Thursday 23 June 2011

Review: I, Davros - Purity

Following on from Peri's review of part one, I, Davros - Innocence, today we bring to you the second part of the series, Purity.


The Daleks have listened to Davros's story and dismiss him as just an inferior child, but he believes he was more of a man than those who surrounded him. The Council of Twelve, busy passing their judgements in the House of Congress, never saw what was coming because they were too scared of his intelligence, aptitude and determination. It would be many years before the Supremo, that weak, spineless individual who believed he ruled the city, would finally enable Davros to realise his potential. Until then it was only Davros's mother who believed in him. The rest of them feared him, and they were right to do so...

This story isnt a direct continuation of the first story, though it does tie in nicely with previous events. First off I am going to say that if you havent listened to the first then this is ok to listen to and understand but there will be things in it that you probably wont get because they reference the first audio as apposed to stuff you may have seen on screen.

So we rejoin Davros as he get nearer to his 30th birthday. Miserable in the Kaled military he is longing to join the Science Corps in a bid to extend his works and use his knowledge for the good of the Kaled/Thal war. When Davros is summoned before the Supremo he initially begins an egotistical rant about how he is better than most of his superiors and is being unfairly held back from helping the war effort in a more scientific way, but the Supremo surprises him by saying that his work has actually been monitered in a very close way and that he wants Davros to undertake a secret mission that could help the Kaleds win the war against the Thals. He won't reveal what the mission is but says that Davros's position in the Science Corps will be pretty much secured if he accepts, albeit within the recycling division. Davros accepts straight away but the Supremo tells him to sleep on it before agreeing.

When Davros goes home he encounters his sister and after a conversation about genocide and extinct races as casualties of war, his sister becomes more wary of him and convinced that he is becoming a psychopath who will bring disaster and distruction because of his beliefs that the Thals should be iradicated. His sister tries to explain that the Thals and Kaleds once lived together in peace and could do so again, but Davros is convinced she is lying and dismisses her as needed therapy. When his mother arrives home she stirs up the pot by saying that the recent peace is a bad thing and the Thals, being a lower class as she considers, should be wiped out, fuelling Davros' fire. There is also a hint that his family think he may be gay as up to now he has refused to get a wife, which his family needs to happen so they can have access to the family trust fund which is currently held in his name. When Davros accidently lets slip about his secret mission, the family is torn about the best interests of him and their lifestyle. He realises though he has said too much and refuses to say anymore.

Im skipping a fair bit here which is mainly character stuff and fastforwarding to this: Davros accepts the mission and along with his team makes his way over enemy lines. When they happen upon a weapons factory, Davros and anothermember of his group break inside and take pictures and evidence. They realise the expense that went into the factory and that just destroying it would cripple the Thals, but they are soon captured and one of the Thals knows Davros by name. Before any questioning can take place though Davros' Major shoots the Thals and saves them. While on their way from the Thal city they are attacked by snipers and Varga Plants and very few of their number are left surviving. Davros works out that the whole mission has been a set up and demands to know whether the intention was to have him killed. When they are backed into a corner by a group of scavengers, two of the four remaining soldiers are killed and it is left to Davros and his friend Reston to make their way home. (Ive missed out a big spoiler here that links back to the first audio). When they reach the home lines, Reston is badly wounded by their own defense systems and begs Davros to end his life. Davros at first is reluctant to kill his friend but then becomes so enraged that this man doesnt want to live at absolutely any cost, that he angrilly takes his pistol and kills him anyway.

We cut to Davros in the hospital after being rescued and where he is being visited by his mother. At first he is convinced that it was she who betrayed his mission, but after being persuaded otherwise and ruling out the Supremo, he decides that it must have been his sister. His mother fuels this belief and agrees to sort the situation. She returns home and finds his sister in the pool and tells her that Davros has died over enemy lines. She convinces her that if she gave the game away about his mission then she is now safe to admit it. His sister admits that she was scared of Davros and only wants peace and so mentioned it to some of her Peace Treaty friends but never wanted him dead. His mum accuses her of being a threat to Davros' greatness and proceeds to drown her in the pool. When she next visits Davros she tells him that she found her daughter drowing in the pool and that her last words were that she loved her. They agree to put word out that she has been murdered by rebel Thals.

At the end of the story Davros is standing over the body of his dead sister preparing her autopsy. He leans in and tells her corpse that despite her hatred of science she will make a great contribution. He cuts into her body and plans to combine her genetic makeup with that of a Thal and a Varga Plant to make the greatest weapon the planet has ever seen....

Ok, this story is brilliant. There isnt a whole lot more that I can add. Ive cut out a massive section of it to keep it spoiler free but the gist of it is there. At 70 minutes this story is absolutely jam packed with story and quite honestly could have been split into two. For those of you who like it dark, this is possibly the darkest audio adventure I have ever listened to. At times spine tingling, at times just down right creepy, this story goes to places you wouldnt expect of a DW related release but is pure brilliance. Whether you are a fan of Davros or not, you cant fail to be taken in with this story and its even better if you have listened to part one as well. The back story of the Varga Plants which I have largely left out of this review, is also really unnerving. Get this! Thats all I have to say.

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