The Apocalypse Element
The Doctor and Evelyn arrive on the planet Archetryx, which is playing host to an unprecedented summit meeting of major powers in the universe with time travel capability…including the Time Lords, represented by the Lord President and CIA operative Vansell, whom the Doctor is less than pleased to see. But despite elaborate security measures taken for the summit, odd things are happening - the gravity wells on Archetryx are acting up, and one of the delegates is practicing mind control on the local security forces. The Doctor is immediately suspicious of the entire situation, especially when the phantom planet of Etra Prime suddenly appears, headed straight for Archetryx. The Daleks are behind this incident, attempting to harness the knowledge of the time-travel-capable species to perfect their new doomsday weapon. But the Daleks don’t count on one thing: a Time Lord named Romanadvortrelundar, who has spent 20 years of her life in the Daleks’ clutches, escapes with knowledge of the Daleks’ plans…as well as the transference crystal they need to focus their new weapon. Romana’s reunion with the Doctor is rushed as they evacuate Archetryx and retreat to Gallifrey, only to find that Vansell’s lust for inside knowledge of the other powers’ time travel vessels has given the Daleks a foothold on the planet of the Time Lords. Even without the focusing device, the Daleks settle for an uncontrolled demonstration of their new weapon - and the resulting massive reaction, if left unchecked, will consume all matter in the entire universe in a matter of hours.
written by Stephen Cole
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas BriggsCast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Maggie Stables (Dr. Evelyn Smythe), Lalla Ward (Romana), Karen Henson (Monitor Trinkett), James Campbell (Assistant Monitor Ensac), Andrea Newland (Commander Vorna), Anthony Keech (Coordinator Vansell), Toby Longworth (Monan Host), Michael Wade (The President), Alistair Lock (Dalek voices), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices), Andrew Fettes (Vrint / Commander Reldath)
Timeline: after The Spectre Of Lanyon Moor and before Bloodtide
Review: While I dare say that Apocalypse Element is better than the earlier Dalek Empire story, The Genocide Machine, it still seems to be bogged down by some of the same problems. While the Daleks do posess the kind of arrogance needed to make the leap of logic that they do here (if the test of their weapon starts an uncontrollable chain reaction throughout the entire universe, they will be able to conquer whatever advanced planets are necessary to acquire technology that can control the reaction), I can’t see them being quite so wild in their strategic thinking. These are the same Daleks who, in an admittedly pathetic plot twist in 1979’s Destiny Of The Daleks, couldn’t break a stalemate with the Movellans because they couldn’t come up with a strategy original, daring and unpredictable enough to catch the other race of robotic villains off guard. And yet these same Daleks are going to take a wildly uncalculated gamble on a doomsday element which can only be contained if they can subjugate a world with the necessary technology before the entire universe is consumed? C’mon! (more…)
The second title in the BBC’s series of remastered sound effects and music compilations is impressive in its scope, even though it leans much more heavily in the direction of effects than it does music.