All great heroes are defined by their villains – and few villains are as iconic as Davros, nemesis of the Doctor. We took some time with the man behind the mask as this years Adelaide Supanova!
G-Funk: We are here at Supanova Adelaide 2013 and we are talking to Terry Molloy and we will ask him who he is. Can you tell us what you are known for?
Terry Molloy: (in character) I am known for being Davros, creating of the Daleks and nemesis of the Doctor who must be exterminated.
G: Well, that was all I wanted to hear! See you later! Now, you’re not the current Davros, can you put us on the timeline?
TM: I’ve been Davros longer than any other, Davros originally came into with Tom Baker and with Michael Wisher way back in the 70s. I was the third Davros to come in because David Gooderson played him after Michael Wisher. I played him with Peter Davison, with Colin Baker, with Sylvester McCoy and then with all the Big Finnish with Paul McGann. So I’ve played Davros about fourteen times on television, on radio and on stage. I played it the longest. When the new series started they decided to bring someone else back into the role, which is their right because I took the role from someone else and if they chose to have someone else playing that part that’s up to them. I’d love to have done it but sadly didn’t get to have the opportunity.
G: It’s almost part of the tradition of the show, that we turn the actors over every now and then.
TM: Occasionally, yes. It’s one of those things, the Doctor changes, but Davros has always stayed the same as a character and it doesn’t matter what actor is beneath the thing, providing the character remains the same. We have really now established through doing the Big Finnish audios over the years exactly who Davros is and where he comes from and the whole canon of the backstory and what-have-you. So that’s laid down so providing they’re being faithful to that, that’s all that really matters.
G: There was one story where Davros was pretty much a head in a jar. How was that, being a head in a jar?
TM: It was more a head in a barbeque – a flip top barbeque with a lid. It was pretty uncomfortable but it was a good story! Back with Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor, we got into some odd situations and odd physical situation.
G: He’s a very physical character. Do you ever feel restricted by the amount of plastic and metal you have to carry around.
TM: In a way that informs the way the character is delivered. That makes you work in a particular way vocally and certainly physically if you have to trundle around in a trolley. It informs certain aspects you deliver the character and the way you deliver some of the lines. The mask in way very much informs the way the voice comes out in the final analysis. So there is a coloration there, certainly.
G: A tough question: who is your favorite Doctor?
TM: Like everyone it’s the Doctor you started with…
G: Peter?
TM: Peter? No! Hartnell!
G: Oh, you mean the first one you watched?
TM: Yeah of course! Absolutely! That’s your Doctor! I was a fan of Doctor Who way before I was in it. I was sixteen with Doctor Who started, so that was Hartnelland then Troughton. Of course at the time I had no idea I would be in it and play such an iconic character and have been doing well. I thought it was a two week job but it carried right through and now this is the thirtieth year I’ve been involved with Doctor Who and playing Davros.
G: You played Davros quite recently, haven’t you?
TM: Yes, on Big Finnish, we recently did one called Daleks Among Us where Davros returns with Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor and before that I did another one with Colin Baker called Curse of Davros, although they tried to call is the ‘Cruise of Davros’, which was set in Waterloo. It’s where Davros and the Doctor change places, their personalities swap over. Davros is the Doctor and the Doctor is Davros, and there’s a double bluff being played by both of them to achieve their own ends.
G: How much do you have to psyche yourself up to get back in the suit?
TM: Pretty little. Because (Davros voice) I’m basically a paranoid schizophrenic who wants to dominate the universe, (normal voice) aren’t we all?
G: I try not to admit it but I guess there’s a bit of that. Is there anything you want to see Davros do? Do you feel that the character been explored enough?
TM: No, he’s been going for quite a while. (Brief interruption as we clear my gear off the Red Power Rangers signing desk.) There’s lots of things Davros could do. It’ll be good to have a really good story head-to-head with the Doctor, playing a mental chess game because that’s what he’s really best at.
G: Do you have any involvement with the 50th coming up?
TM: I’m going to be at the celebration.
G: Can you give us any hints?
TM: No. Because then I’ll have to kill you.
G: I’ll take that deal.
TM: I can tell you the name of the Doctor if you really want to know.
G: I don’t think I want to know his name…
TM: Of course you do, it’s what it’s all about, people want to know…you don’t want to know?
G: Only for the reason I like knowing things other people don’t.
TM: I’m not MEANT to tell you, but I will tell you.
G: Ok, go.
TM: The Doctor’s name is Brian.
G: ‘Brain’?
TM: Just Brian.
G: Just Brain?
TM: Just Brian. Yep.
G: That suits him.
TM: (Laughs)
In hindsight Davros may not have been trolling me.
Make sure you check out the audio fort this interview below!
