Doctor Who: Destiny Of The Daleks (1979)

Destiny Of The Daleks begins with the strangest regeneration sequence in Doctor Who's history - his Gallifreyan companion Romana, who as far as we know wasn't injured (unless we imagine some "unseen adventures" between The Armageddon Factor and this episode), declares that not only is she regenerating, but that she can choose what she form she takes.

She then presents The Doctor with a variety of options, starting with that of Princess Astra (from The Armageddon Factor; as portrayed by Lalla Ward) - which is, ultimately, the body they agree on.

The TARDIS, now fitted with a 'randomiser', so they can elude The Black Guardian, takes The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana to a strangely-familiar, desolate planet, crackling with radioactivity.

Exploring the ruins of an ancient city, The Doctor discovers the planet is Skaro - the birthplace of the daleks.

The daleks are currently locked in a stalemate with the Movellans and the daleks have returned to Skaro to unearth their creator, Davros (David Gooderson) from hibernation. The Movellans have followed them to the planet to find out what the daleks are after.

It turns out that the humanoid Movellans - who, with their silver dreadlocks and skin-tight space suits, look like they are heading for a '70s disco rather than a showdown with the most feared race in the galaxy - are actually robots, but they are never going to be much of a challenge to Battlestar Galactica's cylons for the title of 'supreme skinjob' because of one, rather major design flaw: they wear their power packs on their belt. Remove these and they stop working! D'oh!

The mighty, computer-controlled, space fleets of the daleks and Movellans are held in an impasse until one side or the other can introduce a non-logical factor into their battle plans - which is what the daleks want Davros for... and why eventually the Movellans set their beady eyes on The Doctor.

Several times the daleks are referred to as robots (including by Davros), but they are not, as we all know: they are Kaled mutants inside mobile suits of armour. This is just one of several continuity errors with established dalek and Davros history that, while not crucial to the story, niggle long-term fans of the show and are especially annoying given the calibre of crew behind the show at this stage.

Terry Nation's last dalek script for the series is less than impressive. While the Movellans could have been worthy adversaries for the daleks (the idea that only another machine race could hope to even achieve a stalemate against Davros' brood is a strong one) their execution in the series leaves a lot to be desired and, not surprisingly, they have yet to reappear on our TV screens, despite being at war with the daleks for several centuries.

Destiny Of The Daleks was also Douglas Adam's first solo script editing gig on Doctor Who and he couldn't resist slipping in a Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy gag by having The Doctor reading a copy of The Origins of the Universe by Oolon Colluphid (an author frequently namechecked in Hitchhikers).

There's a lot of oddness in this story that doesn't sit quite right, from Romana's sudden and unexplained regeneration through to Davros not being quite himself (the extended sequence where he allows The Doctor to wheel him through the city tunnels like an invalid, without resistance or comment, seems totally out of character for the creator of the daleks).

Despite the presence of my favourite Doctor Who foes, Destiny Of The Daleks is a very small story compared to the epic grandeur and ambition of The Key To Time sequence which preceded it.