Best Davros?

1. Michael Wisher

Wisher is to Davros what Delgado is to the Master. Davros in his original appearance is fascinating because he's utterly convinced that he's the hero of his own story. However horrifying his ideas and actions become, his motivation never strays beyond the comprehensible. Even at his most barbaric, he comes across not as a stereotypical mad scientist, but as an extremely intelligent man with a robust survival instinct responding in what seems like the only rational way to the impossible situation he's been living with for the better part of a century. A solemn, serious-minded man of immense passion and conviction whose moral compass has become so skewed that he regards genocide on an unprecedented scale as a noble and virtuous route to peace. Wisher may have had the advantage of starring in arguably the greatest serial in the show's history, but his chilling, understated performance plays a crucial role in selling the character.

2. Terry Molloy

A close second. Molloy was the Davros of my childhood, and I'll always retain a certain nostalgic fondness for him. As an actor, he's definitely a worthy successor to Wisher. My only issue is that (as much as I enjoy them both) Revelation & Remembrance pushed him a little too far in the cartoon villain direction - which he pulls off brilliantly, and is only really a problem when compared to his characterisation in Genesis. His stunning work for Big Finish more than makes up for it. I've often wondered why he wasn't invited back for NuWho, but that turned out to be a blessing. Speaking of which...

3. Julian Bleach

Bleach is an excellent actor and an inspired choice for the role. Unsurprisingly given RTD's previous work, the Series 4 portrayal was too deranged and overemotional, with the cackling, screaming, etc. somewhat lacking the cold, considered, scientific edge that initially made him so compelling. Still, a first-class performance. As for Series 9, he did as well as anyone could with the abysmal material he was expected to work with, but the character was humiliatingly desecrated, one of many to fall victim to Moffat's egotistical rampage of postmodern revisionism.

4. David Gooderson

Meh. Do I really need to justify this one? The bit where he slaps away Tom's bag of jelly babies is priceless, but that's about all he has going for him. A textbook miscast, if you ask me.

Molloy's my fave. Sacrilege I'm sure.

I voted Michael Wisher.

I like Terry Molloy's take on Davros a lot, and certainly I think Big Finish has given his Davros more dimension and shown how well he can carry audio.

But for me the most piercing, raw emotive loathsome essence of Davros is done with most precision in Genesis.

Julian Bleach, is great in the role but in an odd way his Davros is too forgettable because of how little good writing he's gotten.

As for David Gooderson....

ClockworkOcean wrote:A textbook miscast, if you ask me.

Well he certainly didn't fit the mask, did he?

This was a tough one for me because I really love both Michael wisher and Terry Molloy in the role both fit the role like a glove ultimately went with Molloy because he has done more stories audio and television both have that insane edge as Davros. I agree bleach and David Gooderson are the weakest .

I agree pretty much with Clockwork Ocean on this one. Nothing more to add except I don't think Davros was handled wrong in Journey's End. Its quite a nice conclusion to his character that he finally creates the hypothetical virus that can wipe everything out that he talked about with Tom from Genesis. Also it ties into Genesis rather nicely with the idea that the Time lords foresaw that the Daleks would destroy all other life forms. Maybe that was a timeline where Davros succeeded in creating the Reality Bomb that Tom changed?

The problems with Journey's End are entirely to do with the Doctor/Rose shipping crap, too many characters, undermining the Doctor and god moding him at the same time. Davros' characterisation would have been fine in a better story IMO.

The Moffat two parter however is the worst. One thing I'll say for Gooderson is that I think he started the twisted father/son relationship between Davros and the Daleks that was quite interesting.

burrunjor wrote:Nothing more to add except I don't think Davros was handled wrong in Journey's End. Its quite a nice conclusion to his character that he finally creates the hypothetical virus that can wipe everything out that he talked about with Tom from Genesis. Also it ties into Genesis rather nicely with the idea that the Time lords foresaw that the Daleks would destroy all other life forms. Maybe that was a timeline where Davros succeeded in creating the Reality Bomb that Tom changed?

The problems with Journey's End are entirely to do with the Doctor/Rose shipping crap, too many characters, undermining the Doctor and god moding him at the same time. Davros' characterisation would have been fine in a better story IMO.

My assessment of the Series 4 portrayal probably comes across harsher than I intended. It's not like he was horribly mishandled or anything, just little too outwardly emotional at points where I'd prefer something more stoic and contained. Writing aside, Bleach was probably NuWho's very best casting decision.

In order of preference:

Wisher.
Molloy.
Bleach.
Gooderson.

I would potentially place Bleach above Molloy but I didn't like the stories he (Bleach) got given and so he didn't shine. His own performance and delivery were very good though.

Molloy started off well but gradually got shoutier and shoutier. Especially in Remembrance where he also looked a mess. The emperor dome opens and there is Terry covered in wires. As if the sfx chaps didn't have time to finish preparing him for the camera and just dropped the wires on him in a hurry. That said he improved enormously during his big finish stories.

Gooderson just didn't seem right for the role. Just an angry pensioner in a wheel chair. I wouldn't criticise his abilities as an actor. I just didn't think he was very good in that particular role.

Roy Tromelly.

ClockworkOcean wrote:

1. Michael Wisher

Wisher is to Davros what Delgado is to the Master. Davros in his original appearance is fascinating because he's utterly convinced that he's the hero of his own story. However horrifying his ideas and actions become, his motivation never strays beyond the comprehensible. Even at his most barbaric, he comes across not as a stereotypical mad scientist, but as an extremely intelligent man with a robust survival instinct responding in what seems like the only rational way to the impossible situation he's been living with for the better part of a century. A solemn, serious-minded man of immense passion and conviction whose moral compass has become so skewed that he regards genocide on an unprecedented scale as a noble and virtuous route to peace. Wisher may have had the advantage of starring in arguably the greatest serial in the show's history, but his chilling, understated performance plays a crucial role in selling the character.

2. Terry Molloy

A close second. Molloy was the Davros of my childhood, and I'll always retain a certain nostalgic fondness for him. As an actor, he's definitely a worthy successor to Wisher. My only issue is that (as much as I enjoy them both) Revelation & Remembrance pushed him a little too far in the cartoon villain direction - which he pulls off brilliantly, and is only really a problem when compared to his characterisation in Genesis. His stunning work for Big Finish more than makes up for it. I've often wondered why he wasn't invited back for NuWho, but that turned out to be a blessing.

Spot on assessment.
That's pretty much all you need to know.
And obviously you're completely right about Gooderson.

I can't assess the NuWho guy without going back and trying to stay awake through Journey's End, and I'm just not prepared to waste my time with it.

I agree that Bleach is a good actor. The problem with his Davros is very much the writing.

I still think Molloy is the best Davros. I wasn't blown away by Wisher to be honest and Gooderson is just poor.

Terry Molloy for me. I used to love his website before being recast. He had a lot of cool stuff on it.

True fact, the day after Journey's End was up, he posted a really sad message on his website on how the BBC hadn't even consulted him about the return of Davors, and how he felt extremely hurt by it, especially since he'd been doing things for Big Finish. He then took it down within a couple of hours. I was really saddened reading it.

I am happy that BF has gone with him for the Time War box set, and that they continue to use him for the character. I think he would have still been able to (let alone wanted to) play the character again, and the fact RTD didn't even consult him on it is a fucking disgrace.

Molloy for me, too.

Whenever I see Wisher's Davros, I always think it screams children's show villain. And that's perfectly fine, as Doctor Who is, at it's core, a children's show. But Molloy takes it up a notch and portrays the character as one befitting of a Shakespearean drama, almost. He's genteel and even somewhat urbane, despite his horrifying appearance.

I only wish he'd had Wisher's lines to deliver. Because though I think Genesis as a whole is quite overrated, it has to be said that the Doctor's private scenes with Davros are exquisitely written and defining moments for both characters.

I think Revelation did a lot to enhance Molloy's version of Davros. That script came closest to capturing the subtle dynamics of the original, without which the character was in danger of becoming a one dimensional cartoon Hitler with a Dalek voice.
Big Finish have also given Molloy the chance to expand on the character's potential.
On that score, it would've been fascinating to hear Michael Wisher in a BF audio, but Molloy does a great job.
I'll be revisiting Bleach's Davros sooner or later, but from memory there was nothing much wrong with his actual performance, it's just the scripts....
But he was still more convincing than Gooderson....

I really wish Tom Baker was around to grab my left hand every time I felt the urge to fap.

1:58

Some good big finish stuff here