REVIEW: I, Davros: Purity (Doctor Who Audio Spin-Off)

After the excellent opening installment ‘Innocence‘, we jump over a decade ahead in Big Finish‘s spin-off series I, Davros, with Terry Molloy playing the character in his younger years. (He also plays a much older Davros in each episode’s opening scene, set during his trial between ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ and ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’. It’s a nice little scene that provides an excuse for Davros and the Daleks to look at their past while preparing for their future.)

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In this episode, the plot is mainly focused on a mission Davros has to make behind enemy lines. At this point in his life, he’s desperate for a chance to not only prove himself but also finally move on from weapons testing onto the Scientific Corps. But the mission is a rather desperate one, and it’s going to take every bit of Davros’s intelligence to survive, even when the past comes back to haunt him along the way…

Terry Molloy is great at playing a younger version of Davros in this story, knowing how to play aspects of the character we all know – particularly his pride and his ego – while at the same time, presenting us with a man who’s not yet become so completely obsessed by his work. He’s no longer the creepy child we were introduced to, but he’s still, in some key ways, very naive, even disturbingly so. He’s still very intelligent, not just in terms of science but also of personal survival. In fact, his biggest problem isn’t his intelligence, but how fully aware of it he is, and how it leads him to continually clash against his superiors. He’s got a long way to go before becoming one of the most important people on Skaro, but this mission might just be exactly what he needs to finally get himself noticed.

The development of Davros in this episode feels rather more subtle than in the first. There are tiny hints along the way of the mission inspiring him and his methods, not just in terms of technology or genetics, but also, of what it takes to survive. We also get to discover someone who was possibly the closest thing Davros ever had to a friend: Reston, someone else who works in weapons testing and gets sent on the mission with Davros. All of which nicely help to push Davros forward toward his destiny.

At home, his family are having a great deal of money problems after losing a lot of influence and power. Calcula and Yarvell have much smaller roles in this episode, as the action remains focused on Davros. In fact, in some ways, it almost feels like the opposite of ‘Innocence’, after young Davros had such little focus in that episode. There’s also a lot less seen from the more political side of the Kaleds, as a result.

It almost feels a bit of a shame, at times, as the character of Calcula is so great to listen to that you really want to hear more from her character. However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t leave an impact on the story, and in one horrifying scene in particular, the listener really gets to find out just how truly insane she is and just how far she will go to protect her son.

While lacking some of the excellent political intrigue of the first episode, I, Davros: Purity is another strong entry in the series, providing another excellent glimpse at both the war on Skaro and Davros himself, and pushing him that much closer into creating the Doctor’s greatest enemy.

Next: Doctor Who: The Potential Dalek Invasion of Charon

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