27.06: Dalek

[Dave]

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The Doctor and Rose arrive at a mysterious underground installation in Utah. Here they encounter a billionaire whose collection of alien artefacts contains an item that the Doctor finds chillingly familiar: a Dalek. It is not long before the deadly creature throws off its shackles and runs amok... (This particular Dalek is the original version...)

[Dave]

The newspaper 'The Sun' had a picture today from this episode. The Dalek is chained up with thick heavy chain-links while Rose looks on.

Apparently, Rose feels sorry for it and sets it free. Meanwhile, the billionaire, Henry Van Statten, discovers that the Doctor is also an alien and tortures him for information.

[Dave]

I'm looking forward to this one:

from BBC News

The new series of Doctor Who has seen Christopher Eccleston fight living dummies, restless spirits and aliens disguised as MPs, but he has yet to face his mortal enemies The Daleks.

That will be rectified in a forthcoming episode entitled simply Dalek, in which the Time Lord finds that one of the metal killing machines has been collected by an unsuspecting billionaire.

Voted the most evil Doctor Who villains of all time, the Daleks and their desire to "exterminate!" seem an integral part of the sci-fi series.

But their return was almost ruled out completely by a lengthy dispute between the BBC and the estate of late Dalek creator Terry Nation.

After the estate accused the corporation of trying to "ruin the brand of the Daleks" by wrestling control of their image, the dispute was resolved last August.

As episode director Joe Ahearne explained, the Dalek confronted by the Doctor and Rose (Billie Piper) is a monster for a new generation.

"The Daleks of the 1960s and 1970s would not make the grade today," he says. "They would be seen as comical rather than frightening. We couldn't have that."

Stairs have not been a problem for Daleks since 1988, when they first levitated towards Sylvester McCoy in 'Remembrance of the Daleks'.

The new Dalek can also spin its torso independently of his head, so creeping up from behind is no longer an option. Its trademark "sink plunger" attachment also reveals a terrifying new function.

"We have taken all the perceived weaknesses of the Dalek and made them deadly," says Mike Tucker, the BBC model unit's miniature effects supervisor.

While Tucker operated the Dalek's head by remote control, Nicholas Briggs provided its chilling metallic voice and Barnaby Edwards sat inside its shell.

"You would be amazed at the number of people who wanted to get inside the Dalek," says Edwards, who also operated a Dalek in 1993 BBC documentary 30 Years in the Tardis.

"Sit on a swivel chair, put a dustbin on your head and you've got the same effect."

The new Dalek is brought to life by a combination of physical models and computer-generated effects, with most of its movement made by remote control - to Edwards' relief.

"Moving a Dalek is like trying to operate a fully-laden shopping trolley from the inside," he says.

Edwards spent stints of up to four hours inside the Dalek body, watching the rest of the cast through an envelope-shaped gap.

"I was inside the Dalek for as many shots as possible, so Chris had someone to play off rather than just talking to an empty shell," he said.

The Dalek's voice, originally created by the defunct BBC Radiophonic Workshop, is now made by Briggs alone as he talks into a box device called a ring modulator.

"Roughly a third of the lines in the episode are either spoken by the Dalek or Rose," says Briggs. "It never shuts up!"

Usually presented as part of a legion, the Dalek appears alone in the episode which enables it to interact more extensively with the other characters.

"A dustbin in itself is not scary, it's the performance behind it," adds Briggs. "In rehearsals we found ourselves talking about the Dalek's motivation!"

Former Coronation Street star Bruno Langley appears in the episode as Adam, who helps the Doctor and his companion deal with the revitalised Dalek.

"It was great to appear in such an important episode," he says. "My character gets on very well with Rose, which of course makes the Doctor jealous."

The 22-year-old says he can now understand why actor Ewan McGregor found it difficult to act alone on the Star Wars movie sets, where characters were added by computer afterwards.

"It made it much easier for us to have the Dalek physically there in front of us," Langley says.

"But there were a lot of shots which had to be re-done because the Dalek got stuck in a doorway."

The cast and crew remained tight-lipped about how soon the Daleks would return to further terrorise the Doctor.

Tucker would only say ominously: "You will never get rid of the Daleks."

[Dave]

That was, give or take, the whole story. I will watch it again and copy a fuller synopsis when I find one and have time. (I've had some internet connection problems this evening.) I did think that it was a strange kind of Dalek story.

We did find out that the 'Time War' frequently mentioned by the Doctor, that wiped out the Time Lords, pitted the Time Lords against the Dalek warfleet, and also resulted in the extermination of the Daleks. So, with the demise of this 'lost' Dalek soldier there are no more left. (Better cancel episodes 12 & 13 then )

Adam who joined Rose and the Doctor at the end of this episode is played by Bruno Langley (Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street.)

I missed the very beginning but apparently one of Van Statten's other relics was a Cyberman headpiece.

[ray gower]

Not seen it yet, waiting for the repeat tomorrow.
But it has to be pointed out that the Daleks are a remarkably robust enemy. The race has been wiped out three times by the Doctor. And that they can come back at all is his fault in the first place!

He chickened out of preventing them ever existing!

[Dave]

from Outpost Gallifrey

The TARDIS materialises in a dark warehouse in 2012, many storeys below the surface of Utah near Salt Lake City, in what appears to be a museum of alien artifacts... including a Cybermen head and a Slitheen arm. The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) touches one of the cases which sets off the alarm, and soon he and Rose (Billie Piper) are surrounded by guards who take them prisoner.

The facility they are in is owned by Geocomtex, a technology company owned by the wealthy and powerful Henry van Statten (Corey Johnson), who arrives in a helicopter at the complex and meets its manager, Diana Goddard (Anna Louise Plowman) and a brainy science genius who examines the alien technology, Adam (Bruno Langley). The Doctor and Rose meet van Statten, who remains unimpressed with the Doctor's seemingly endless knowledge of alien technology. But van Statten realises the Doctor may have some use to him, as he puts him into a cell with Geocomtex's one live alien specimen... what he calls a "metaltron," but what the Doctor soon realises is a Dalek. A Dalek that should not exist.

The Doctor informs the Dalek of recent history, where at the end of a massive Time war, the Daleks and the Time Lords fought and destroyed each other; both he and the Dalek are the last of their kind. The idea infuriates the Doctor and changes the Dalek's perception, but the Doctor soon attempts to electrocute the Dalek. Van Statten stops him, and strings him up to interrogate him, scanning the Doctor and recognizing he's an alien. Rose, meanwhile, gets to know Adam, who does much of the research at the base and years to go to the stars, but soon persuades him to let her see the captive Dalek. Rose meets it, and feels pity for it... but when she touches the Dalek, it samples her DNA, allowing it to recharge itself and escape. Suddenly, the Dalek is loose and the base is under full alert; it kills the security officer, Bywater (John Schwab) and his entire squadron, and heads toward the main complex.

Adam and Rose flee into the stairwell, while the Dalek kills a soldier, De Maggio (Jana Carpenter), who tries to stop it. Up on the surface, van Statten, Goddard and the Doctor attempt to find safe passage out of the underground for Adam and Rose. The two meet up with another security contingent, but the Dalek outwits its commander and the team when it activates the fire safety sprinklers and then electrocutes everyone through the water. Adam and Rose flee upward as the Dalek levitates to follow them; Adam makes it to safety, but before Rose is able to get through the bulkhead, the Doctor is forced to close it. The Dalek takes her prisoner, but for some reason doesn't kill her.

The Dalek tries to use Rose as leverage; it almost attacks van Statten and Diana but then stops, and takes Rose to the top floor, where it appears it will attempt to escape. However, the Dalek is transfixed by the sunlight shining on it through the roof; Rose's DNA has not only reactivated it, but begun to change it completely. The Doctor arrives with a weapon Adam helped him find, but Rose pleads for the Dalek, who has opened its casing and allowed the light to penetrate the mutated creature inside. The Doctor tries to stop his own instincts, but the Dalek pleads with Rose for one last order - to kill itself. Rose gives in, and the Dalek commits suicide.

As van Statten prepares to leave, Goddard ambushes him, having him escorted away to have his brain wiped clean of memories in punishment for all the death he's caused; she'll have the entire base filled with concrete and destroyed. The Doctor and Rose return to the museum to reenter the TARDIS, but Rose has dragged Adam along, asking the Doctor if he can travel with them to see the stars he's always imagined. The Doctor protests, but Adam enters the TARDIS before it departs for another adventure, now with a party of three aboard...

Just to add that the Dalek opening up to reveal itself, and the self-destruct sequence were pretty good. And that this did in no way water-down the Dalek threat - the upgraded version seemed completely impossible to defeat by conventional means.

He chickened out of preventing them ever existing!

Yes, he should have connected those wires together in 'Genesis of the Daleks'!

And there was another reference to 'Big Bad Wolf' - Van Statten's helicopter was called 'Big Wolf One'. Gwyneth told Rose that she had seen the 'Big Bad Wolf', the boy painted 'Bad Wolf' on the TARDIS, the alien was a cybernetic pig, and now a helicopter called 'Big Wolf One' - what does it all mean???

[ray gower]

I will be surprised if this series is not voted the best Doctor Who ever. The production team do seem intent on turning over every variation of Doctor Who going so there is something for every one, from the gag and farce of the McCoy era to the heavy drama that characterised Hartnell. Strange that in a period that so much Sci/Fi has been dumbed down to insult a 6 year old, Doctor Who appears to be bucking the trend?

Even the solitary Dalek managed to convey all the single-minded determination and threat that has made it the iconic classic monster for the 40 years.
And I still felt sorry for it at the end!

But I am wondering if it modified its self destruct?
It strikes me any good Dalek soldier, surrounded by enemies would have chosen the destruct button that says 'Good Bye World' when he destroys himself. So did he modify his shielding to contain his explosion and thereby prevent the death of everything around him?

[obcooke]

Great episode, but what a lousy title.

How could they ruin any suspense about what was in the "cage" by giving it away in the freaking title!?

And another thing - a personal pet peeve of mine - Why is it that the you all insist on mispronouncing American names?

It was obvious that these were British actors with American accents because a real Yank would have told them how to pronounce "Goddard".

It is NOT GOD-Dard with two hard D's in the center and accent on the first syllable. It's God-DARD with two soft D's in the center, accent on the second syllable and a hard G & D at the beginning and end.

It is not for us to tell someone how to spell or pronounce thier name - it is for the individual to tell us how to spell and pronounce thier name.

And another thing, Franklin Roosevelt - It's pronounced ROSE-a-velt, not ROOSE-a-velt. Here is a man, unlike our fictional Doctor, who really did help save the world and you all refuse to pronounce the man's name the way he wanted it. How rude!

What's up with that?

[ray gower]

Don't think the title makes any difference.
Dalek merely suggests that there is a Dalek in the episode, as did the pre-trailers tacked on the front. Big Deal.

The episode itself had much bigger intentions than just the appearance of a solitary Dalek exterminating things.

Posted by Obcooke
And another thing - a personal pet peeve of mine - Why is it that the you all insist on mispronouncing American names?

I quite agree. I get the same distress when Americans get English names and words wrong too!
Edinberg does not exist, nor does Gloster, unless they are in this foreign place called Engleland and while his contribution to world order is only as great as Mr Roosevelt's in his own derided imagination, the Right Honourable Tony Blair MP, Prime Minister is most emphatically not Prime Minister Blair. And somehow my Minnesota based lords and masters always manage to get an extra 'A' in my name too and that is to my face!

So perhaps it is a touch of pay back?

[Dave]

So explain why all the London policemen had Welsh accents?

And I doubt anyone didn't realise a Dalek was going to appear.

[ray gower]

Originally posted by Dave
So explain why all the London policemen had Welsh accents?

Damned Taff's get everywhere

Perhaps it is the undercover plan the Doctor didn't discover?

[obcooke]

[Originally posted by Dave: And I doubt anyone didn't realise a Dalek was going to appear.]

Actually, I didn't see any previews or promos for this episode (I'm a poor deprived Yank).

I have a friend who has a passing knowledge of Dr. Who, but by no means a maven. I did recently show him "The Five Doctors" during a Sci-Fi marathon.

When I showed him new Dr. Whos, I insisted that he close his eyes and avoid seeing the title of this episode. When the Dalek was revealed he actually gasped.

Later he asked the title of the show and thanked me for keeping it a secret so he could be surprised.

[Dave]

Okay, I'll have to admit to being wrong there. In the UK, each episode ended with a trailer for the following week, and the episode before this didn't hide the fact at all. Also, the British Tabloid newspapers had photos of Rose and the chained Dalek.

Then there is all the spoilers via the internet. Anyone following the discussions between the BBC and the Estate of Terry Nation knew that they had reached an agreement and Daleks would now appear at some point.

I guess you could say it was bad marketing of the product not to keep it a better secret, but it probably made more people watch in actual fact. I think that the BBC was clever to embrace the whole P2P Internet file sharing business and use it as a marketing ploy. Though I must stress that they deny that they did that of course. It was a mistake, someone was sacked. Many other companies are still living in the past.

I also note that the publicity for Joss Whedon's 'Serenity' has gone a stage further with the release of the "Session" virals under the pretence that they are something illicit from a P2P network.

One other thing though, and it does need a spoiler space if you are still working your way through this series: Having a Dalek appear so obviously now in this episode, does make their appearance in the final two parter more of a surprise. Maybe that was the idea?

[obcooke]

[Originally posted by Dave: In the UK, each episode ended with a trailer for the following week...]

Yeah, but I only saw one of those at the end of the first episode. That was because I wasn't expecting it - I had never seen a Dr. Who with "Coming Attractions" before. Fortunately, that preview is rather vague, only showing the setting of the story and that "something" is wrong - the jumping off point of so many Dr. Who stories that it was not at all revealing.

After that, I always stopped watching before the preview because with the Doctor, more than any other show, I just want to watch the story unfold with no clue as to what is coming. NO spoilers for me, please.

Which reminds me - I was surprised to see coming episodes posted here with loads of speculation and spoilers completely in the clear. I thought we only posted episodes after they were broadcast in order to avoid spoilers.

I was also surprised to see spoilers in the clear in the threads discussing the actors - how many episodes they are expected to be in next season, for instance.

In Buffy, I tried to keep the spoilers isolated to one thread, to protect the unspoiled. Now, I have to watch my step around here.

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[Originally posted by Dave: ...but it probably made more people watch in actual fact.]

Well, I can't argue with that. It just goes to show how different people experiencing the same thing in different circumstances come to different opinions. When I made my comment about the title I was thinking about me and people in the future who may buy the DVD. I think a better title would have been "Reunion".

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[Originally posted by Dave: I think that the BBC was clever to embrace the whole P2P Internet file sharing business and use it as a marketing ploy...]

I wasn't going to mention it because ASciFi.com has a policy about not promoting copyright no-no's, but yeah, a lot of people seem to have taken advantage of that.

A couple of comments from DRAGONCON, the big Sci-Fi convention in Atlanta which was held a couple a weeks ago -

The Dr. Who panel that I attended had about 50 or so people in it. The panelists wanted to warn about possible spoilers in the discussion, so they asked how many people had seen the new season and almost everyone had!

---

While waiting for the Serenity stars in the big ballroom, they ran a slide show of pics and text gags on the big screens in the room. One of the biggest laughs was this one -

"Have you seen the new Dr. Who's?"

[pause]

"We think they're great!"

[pause]

We didn't download them from the Internet. That would be wrong.

[pause]

We flew to the UK to see them!

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[Dave]

Originally posted by obcooke
I was surprised to see coming episodes posted here with loads of speculation and spoilers completely in the clear. I thought we only posted episodes after they were broadcast in order to avoid spoilers.

I'm sorry you feel that way, and I mean that sincerely, because if you feel that way then others will too, but don't have the courage to say so.

In the Stargate and Star Trek forums, I thought that if you enter an episode thread, you did so at your own risk. We often did put spoilers up until the episode aired in the USA, but not always, and that was often 6 months before it aired in the UK and sometimes years for the rest of the world. It is little odd this situation, because we in the UK actually get to see something first for a change.

I take your point about the character threads though and I will make sure I do add more spoiler warnings in the future.

You have to understand that over here, 'Dr Who' last year was a phenomenal success. It wasn't only watched by fanatical fans, but by young children and their grandparents; it was mainstream viewing. It beat 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway' in the ratings, a show that was voted in the Top Five ITV shows of the last 50 years. As such the speculation about it in British newspapers and on tv is rife.

If Rose and a chained Dalek appear in a full page spread in 'The Sun', the most popular daily tabloid in the UK, only a hermit without a tv or radio would not already know.

Only a few weeks ago, a BBC main news broadcast gave details of some guest stars in a second season episode, without any warning, so that pretty much rules out keeping that a secret.

Also Billie Piper's career was the subject of tabloid speculation from long before she took the part of Rose. Since was a teenage popstar, married a rich former DJ and tv producer, much older than her, and then split from him, the press think it is open season on her. So there is intense speculation on how long she will stay in 'Dr Who'.

I appreciate that in the rest of the world these things are not so, and I take note for future posts.