Sunday 24 September 2017

C is for... Chen, Mavic


The Guardian of the Solar System in the year 4000 AD. He was a popular figure, who had ensured peace in the region for many years. However, he sought far greater power and influence, and had embarked on an alliance with the Daleks. They had created a weapon called the Time Destructor, which they were going to use on an attack against the rest of the cosmos. To power it, a mineral called Taranium was needed, and this could only be found in small quantities on Uranus. Chen was able to supply this, and its importance to the Dalek scheme led Chen to regard himself as superior to the other aliens who had allied themselves to the Daleks. Fellow delegate Trantis was particularly antagonistic towards Chen, irritated by his self-importance.
The Taranium Core was stolen by the Doctor, assisted by Bret Vyon - one of Chen's own security agents. He was tasked with retrieving it. Chen's popularity was such that he was able to turn many people against the Doctor and his friends - including Bret's own sister Sara Kingdom. She gunned her brother down. When the Doctor escaped once more, Chen was in despair but his chief of security Karlton - who saw his own ambitions realised through Chen - had the Guardian claim that the mistake was really part of a plan to get the Doctor closer to the Daleks so they could get the Core back themselves.
Once the Doctor had retrieved the TARDIS, Chen was sent with a Dalek squad in their own time-ship to get the Core. This was eventually achieved in ancient Egypt.
Back on the planet Kembel, where the Daleks had their base, Chen suddenly found himself a prisoner of the Daleks along with the other delegates. Their usefulness was at an end. Not only did Chen think himself indispensable, he actually had plans to usurp the Daleks and take over the universe for himself. His sanity collapsing, he began to give the Daleks orders, insisting they obey only him.
His delusions of grandeur came to a swift end when the Daleks exterminated him.

Played by: Kevin Stoney. Appearances: The Daleks' Master Plan (1965/6).

  • One of the two greatest villains of the 1960's. The other is Tobias Vaughn, also played by Stoney. He's cast and directed by Douglas Camfield on both occasions. 
  • People who were present when this story was being recorded have stated that Stoney was wearing blue make-up. This doesn't necessarily mean that Chen is blue-skinned - there's no mention of this in the surviving episodes or on the audios of the others. It just means that blue was used for grey-scale, to give him his complexion on B&W screens.

1 comment:

  1. Makes me feel old when I remember actually watching these episodes..........now where's me zimmer frame?

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