Why I like the Only Other Chair on Skaro
One of the major themes of this upcoming season is looking to be hybridity (based on the season opener at least) - the friend in the enemy and the enemy in the friend and all that. We got a look inside the Daleks in a way we really never have before, and a look inside their creator. There is wonderful symbolism in having Davros carrying around the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver and the Doctor running around with a disconnected Dalek gun for the whole episode, and this is perhaps made most obvious with the Doctor scooting around in Davros’ chair like he wants to play bumper cars. Which he does. It’s straight out of the Time Daleks bits in “the Ten Doctors” and it’s wonderful.
So let’s talk about Davros. I have already talked about Davros at length in this space but hey, new episodes, so lets talk about him some more. Davros is an evil sonofabitch. No two ways about it. But this episode was very much about the humanization - or, rather, perhaps, Kaledization - of Davros: we see him as a child, and as a dying old man; we see him laugh and cry and mourn his people and love his children; we see him powerful and fragile and wise and foolish - and most importantly, none of this undermines the fact that he is still an evil sonofabitch. Archibravo, well done team. And so much of this, so much of what wins us over, is done through humor. Look, the Doctor, after getting the call, spends three whole weeks working up his puns and jokes, and Davros still has better one liners than he does. It’s embarrassing really.
My personal favorite is “you are not a good Doctor.” All that build of of Ask No More What A Good Man Should Be blah blah blah is just leading up to one dumb brilliant joke, and they both just dissolve into giggles at it. And that’s exactly the note Davros needs to hit to complete his stunningly successful emotional manipulation of the Doctor - simple genuine laughter. But a close second has to be the only other chair on Skaro, which is arguably the single best joke in the entire series to date. And the thing about it is - it’s just a joke. There’s no deeper meaning or subtle jab or grand significance. Davros just thinks he’s funny. And he is! Davros, genocidal megalomaniac seeking godhead through destruction, last of the Kaleds, progenitor of the Daleks, most ruthlessly unrelentingly pure dag-nasty evil guy in the Whoniverse, is freakin hilarious. And says dumb stuff just to amuse himself. How beautiful is that?
They say never explain the joke. But since when do I ever do what they say? Davros’ wheelchair is probably the single most famous chair in the Whoniverse. It had Dalek Bumps before they were cool. It sets him apart from his own people even when we first meet him and gives him that iconic silhouette - so iconic that even though he managed to reduce himself to just a head and a box of wires by the end of the original run of the show they bring it back. And it tells you a lot about him that, while designing his travel capsules and all kinds of engineering and even ultimately replacing his withered hand with a robot one this episode, he never thinks it’s important enough to invent himself a new set of legs. That’s just not what he’s interested in. And then the Doctor steals his chair! And goes on and on and on about what a great chair it is. Davros Was Once A Man - he needs chairs. Daleks though, don’t have legs. Like their creator, they roll around. Daleks don’t need chairs. This is lampshaded in “Curse of the Fatal Death” when the Doctor and his loyal companion Emma are strapped to chairs on board the Dalek spaceship awaiting extermination, and Emma is of course asking the hard questions - “why do Daleks have chairs?” The answer?- “I’LL EX-PLAIN LA-TER!” Well, 15 years later, and here we are - well done Moffat.
What really makes it though is the build-up. Classic supervillain build up. My torture device is an honor, blah blah blah:
“I hope you’re grateful. It wasn’t easy to procure. And very nearly unique, of course.” *beat* “The only other chair on Skaro.”
I…I just can’t with this line. Davros has got his chair back, but he’s clearly been paying attention to how much the Doctor admired it. There’s no reason the Doctor needs a chair in this scene. It isn’t even a particularly good chair (although objectively better than every chair on Gallifrey oh my god). And Daleks don’t use chairs, so of course they just…wouldn’t have any. Especially if this is a rebuilt Skaro, not one where you’d expect to find leftover Kaled or Thal chairs. It’s a good-will gesture, if you will, but also Davros being kind of a punk. And making himself laugh and the Doctor groan. Softcore Affably Evil - most comparable to the Master creeping on the TARDIS intercom to inquire after the status of Jo Grant’s Coccyx. Where did they get a chair? Do they keep it around just to interrogate prisoners? It’s fantastic. But it’s not the only chair on Skaro - it’s the only other chair on Skaro. Again with the deliberate parallels between the Doctor and Davros - not least that they’re the only two people who would benefit from the presence of chairs. It’s fantastically brilliant and made me laugh out loud, along with the rest of the theater. The sinister and the silly juxtaposed, but surprisingly not campy. Just, drawing a connection - “Daleks, man - you know how it is.” Because Davros is not now and has never been a Dalek. Davros is just a dude. Who happens to be one evil sonofabitch, but people can be like that, and the point of this story is that Davros is still very much people. Even a genocidal megalomaniac has to laugh sometimes.
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