Resurrection of the Daleks
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| 134 - Resurrection of the Daleks | |
| Doctor | Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) |
|---|---|
| Writer | Eric Saward |
| Director | Matthew Robinson |
| Script Editor | Eric Saward |
| Producer | John Nathan-Turner |
| Executive producer(s) | None |
| Production code | 6P |
| Series | Season 21 |
| Length | 2 episodes, 46 mins each |
| Transmission date | February 8–February 15, 1984 |
| Preceded by | Frontios |
| Followed by | Planet of Fire |
Resurrection of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from February 8 to February 15, 1984. This story marks the final regular appearance of Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka.
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[edit] Synopsis
Caught in a time corridor, the TARDIS gets dragged to Earth in 1984. But there are mercenaries from the future at work, and at the other end of the corridor, a strike force plans the prison break of the man who created the ultimate evil. The Daleks are back, and they want Davros…
[edit] Plot
The year is 1984, and a group of humanoids are running down a London alley. As they attempt to escape, they are gunned down by two London policemen led by Commander Lytton. Two of the humanoids, Galloway and Quartermaster Sergeant Stien, escape and return to a warehouse where a time corridor is situated. Galloway is killed, leaving Stien alone.
Lytton transports back to his battle cruiser and prepares to attack a prison space station. On the station, the crew are demoralised and the equipment is malfunctioning. The space station's only prisoner is Davros, the creator of the Daleks. A battle cruiser is approching the station. Osborn the watch officer deploys the fighters only to be destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough are undergoing severe "turbulence" in the TARDIS; in the form of a time corridor. After a few dreadful minutes in which the Doctor and his companions are tossed around the TARDIS, the time machine lands at the end of the time corridor, in a London dock in 1984; to Tegan's immediate dismay and the Doctor's apparent joy.
In the meantime, the Daleks try a direct frontal assault on the prison station; which yields poor results (and several Dalek casualties, as the station crew led by Dr Styles the CMO and Lt Mercer, fight back with considerable force). Lytton then persuades the Dalek Supreme to use poisonous gas to get the crew out of the way. The plan proves to be a success; and the Daleks have little trouble in taking over the station and exterminating the defence force and bridge crew. Lytton and his men siege the station and kill 2 officers using a flesh burning gas. Osborn and her guard go to Davros's cell to kill him. However the guard is exposed to the gas and Osborn shoots him. Lytton and an engineer break into the cells and kill Osborn before releasing Davros from his cryogenic imprisonment (into which he was placed following the events of Destiny of the Daleks).
The Doctor and his friends have by now met a traumatised Stien, lamenting over the loss of Galloway. He begs the Doctor not to return to the warehouse, claiming that he is a coward and could not face seeing Galloway's body (or, worse still, his killers). The Doctor, on the other hand, realises that the warehouse is where this end of the time corridor is based; and is determined to get to the bottom of it. The group go up to the top floor and discover a military bomb disposal squad, who claim they were called in when construction workers uncovered what they thought to be unexploded bombs (which, as the Doctor rightly predicts, are in fact alien artifacts). While everyone is distracted by this, Turlough gets lost and travels through the time corridor, only to end up on the Dalek ship.
Having learned that the Doctor is in the warehouse, the Supreme Dalek orders a Dalek to be dispatched, to detain the Doctor. The Dalek travels through the time corridor; and appears as if from nowhere. The Doctor yells at everyone to take cover; and soon the old battle cry is heard once more: "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
The Dalek kills several of the squad's men, before the Doctor tells them to aim their machine guns at the eyepiece, the stalk on the top of the dome. They do so; and the Dalek's vision is impaired. In the resulting struggle, the humans manage to push the Daleks out of the window, and it explodes; Tegan suffers a head injury and blacks out.
Meanwhile, on the prison station, the crew are in deep trouble as the majority of them have been killed; either by Dalek or by gas. Styles, Mercer and 2 guards are left. They kill some guards and steal their uniforms. They come up with the idea of blowing up the station Styles takes the 2 guards with her to activate it. Speaking to Lytton, Davros explains that his cryogenic sentence lasted for "90 years of mind-numbing boredom". He then vows to take his revenge upon "that meddling Time Lord" — the Doctor. Lytton replies that he is within their grasp. While Davros's travel chair is undergoing maintenance by the engineer (Kiston), Lytton explains how the Daleks lost the war against the Movellans (to Davros's horror); and that the Movellans won by developing a virus that specifically attacks Dalek tissue. Davros muses gleefully upon how the struggling Daleks have come back for him to help them. He demands that he be allowed to work on the space station; as it may be necessary for him to be refrozen. When Lytton tells him that this would be impossible and impractical, Davros loses his temper and states that either he works on the space station or not at all. Lytton leaves the room to discuss this possibility with the Supreme Dalek; and Davros utilises a hypodermic device to take control of Kiston. When Lytton hears Kiston's scream and runs back into the cell Kiston claims that he had merely caught his hand on something.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and the members of the bomb disposal squad, having taken all the pieces of the destroyed Dalek machine back inside to avoid paradoxes or anachronisms, are searching for the Kaled mutant that was housed inside the Dalek. They eventually find it and kill it; but only after it has attacked two of the squad's men (neither attack was fatal). While the medical officer of the squad looks after the recovering Tegan and the two victims of the Kaled mutant, the Doctor and Stien head into the TARDIS to find out what is happening at the other end of the time corridor.
The TARDIS materialises inside the Dalek ship and the Doctor calls for Turlough; who has by now wandered away. He is charged by a guard, but trips him and takes his weapon, then tells Stien that they should find Turlough and make a swift exit. At this point Stien, no longer a stuttering coward, points his own weapon at the Doctor and makes the startling revelation that he is an agent of the Daleks.
At that moment a squadron of five Daleks enter and pin the Doctor against the wall: "Exterminate the Doctor! Exterminate the Doctor! Exterminate!..." Lytton, entering, informs the Daleks that the Supreme Dalek has ordered that the Doctor must not be killed - yet. The Daleks confirm this as the truth. The Daleks and Stien lead the Doctor away.
In the meantime, Turlough has run into the survivors of the crew on the prison station, and is immediately suspected of being an enemy. However, he soon convinces them of his innocence and informs them of the time corridor.
On Earth, the two men attacked by the Dalek creature are behaving very strangely; and seem to run away screaming at nothing. The group commander Colonel Archer decides to radio for help, although his own radio is dead. He heads outside and finds two policemen (unbeknownst to him, Lytton's associates) and asks for assistance. As he tries the radio, a policeman holds a gun to his head...
The Daleks reveal their plan of cloning the Doctor and his companions, and to use the clones to assassinate the High Council of Time Lords on Gallifrey. Stien begins the mind-copying sequence while the Doctor tries to talk him into resisting his Dalek mind conditioning. While this is going on, Styles and the two station guards are killed when trying to activate the station's self-destruction system.
Back on Earth Colonel Archer returns to the warehouse, obviously under Dalek control. Tegan makes an escape attempt, but is soon recaptured by the policemen and taken through the time corridor to the Dalek ship. The medical officer Professor Laird is shot while trying to flee the soldiers.
Meanwhile, just as the mind-copying sequence nears completion, Stien is overcome with confusion, breaks his conditioning and stops the process, freeing the Doctor. The Doctor finds Turlough and Tegan, and they return to the TARDIS along with Stien and the last surviving station crew member. Rather than depart however the Doctor decides he must destroy Davros once and for all. With Stien and Lt Mercer he heads to the station lab, leaving Tegan and Turlough in the TARDIS, which he has surreptitiously programmed on time delay to return them to the warehouse.
The Doctor confronts Davros in the lab, but his chance to kill him is lost when Stien's conditioning re-asserts itself long enough to let Lytton's troops kill Lt Mercer. Horrified by his actions Stien refuses to accompany the Doctor back to the time corridor, and runs off into the station.
Davros' army (now including a biochemist, Kiston, a soldier and two Daleks) is growing; and he dispatches his Daleks to Earth. He then, anticipating resistance from the Daleks not loyal to him, opens a capsule of the Movellan virus and throws it at the door. Two Daleks then enter, and they die.
Back at the warehouse, a huge battle is taking place between Davros' Daleks, and those loyal to the Supreme Dalek. The TARDIS arrives, and the Doctor (having returned through the time corridor) realises that the alien artifacts discovered earlier on were in fact canisters containing the Movellan virus. He opens a canister, and sneaks it behind the Daleks; soon they all start to die.
Lytton has escaped, and gleefully watches the Daleks' demise. He swaps his Dalek uniform for that of a policeman, and joins his two fellow "bobbies" on their next vigil. Back on the station, Davros prepares to use an escape pod to flee from the station, but the Movellan virus attacks and seemingly kills him.
The Daleks are dead, and Tegan is appalled at the deaths that have taken place. The Dalek Supreme appears on the TARDIS scanner and threatens the Doctor, claiming that the Daleks have duplicates of prominent humans all over Earth, and it is just a matter of time before Earth falls.
Meanwhile, Stien (wounded) is trying to activate the self-destruct sequence. Just as he is about to finish, the Daleks enter and exterminate him. With his last ounce of life, he leaps onto the console, completing the sequence and destroying both the station and the Dalek ship.
The Doctor calls for them all to leave, but Tegan says no — this has been one massacre too far. She no longer enjoys her adventures and wants to give it up; she runs away. The Doctor is saddened by this, and he and Turlough leave. As the TARDIS vanishes, Tegan runs back, remembering the Doctor's old admonishment: "Brave heart, Tegan." She calls out to the empty air that she will miss him.
[edit] Cast
- The Doctor — Peter Davison
- Tegan Jovanka — Janet Fielding
- Turlough — Mark Strickson
- Davros — Terry Molloy
- Stein — Rodney Bewes
- Styles — Rula Lenska
- Lytton — Maurice Colbourne
- Mercer — Jim Findley
- Osborn — Sneh Gupta
- Galloway — William Sleigh
- Kiston — Les Grantham
- Professor Laird — Chloe Ashcroft
- Colonel Archer — Del Henney
- Sergeant Calder — Philip McGough
- Trooper — Roger Davenport
- Crewmembers — John Adam Baker, Linsey Turner
- Dalek Voices — Brian Miller, Royce Mills
- Daleks — John Scott Martin, Cy Town, Tony Starr, Toby Byrne
[edit] Trivia
- The working titles of this story were The Warhead, The Return and The Resurrection.
- This is one of five Doctor Who serials that were never novelised by Target Books as they were unable to come to an agreement with Eric Saward and Daleks creator Terry Nation that would have allowed Saward or another writer to adapt the script; although Virgin Books (the successor to Target) did announce plans to publish a novelisation by Saward in the early 1990s, this ultimately did not occur. A fan group in New Zealand did publish an unofficial novelisation of the story [1].
- With the exception of the brief cameo in The Five Doctors (1983), this was the only story to feature the Daleks during the Peter Davison era. Davison himself has stated that he would have been upset if he had left the show without having faced the Doctor's iconic foes.
- Making guest appearances in this serial are Leslie Grantham as Kiston, Rula Lenska as Styles and Rodney Bewes as Stien. See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.
- This story was intended to be four parts of the usual length. However due to the BBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, the series' regular slot was not available. Rather than interrupt transmission, the decision was taken to transmit the story as two double-length episodes, on back-to-back Wednesdays rather than the normal Monday/Tuesday timeslot of the Fifth Doctor-era stories.
- It is often asserted that it was directly because of the success of the two-part experiment that the following season was produced in the same format. However this decision had already been taken.
- Both the VHS (now out of print) and DVD releases of this story reverted to the four episode format. The new episode breaks are when the first Dalek comes through the time corridor in the warehouse, and in the second half of the story, when Davros begins preparing the Movellan virus, promising to exact vengeance on the Doctor and set himself up as the leader of a new Dalek race.
- In the long form Part Two of the story, Davros calls the Doctor "a meddling Time Lord", despite never having been told the Doctor's race on screen (and in Genesis of the Daleks, he was unaware that aliens even existed). Similarly, it is never explained how the Daleks find out about Gallifrey, nor the High Council of the Time Lords (nor the concept of regeneration, which Davros seems to understand fully in Revelation of the Daleks).
- The sequence where the Doctor is attached to the Dalek machine that is painfully scanning his memory attracted much criticism as being too graphic. During the sequence, images of the Doctor's former companions are also flashed on a screen, but Leela was accidentally omitted. Kamelion and the second K-9 (accidentally or otherwise) also do not appear.
- This serial was partly shot in Shad Thames.
- The story was originally due to be produced as the climax of Season 20. However due to industrial action the story was cancelled. With minor rewrites the serial was resurrected for Season 21.
- The serial has been widely reported to contain a higher body count than The Terminator. Seven people are killed within the first minute of episode one. Estimates have placed the actual bodycount in the range of 60-76, roughly the combined bodycount of the first five Friday the 13th films.
- Director Matthew Robinson stated on the DVD commentary that, much to his surprise, the aspect of the story that the BBC received the most complaints about was not the graphic violence of the serial, but rather that one of the prison crew is seen to be smoking a cigarette early in the first episode.
- An article by Russell T. Davies in the Doctor Who Annual 2006 suggested that the Dalek Supreme's attempt to assassinate the High Council was one of the initial clashes in the Time War mentioned in the 2005 series.
- The first copy of the story to be sold to American PBS stations by the BBC was done in the original four-part serial format, which was then consolidated into a single episode of approximately 90 minutes in length, for those stations that preferred that format. However early edits of Parts Two, Three and Four were included by error, including some extra scenes not used in the final four-part cut, while also some episodes had a raw soundtrack, lacking sound effects and music, and the 90-minute version incorporated the mistake. Some stations who bought the story proceeded to broadcast it in that form anyway.
- This is a rare instance of the Doctor actually using a gun when he is hunting down the escaped Dalek mutant in the beginning of Part Two. Together with the soldiers, he corners the mutant and kills it by shooting at it multiple times (although the gun is fired off-screen).
- This story was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2002.
[edit] External links
- Resurrection of the Daleks episode guide on the BBC website
- Resurrection of the Daleks at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- Resurrection of the Daleks at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
[edit] Reviews
- Resurrection of the Daleks reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- Resurrection of the Daleks reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
[edit] Fan novelisation
- Doctor Who and the Resurrection of the Daleks
- Doctor Who and the Resurrection of the Dakeks reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
