daleks for control of the Hand of Omega. Ace takes them on single-handedly at Coal Hill School. And Ratcliffe makes his move.

The Doctor: Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge, rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways. The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences.
John: Life’s like that. Best thing is just to get on with it.

Part 3

The Doctor discovers the difference between the two Dalek factions …. And why they want a stellar manipulator. One of the sides has possession of the Hand of Omega. The Doctor hopes that Captain Gilmore’s people are up to the task ahead.

The Doctor: It was Omega who created the supernova that was the initial power source for Gallifreyan time travel experiments. He left behind him the basis on which Rassilon founded Time Lord society, and he left behind the Hand of Omega.
Ace: His hand? What good was that?
The Doctor: No, no, not his hand literally. No, no, it’s called that because Time Lords have an infinite capacity for pretension.
Ace: I’ve noticed that.

Part 4

The streets of East London are the battleground for a civil war fought between the Daleks. The Doctor faces the Dalek Emperor. He reveals himself to be Davros, waging one last battle against The Doctor.

Davros: We shall become all p…
The Doctor: [Interupting] Powerful! Crush the lesser races! Conquer the galaxy! Unimaginable power! Unlimited rice pudding! Et cetera! Et cetera!
Davros: Do not anger ME, Doctor. I can destroy you! And this MISERABLE… INSIGNIFICANT PLANET!

Editorial review of The Remembrance of the Daleks courtesy of Amazon.com

“Remembrance of the Daleks,” the final Doctor Who story to feature the titular mutant cyborgs, is a particularly notable adventure for the way it ties the plot into the very first story, “An Unearthly Child,” made 25 years before. It is 1963, and the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, arrives in London with new companion Ace (Sophie Aldred), where two Dalek factions are engaged in a deadly search for the Hand of Omega. Ace quickly proves herself adept with high explosives, and while there are references to the history of the show, including some nice in-jokes, the drama is played much straighter than in McCoy’s first season as the time traveler.

This is Doctor Who with a decent budget; the period setting is surprisingly lavish and there are some fairly intense action sequences. The Daleks remain as menacing as ever, the plotting has an intriguing air of mystery, and McCoy injects some steel into his characterization. Aldred serves an Ace as a heroine with attitude (very much post-Sarah Connor from The Terminator), and if this really does prove to be the Daleks’ swan song, at least they go out with a bang. –Gary S. Dalkin

Cast

• Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who – The Greatest Show in the Galaxy) … The Doctor
• Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who – Survival) … Ace
• Simon Williams (The Uncanny) … Gilmore
• Dursley McLinden … Mike
• Pamela Salem … Rachel
• Karen Gledhill … Allison
• George Sewell … Ratcliffe
• Michael Sheard … Headmaster
• Peter Halliday … Vicar
• Joseph Marcell … John
• William Thomas … Martin
• Jasmine Breaks … The Girl
• Derek Keller … Kaufman