Resurrection of the Daleks
Encyclopedia
Resurrection of the Daleks is a serial in the British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts between 8 February and 15 February 1984. This story marks the final regular appearance of Janet Fielding
as companion
Tegan Jovanka
, who leaves the Fifth Doctor
for the second time.
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 Dalek
s remain under the threat of the Movellan virus, and they want Davros
.
, the creator of the Dalek
s.
Meanwhile, the Doctor
, Tegan and Turlough
are being dragged down a time corridor in the TARDIS
following on from the events at the end of Frontios
. When the time machine
lands, they find themselves in the London docklands.
The Daleks try a direct frontal assault on the prison station, but the station crew, led by Dr. Styles and Lt. Mercer, fight back with considerable force. Lytton 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 taking over the ship. Following orders, Watch Officer Osborn attempts to destroy Davros, first using a non-functional automated system, then in person. However, Lytton and an engineer break into the cell and kill Osborn before she can complete her mission, then release Davros from his cryogenic imprisonment.
The Doctor and his friends meet a traumatised Stein, who joins them in returning to the warehouse to hunt for the end of the time corridor. There they meet a military bomb disposal
squad, called in after builders uncovered what they thought to be unexploded bombs. While the others are distracted, Turlough stumbles into the time corridor, ending 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 him. The Dalek travels through the time corridor and appears as if from nowhere. It kills several of the squad's men before the Doctor advises them to focus their fire on its eyestalk, blinding it. In the resulting struggle, the humans push the Dalek out of the warehouse window, and it explodes on hitting the ground. Tegan suffers a head injury and blacks out. On the prison station, only Styles, Mercer, and two guards are left alive of the original crew. Disguised in uniforms taken from Lytton's guards, they plan to blow up the station via its self-destruct system.
Davros explains to Lytton that his cryogenic sentence lasted for "90 years of mind-numbing boredom." He vows to take his revenge upon "that meddling Time Lord," the Doctor. Lytton insists he is in their grasp. While Davros's travel chair is undergoing maintenance by the engineer Kiston, Lytton explains that the Daleks lost their war against the Movellans due to the development of a virus that specifically attacks Dalek tissue
, and have awakened Davros to find a cure. Despite Lytton's reservations, Davros demands that he remain on the prison ship while working on the virus, as it may be necessary for him to be refrozen. When Lytton leaves to discuss this with the Supreme Dalek, Davros uses a hypodermic-like mind control device to take control of Kiston.
The Doctor and the members of the bomb disposal squad, having brought the remnants of the destroyed Dalek back inside, are searching for the Kaled mutant that was housed inside it. They find and kill it, but only after it wounds one of the squad's men. While the medical officer of the squad looks after the victim and Tegan, the Doctor and Stein 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, narrowly avoiding being captured by a guard, the Doctor tells Stein that they should find Turlough and make a swift exit. But Stein points his own weapon at the Doctor, revealing that he is an agent of the Daleks.
A patrol of Daleks close in to exterminate the Doctor, but Lytton enters and informs them that the Supreme Dalek has ordered that the Doctor must not be killed - yet. The Daleks confirm this as the truth and lead the Doctor away. Turlough joins forces with the remnants of the ship's crew, informing them of the existence of the time corridor as a possible way of escaping the effects of the ship's self-destruct.
On Earth, the man attacked by the Dalek creature is behaving strangely and wanders away mumbling nonsense. The group commander, Colonel Archer, decides to radio for help, although his own radio is dead. He heads outside, finds two policemen (Lytton's associates), and asks them 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 using 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. Styles and the two station guards are killed when trying to activate the station's self-destruct system.
On Earth, the clone of Colonel Archer returns to the warehouse under Dalek control. Tegan makes an escape attempt, but is recaptured by the policemen and taken to the Dalek ship. The squad's scientific advisor, Professor Laird, is shot while trying to flee the soldiers.
In the duplication chamber, Stein is overcome with confusion: the Doctor has realised that Stein's conditioning is unstable and begins challenging his ability to think for himself. Just as the mind-copying sequence nears completion, Stein breaks his conditioning and stops the process, freeing the Doctor. The Doctor finds Turlough and Tegan, and they return to the TARDIS along with Stein and the last surviving station crew member. Rather than depart, the Doctor decides he must destroy Davros once and for all. With Stein 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. Davros then yells out that he will build a new race of Daleks, and they shall once more become the supreme beings.
The Doctor confronts Davros in the lab, but his chance to kill him is lost when Stein's conditioning re-asserts itself long enough to let Lytton's troops kill Lt. Mercer. Horrified by his actions, Stein refuses to accompany the Doctor back to the time corridor, and runs off into the station.
Davros' army (consisting of Kiston, a soldier and two Daleks) is growing and he dispatches his Daleks to Earth. Anticipating resistance from the Daleks not loyal to him, Davros breaks opens a capsule of the Movellan virus. Two Daleks then enter with the intention of exterminating him, but are themselves killed by the virus.
At the warehouse, a battle takes place between Davros' Daleks and those loyal to the Supreme Dalek. The TARDIS has arrived and the Doctor returns through the time corridor. He now knows that the "unexploded bombs" discovered earlier on are canisters containing the Movellan virus. He opens a canister that Tegan and Turlough have brought into the TARDIS, and places it behind the Daleks who 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 space station, Davros prepares to use an escape pod to flee from the station, but the Movellan virus attacks and seemingly kills him.
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, a wounded Stein 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 completes the sequence and destroys both the station and the Dalek ship.
The Doctor calls for them all to leave, but Tegan refuses; this has been one massacre too far. She no longer enjoys her adventures and wants to give it up, so she runs off. 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.
's coverage of the 1984 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 (45 and 50 minutes, respectively), on back-to-back Wednesdays rather than the normal Thursday/Friday 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.
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. However, part two had a raw soundtrack, lacking sound effects and music. The compilation version, in which the entire story is compressed into one feature-length episode, had the entire second half with the raw soundtrack, but the second quarter with music and effects intact. The portions with the raw soundtrack also included some extra scenes not used in the final four-part cut.
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 in 2000, later republishing it as an online eBook titled Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks. An exclusive AudioGO reading of a new novelisation will be released 3 May 2012. Writer Steve Lyons name is attached but at this time it is not clear if he is doing it or Eric Saward will be doing it himself.
Reviews
Fan novelisation
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts between 8 February and 15 February 1984. This story marks the final regular appearance of Janet Fielding
Janet Fielding
Janet Fielding is an Australian actress, known for her role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, and the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison. She was born in Brisbane...
as companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1981 to...
, who leaves the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
for the second time.
Synopsis
Caught in a time corridor, the TARDISTARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
gets dragged to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
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 Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s remain under the threat of the Movellan virus, and they want Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
.
Plot
A group of futuristic humanoids are running down a London alley in 1984. As they attempt to escape, they are gunned down by two policemen led by Commander Lytton. Two of the humanoids, Galloway and Quartermaster Sergeant Stein, escape to a warehouse where a time corridor is situated, but Galloway is killed. Lytton transports back to his battle cruiser and prepares to attack a prison space station whose only prisoner is DavrosDavros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
, the creator of the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s.
Meanwhile, the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
, Tegan and Turlough
Vislor Turlough
Vislor Turlough is a fictional character played by Mark Strickson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was a companion of the Fifth Doctor, being a regular in the programme from 1983 to 1984.-Character history:...
are being dragged down a time corridor in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
following on from the events at the end of Frontios
Frontios
Frontios is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 26 January to 3 February 1984.-Synopsis:...
. When the time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
lands, they find themselves in the London docklands.
The Daleks try a direct frontal assault on the prison station, but the station crew, led by Dr. Styles and Lt. Mercer, fight back with considerable force. Lytton persuades the Dalek Supreme to use poisonous gas
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
to get the crew out of the way. The plan proves to be a success and the Daleks have little trouble taking over the ship. Following orders, Watch Officer Osborn attempts to destroy Davros, first using a non-functional automated system, then in person. However, Lytton and an engineer break into the cell and kill Osborn before she can complete her mission, then release Davros from his cryogenic imprisonment.
The Doctor and his friends meet a traumatised Stein, who joins them in returning to the warehouse to hunt for the end of the time corridor. There they meet a military bomb disposal
Bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...
squad, called in after builders uncovered what they thought to be unexploded bombs. While the others are distracted, Turlough stumbles into the time corridor, ending 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 him. The Dalek travels through the time corridor and appears as if from nowhere. It kills several of the squad's men before the Doctor advises them to focus their fire on its eyestalk, blinding it. In the resulting struggle, the humans push the Dalek out of the warehouse window, and it explodes on hitting the ground. Tegan suffers a head injury and blacks out. On the prison station, only Styles, Mercer, and two guards are left alive of the original crew. Disguised in uniforms taken from Lytton's guards, they plan to blow up the station via its self-destruct system.
Davros explains to Lytton that his cryogenic sentence lasted for "90 years of mind-numbing boredom." He vows to take his revenge upon "that meddling Time Lord," the Doctor. Lytton insists he is in their grasp. While Davros's travel chair is undergoing maintenance by the engineer Kiston, Lytton explains that the Daleks lost their war against the Movellans due to the development of a virus that specifically attacks Dalek tissue
Biological tissue
Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...
, and have awakened Davros to find a cure. Despite Lytton's reservations, Davros demands that he remain on the prison ship while working on the virus, as it may be necessary for him to be refrozen. When Lytton leaves to discuss this with the Supreme Dalek, Davros uses a hypodermic-like mind control device to take control of Kiston.
The Doctor and the members of the bomb disposal squad, having brought the remnants of the destroyed Dalek back inside, are searching for the Kaled mutant that was housed inside it. They find and kill it, but only after it wounds one of the squad's men. While the medical officer of the squad looks after the victim and Tegan, the Doctor and Stein 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, narrowly avoiding being captured by a guard, the Doctor tells Stein that they should find Turlough and make a swift exit. But Stein points his own weapon at the Doctor, revealing that he is an agent of the Daleks.
A patrol of Daleks close in to exterminate the Doctor, but Lytton enters and informs them that the Supreme Dalek has ordered that the Doctor must not be killed - yet. The Daleks confirm this as the truth and lead the Doctor away. Turlough joins forces with the remnants of the ship's crew, informing them of the existence of the time corridor as a possible way of escaping the effects of the ship's self-destruct.
On Earth, the man attacked by the Dalek creature is behaving strangely and wanders away mumbling nonsense. The group commander, Colonel Archer, decides to radio for help, although his own radio is dead. He heads outside, finds two policemen (Lytton's associates), and asks them for assistance. As he tries the radio, a policeman holds a gun to his head.
The Daleks reveal their plan of cloning
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
the Doctor and his companions, and using the clones to assassinate the High Council of Time Lords on Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
. Stien begins the mind-copying sequence while the Doctor tries to talk him into resisting his Dalek mind conditioning. Styles and the two station guards are killed when trying to activate the station's self-destruct system.
On Earth, the clone of Colonel Archer returns to the warehouse under Dalek control. Tegan makes an escape attempt, but is recaptured by the policemen and taken to the Dalek ship. The squad's scientific advisor, Professor Laird, is shot while trying to flee the soldiers.
In the duplication chamber, Stein is overcome with confusion: the Doctor has realised that Stein's conditioning is unstable and begins challenging his ability to think for himself. Just as the mind-copying sequence nears completion, Stein breaks his conditioning and stops the process, freeing the Doctor. The Doctor finds Turlough and Tegan, and they return to the TARDIS along with Stein and the last surviving station crew member. Rather than depart, the Doctor decides he must destroy Davros once and for all. With Stein 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. Davros then yells out that he will build a new race of Daleks, and they shall once more become the supreme beings.
The Doctor confronts Davros in the lab, but his chance to kill him is lost when Stein's conditioning re-asserts itself long enough to let Lytton's troops kill Lt. Mercer. Horrified by his actions, Stein refuses to accompany the Doctor back to the time corridor, and runs off into the station.
Davros' army (consisting of Kiston, a soldier and two Daleks) is growing and he dispatches his Daleks to Earth. Anticipating resistance from the Daleks not loyal to him, Davros breaks opens a capsule of the Movellan virus. Two Daleks then enter with the intention of exterminating him, but are themselves killed by the virus.
At the warehouse, a battle takes place between Davros' Daleks and those loyal to the Supreme Dalek. The TARDIS has arrived and the Doctor returns through the time corridor. He now knows that the "unexploded bombs" discovered earlier on are canisters containing the Movellan virus. He opens a canister that Tegan and Turlough have brought into the TARDIS, and places it behind the Daleks who 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 space station, Davros prepares to use an escape pod to flee from the station, but the Movellan virus attacks and seemingly kills him.
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, a wounded Stein 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 completes the sequence and destroys both the station and the Dalek ship.
The Doctor calls for them all to leave, but Tegan refuses; this has been one massacre too far. She no longer enjoys her adventures and wants to give it up, so she runs off. 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.
Continuity
- No explanation is given for companionCompanion (Doctor Who)In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
KamelionKamelionKamelion is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A shape-changing android voiced by Gerald Flood in its default form, it is a companion of the Fifth Doctor and appears in the television series in two serials between 1983 and...
's absence from this story. - The sequence where the Doctor shoots a Kaled mutant is a rare instance of the character using a gun to kill. In the previous Dalek story, Destiny of the DaleksDestiny of the DaleksDestiny of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 September to 22 September 1979. The story introduces Lalla Ward as the newly-regenerated Romana....
, set during the war with the Movellans, it was implied that the Daleks had lost their organic component and become entirely robotic. However, in Resurrection the Daleks are clearly living creatures again. - With the exception of the brief cameo in The Five DoctorsThe Five DoctorsThe Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
(1983), this was the only story to feature the Daleks during the Peter Davison era. Davison has stated that he would have been upset if he had left the show without having faced the Doctor's iconic foes. - During the sequence where the Doctor's brain is scanned, images of all the previous Doctors and most of his former companions appear on a screen. The only companions missing from the sequence are LeelaLeela (Doctor Who)Leela is a fictional character played by Louise Jameson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Leela was a companion of the Fourth Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1977 to 1978...
, who was omitted in error during post-production. - In the fan novelisation by Paul Scoones, it is stated that Professor Laird is UNITUNITUNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
's scientific advisor, on attachment to Colonel Archer's bomb disposal squad. This was not derived from any information given in the television version. - 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 WarTime War (Doctor Who)The Time War, more specifically called The Last Great Time War, is a conflict within the fictional universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
mentioned in the 2005 series. - The Cloister Bell can be heard ringing when the Doctor is trying to free the TARDIS from the Daleks' time corridor.
- The Dalek's ability to time travel was referenced in earlier stories: The ChaseThe Chase (Doctor Who)The Chase is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 22 May to 26 June 1965. The story is set on multiple locations including the Mary Celeste, the Empire State Building, and the planet Aridius...
, The Evil of the DaleksThe Evil of the DaleksThe Evil of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20 May to 1 July 1967. This serial marked the debut of Deborah Watling as the Doctor's new companion, Victoria Waterfield.Evil was initially intended to...
and Day of the DaleksDay of the DaleksDay of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 January to 22 January 1972.-Synopsis:...
. It was also referred to in later stories: Remembrance of the DaleksRemembrance of the DaleksRemembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 October to 26 October 1988....
, DoomsdayDoomsday (Doctor Who)"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the revival of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006...
, Evolution of the DaleksEvolution of the Daleks"Evolution of the Daleks" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 April 2007, and is the fifth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is the conclusion of the two-part story begun in "Daleks in...
and Victory of the DaleksVictory of the Daleks"Victory of the Daleks" is the third episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is written by Mark Gatiss and first broadcast on BBC One on 17 April 2010....
. Their time technology is described as crude compared with that of the Time Lords. - The 2006 audio story The GatheringThe Gathering (Doctor Who audio)The Gathering is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
has Tegan and the Fifth Doctor meet many years after they had last parted company.
Production
Writing and production
- The working titles of this story were The Warhead, The Return, and The Resurrection.
- The story was originally due to be produced as the climax of Season 20. However due a strikeStrike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
by the electricians, the story was postponed and, with minor rewrites, resurrected for Season 21. Because of the delay, Michael Wisher, who had originated the role of Davros, was unavailable, and the role was given to Terry Molloy instead. - The story was originally supposed to be directed by returning director Peter GrimwadePeter GrimwadePeter Grimwade was a British television writer and director, best known for his work on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who....
. When the story was postponed, Grimwade took the cast and crew out to dinner, but did not invite John Nathan-Turner, because he had intended to take Nathan-Turner out separately. But Nathan-Turner felt slighted by the omission and refused to allow Grimwade to direct the story when it was re-scheduled for Season 21. However, Saward had already promised Grimwade that he could provide a script for the season, so Grimwade was allowed to write "Planet of FirePlanet of FirePlanet of Fire is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 23 February to 2 March 1984...
". - This serial was partly shot in Shad ThamesShad ThamesShad Thames is an historic riverside street next to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey, London, England, and is also an informal name for the surrounding area...
. - 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.
Story format
This story was intended to be four parts of the usual 25-minute length. However due to the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's coverage of the 1984 Winter Olympics
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...
held in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, the series' regular slot was not available. Rather than interrupt transmission, the decision was taken to transmit the story as two double-length episodes (45 and 50 minutes, respectively), on back-to-back Wednesdays rather than the normal Thursday/Friday 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.
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. However, part two had a raw soundtrack, lacking sound effects and music. The compilation version, in which the entire story is compressed into one feature-length episode, had the entire second half with the raw soundtrack, but the second quarter with music and effects intact. The portions with the raw soundtrack also included some extra scenes not used in the final four-part cut.
Cast notes
- Making guest appearances in this serial are Leslie Grantham, Rula Lenska, and Rodney Bewes. Mel Smith and Polly Adams were original choices for the Rodney Bewes and Rula Lenska roles. See also List of guest appearances in Doctor Who.
- This is often wrongly stated as Leslie Grantham's TV debut but he had appeared in 1983 for one episode ("Little Green Eyed Monster") in the series "Goodnight and God Bless". He was offered the roles of either Galloway or Kiston, and chose the latter because it would afford him more screen time. He went on to play the notorious "Dirty" Den WattsDen WattsDennis Alan "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den"....
in the long-running soap opera EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, again being cast by Matthew Robinson; following his return to the soap opera in 2004, his character addressed another character, a wheelchair-bound Ian BealeIan BealeIan Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
, as "Davros", and encountered a police officer named "Kiston", meta-references to his Doctor Who appearance.
In print
This is one of five Doctor Who serials that were never novelised by Target BooksTarget Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of...
as they were unable to come to an agreement with Eric Saward
Eric Saward
Eric Saward was born on 9 December 1944 and became a scriptwriter and script editor for the BBC, resigning from the latter post on the TV programme Doctor Who in 1986....
and Daleks creator Terry Nation
Terry Nation
Terry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
that would have allowed Saward or another writer to adapt the script; although Virgin Books
Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a United Kingdom book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.-History:...
(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 in 2000, later republishing it as an online eBook titled Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks. An exclusive AudioGO reading of a new novelisation will be released 3 May 2012. Writer Steve Lyons name is attached but at this time it is not clear if he is doing it or Eric Saward will be doing it himself.
VHS and DVD releases
- This story was released on VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in November 1993. - Both the VHS (now out of print) and DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
releases of this story reverted to the four-episode format. The previously unused 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. - This story was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2002. Special features include deleted scenes, trailer and a 5.1 digital surround sound mix. A short feature "Resurrection of the Daleks - On Location" was also included, directed by Paul Vanezis, which was recorded at Shad Thames in March 2002. It included interviews with Matthew Robinson, Eric Saward and the final on-screen interview conducted with John Nathan-Turner before his death in May of that year. It was re-released in 2003 as part of a limited run box set with The Dalek Invasion of EarthThe Dalek Invasion of EarthThe Dalek Invasion of Earth is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from November 21 to December 26, 1964....
and Remembrance of the DaleksRemembrance of the DaleksRemembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 October to 26 October 1988....
and in 2007 as part of a box set that contains Genesis of the DaleksGenesis of the DaleksGenesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...
, Destiny of the DaleksDestiny of the DaleksDestiny of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 September to 22 September 1979. The story introduces Lalla Ward as the newly-regenerated Romana....
, Revelation of the DaleksRevelation of the DaleksRevelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 March and 30 March 1985...
and Remembrance of the DaleksRemembrance of the DaleksRemembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 October to 26 October 1988....
. - This story was released as the accompanying DVD with Issue 34 of the Doctor Who DVD Files on 21 April 2010. Released by GE FABBRI.
- The story was re-released in 2011 as part of the second Revisitations boxset along side The Seeds of DeathThe Seeds of DeathThe Seeds of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 25 January to 1 March 1969...
and Carnival of MonstersCarnival of MonstersCarnival of Monsters is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 27 January to 17 February 1973....
. The 2 disc package included both 2 and 4 part versions.
External links
- Missing Scenes Resurrection in Time Space Visualiser
Reviews
- Past Times: Resurrection of the Daleks Review at Nebula One
Fan novelisation