Doctor Who: Season 25

London, November 1963. A strange white-haired man said to be living in a junkyard with his granddaughter has disappeared, along with two of her schoolteachers. But he disappeared with the mission that brought him to this place unfulfilled. A few weeks later, but much longer for him, he returns to complete his task, and prevent the streets of London being turned into a battleground between two factions of the most dangerous species in the galaxy.

It would probably be fair to say that, after the underwhelming twenty-third and twenty-fourth seasons, expectations ahead of Doctor Who's silver anniversary year were low. The show had the feeling it was running on fumes: the budget had been slashed, the quality of the scripts was apparently deteriorating and the episode count almost halved over Doctor Who's traditional format. Ratings were on the slide and angry fan calls for the showrunner (as he'd now be called), John Nathan-Turner, to be sacked were being roundly ignored, leading to furious diatribes in the fanzine community.

Of course, it wouldn't be Doctor Who if it was predictable. For the twenty-fifth season, the creative crew riposted by delivering its finest set of episodes in years, and for its opener, its best story since Season 21's The Caves of Androzani.

Remembrance of the Daleks is, by any measure, a triumph. The debut script by Ben Aaronovitch - best known today for his Rivers of London urban fantasy series - is phenomenally good. The characters banter with one another believably, there are exceptional monologues on the mutability of time, and the script interjects mystery back into the Doctor's character. In fact, for almost the first time in the entire series, the Doctor is revealed to have set the events of the story in motion himself, laying an elaborate trap for the Daleks only to realise that things are complicated because the Daleks have divided into two factions with different motivations, something he was not expecting.

The white Imperial Daleks and grey Renegade Daleks (led by a black Dalek Supreme) despise one another due to their differing notions of racial purity. The Imperial Daleks have accepted cybernetic enhancements and deliberate mutations to make themselves more powerful (one such mutation resulting in a "Special Weapons Dalek" that can blow away entire streets). The Renegade Daleks believe these mutants are freaks, only fit to be destroyed. The metaphor for human racial superiority is expanded more directly as well: a black cafe worker muses with the Doctor on how if people had never decided they liked sugar, the sugar cane industry wouldn't have happened and he'd be an African. A key moment in the story is when Ace, vibing on the coolness of being in Swinging Sixties London (though 1963 is actually a bit before the swinging fully kicks in), is confronted with the less-cool spectre of racial bigotry.

In fact, Remembrance of the Daleks has a good claim for being the first "modern" Doctor Who story, rather than 2005's Rose. The story works on multiple levels of theme and metaphor, the Doctor is far more intelligent and cunning than we've traditionally seen, often acting rather than reacting, and the VFX work is beyond any other story produced in the Classic run to date. Daleks blasting one another on the streets of London, rocket-propelled grenades flying, spaceships landing in school playgrounds, the Doctor jury-rigging powerful weapons on the fly...this is Who at its most action-packed, even beyond Earthshock. The show is helped by its new stunt coordinator Tip Tipping, fresh off the set of James Cameron's Aliens, resulting in some pretty decent stunts and action sequences. The story also uses continuity in a neat way, tying in with the events of the first-ever Doctor Who story from 1963, An Unearthly Child, but lightly enough not to confuse people who hadn't seen that story recently (which, in 1988, was the majority of viewers).

As well as the excellent script, memorable dialogue, cool plot twists, impressive (for the time) action and several of the most "badass" moments in all of Doctor Who history (Ace single-handedly taking on a Dalek assault squad armed with a baseball bat being a highlight), it has an exceptional cast. Old reliables like George Sewell and Michael Sheard give great performances, but it's Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred who take centre stage. McCoy makes the Doctor convincingly dark and manipulative in a way we've not seen before, cementing his position as the best Doctor since Tom Baker, whilst Sophie Aldred dials down the enthusiasm of her debut to deliver a more compelling performance (and cementing her position as the best companion since Tegan, if not Sarah Jane Smith). Pamela Salem also gives a great guest performance, having previously been on the show over a decade earlier in The Robots of Death. Dursley McLinden also gives a solid guest performance as Mike, though this is tinged by tragedy: he later died of complications related to AIDS, and his character and story inspired Russell T. Davies' mini-series It's a Sin.

Remembrance of the Daleks is something of an embarrassment of riches, with so much packed into the story it could have easily been a six-parter and still felt crammed. As it is, it holds a claim to being the last truly great serial of Classic Doctor Who, though a couple of the stories after this have a go at breaking that claim.

The Happiness Patrol feels like a thematic sequel to the preceding season's Paradise Towers, in that it also feels like a JG Ballard novel come to life. The Doctor and Ace arrive on a planet where citizens are mandated to be happy on pain of death (resulting in the TARDIS getting a pink makeover). Does this make much literal sense? No. But as a nightmarish dreamscape it almost works, with Ace working to corrupt the titular "Happiness Patrol" not to be so happy, and the Doctor working with blues player Earl Sharp to help bring down the society. The guest cast is also in overdrive, with Sheila Hancock (as a Margaret Thatcher analogue), Lesley Dunlop, Ronald Fraser and Richard D. Sharp delivering great performances.

Production value-wise, the story is a mixed bag with some great costumes and excellent animatronic creature effects, but poor sets (the sets look dowdy and distinctly misery-inducing, which is odd given the vibe). The Kandy Man also feels a bit random: he gets the best lines and his happy and cheerful performance belaying his murderous intentions is a nice juxtaposition, but he looks ridiculous. He's also not really important to the story and could be removed with no issue, which would have improved the story no end. As it stands it's a solid story, and much better when viewed as an adult than as a kid (especially after coming off the action high of Remembrance of the Daleks).

Silver Nemesis aired on the actual 25th anniversary of Doctor Who itself, but is a bit of a mixed bag. The idea here is that the Doctor has unleashed a powerful superweapon in a prior, off-screen adventure and here has to ensure it is neutralised whilst fending off multiple forces on its trail. This is pretty much the exact same plot as Remembrance of the Daleks, even down to the fascist metaphor, although that's less subtle here as literal Neo-Nazis show up in pursuit of the weapon. We also have a returning classic monster with the Cybermen, but they have almost nothing to do in the story. The Cyberleader is incompetent (to the point where his lieutenant keeps pointing out that he's an idiot) and the Cybermen themselves are wiped out too easily by gold weapons. Ace fighting off a whole Cyber-platoon with a catapult and gold coins is a cool visual but a very dumb idea.

This is a shame because other elements of the story work better. The Doctor having a hidden, darker past is again hinted at, and Fiona Walker as Lady Peinforte and Gerard Murphy as Richard are a great double-act. The location filming at Arundel (standing in for Windsor Castle) is also very impressive and, for the second story in a row, we have a lot of riffing on music, this time jazz, with Courtney Pine guesting as himself (only the third time this ever happened in Who history, and both prior times it was newsreaders who only appeared on TV). Some of the action sequences are effective, and the Nemesis itself, which can speak and seems urgently concerned that people find it beautiful (given its ability to lay waste to vast amounts of the galaxy, most respond in the affirmative, with alacrity). The first episode is also quite strong. But it's a bit of a letdown overall, wastes the Cybermen, and is overshadowed in every way by Remembrance of the Daleks.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy rounds off the season and is a very bizarre story. This is Doctor Who returning to the "Surreal Who" school of story, previously seen in Warriors' Gate, Kinda and Snakedance. The Doctor and Ace arrive at a galactic carnival where people have to keep the audience entertained or die a horrible death. They find both allies and enemies amongst the carnival entertainers and other guests, with a constantly shifting web of allegiances to keep on top of.

It's deeply weird, not helped by the story expanding from three to four episodes, meaning a first episode where the Doctor and Ace take the whole length to even reach the circus.

What helps elevate the story is the guest cast, with Jessica Martin as Mags, the random werewolf; T.P. McKenna as Captain Cook (getting the assignment); Ricco Ross as the Ringmaster; Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown; and Peggy Mount as the Stallslady all turning in sterling performances. It helps that Ian Reddington doesn't do a cliched "evil clown" performance but something more interesting, with McKenna's what-ho-fellow-well-met fellowship giving way to more vicious selfishness as he tries to survive the travails of the carnival.

Most intriguing is the ending, where the Doctor starts off doing slapstick comedy to entertain the audience but then slowly becomes more manipulative and cunning as he builds up to defeating the enemy. The arc here is the Doctor going from one of the exhibits at the carnival to the grand ringmaster, manipulating everyone else without them realising it.

The twenty-fifth and - alas! - penultimate season of Classic Doctor Who (****) is a winner. The scripts are better, the dialogue is becoming more modern and naturalistic, the effects are improving, and the Doctor-Ace team is becoming one of the most definitive in the show's history, but the season is definitely too short, with great ideas having to be rushed.

The season is available on DVD and Blu-Ray as well as streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK and various services overseas. It's currently only available on limited edition Blu-Ray, but the standard edition is expected to be released in 2026.

• 25.1 - 25.4: Remembrance of the Daleks (*****)
• 25.5 - 25.7: The Happiness Patrol (****)
• 25.8 - 25.10: Silver Nemesis (***)
• 25.11 - 25.14: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (****)

Thank you for reading The Wertzone. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods.

DOCTOR WHO celebrates its 60th anniversary

Doctor Who has turned sixty years old. The BBC's longest-running drama series aired for the first time on 23 November 1963. Sixty years, forty seasons, exactly 300 stories, 871 episodes, fourteen Doctors and 57 (ish) companions later, the show is still going strong, with a trio of anniversary specials due to start airing on Saturday, seeing David Tennant return to the role of the Doctor.

Doctor Who was created by a team at the BBC, consisting of Sydney Newman, Donald Wilson, Alice Frick, Donald Bull, Anthony Coburn, C.E. Webber, David Whittaker, Mervyn Pinfield and Verity Lambert, who became the show's first executive producer and effective showrunner. The show was designed to fill a Saturday evening gap that had opened between the sports and a music show, with the BBC reasoning they needed a show that could hold the attention of sports fans and ease younger viewers into the pop show.

After incoming Head of Drama Sydney Newman expressed a wish to develop a science fiction idea, the BBC realised it could draw upon a pre-existing stockpile of sets, props and costumes developed for various historical shows over the years, to be used in a time travel series. The production team realised they could also alternate historical and educational stories with science fiction "fun" episodes. Although the development team came up with various aspects of the show, Newman is usually credited as the show's creator for coming up with the name, the premise and the idea of a time-travelling machine larger inside than out.

Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire developed the show's distinct music, whilst Bernard Lodge and Norman Taylor created the show's distinctive title sequence, echoes of which can be found in more modern versions.

The original cast. From left to right: Ian Chesterton (William Russell), the First Doctor (William Hartnell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Susan (Carole Ann Ford).

For the cast, veteran British film actor William Hartnell was cast as the role of the Doctor, a mysterious alien from another world in possession of a TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), a machine capable of travelling anywhere and anywhen. He was accompanied on his travels his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford). In the very first episode, An Unearthly Child, Susan's schoolteachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), become mystified by Susan's incredible brilliance in certain areas but shocking ignorance at others, and decide to travel to her address to talk to her grandfather. However, the address is for a junkyard. They find the TARDIS disguised as a police telephone box, but soon stumble inside and are stunned at its far larger interior dimensions. The Doctor, panicking at the unexpected discovery, launches the TARDIS but loses control of its navigation systems, which are apparently malfunctioning. Over the course of many adventures, the Doctor attempts to return Ian and Barbara to their home time safely. On their travels, they journey to ancient Rome and the court of Marco Polo, are shrunk to the size of insects and encounter their most persistent foe, the Daleks of Skaro.

The show's gruelling production schedule (producing over 40 episodes a year back in those days) took a toll on both cast and crew. Within just three years, the last person left standing from the show's launch was Hartnell, and he was suffering from increasing ill health. When he decided to quit the show early in its fourth season, it was assumed that would be it: you can't have a show called Doctor Who without the Doctor, can you?

Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor (1966-69).

However, the production team hit on the idea that, since the Doctor was an alien, he could perhaps "die" but then be reborn in a new, younger body. Hartnell was consulted on the idea and he gave it his approval, even suggesting his own replacement: Patrick Troughton. Troughton was duly cast and the Doctor changed his appearance for the first time at the end of the classic serial The Tenth Planet, which was also notable for introducing the Cybermen.

The reign of the Second Doctor was more consistent - he was joined by Highlander Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) for almost its entire length as his companion - but saw some changes in the format. The historical stories, which had never been hugely popular, were quietly dropped. The Doctor would still continue to visit historical periods but now would encounter science fiction threats there. There was a renewed focus on monsters, and the Second Doctor's reign saw the introduction of the Ice Warriors, Macra and the Great Intelligence, all of whom would return in the modern era of the show. Towards the end of the Second Doctor's run, he visited Earth in the near future and encountered a military organisation known as UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce), ironically inspired by the various times the Doctor had defeated alien incursions with the help of local military or government forces.

Troughton decided that three years was the optimal time to remain on Doctor Who without being typecast; the so-called "Troughton Rule" of each Doctor staying for three years or three seasons would be followed by seven succeeding Doctors, with three staying for an even shorter period and only two for a longer period. With his departure at the end of the sixth season, airing in 1969, the BBC decided to revamp the show by making it in full colour, which came at the cost of reducing the episode count to a more modest 26 episodes a year.

Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor (1970-74).

Inspired by faster-moving US SF productions like Star Trek, not to mention the gadgets and action of the James Bond movies, there was a shift to more action. To save on costs, the TARDIS was grounded, with the Third Doctor, now played by Jon Pertwee, exiled to Earth by his own race, the Time Lords, for breaking their rules on non-interference. The Doctor joined UNIT as its scientific advisor and gained not just new companions but also a whole set of new allies, led by the formidable Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). The Doctor also gained a nemesis, in the form of the evil Time Lord known as the Master (Roger Delgado). Their Holmes-and-Moriarty-like banter and bickering became a hallmark of the Third Doctor's reign. This era also saw the first multi-Doctor celebration in The Three Doctors (1973), where Pertwee, Troughton and Hartnell's Doctors are united by time travel to face the threat of the insane Time Lord known as Omega. Pertwee stayed in the role for five years (1970-74), electing to leave after Roger Delgado's death in a tragic car crash.

Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor (1974-81).

For the Fourth Doctor (1974-81), the BBC decided to cast the relatively unknown Tom Baker in the role. Baker's eccentric mannerisms, deep booming voice and idiosyncratic humour soon won him legions of fans, and his run on the show would generate many of the best-regarded Doctor Who stories of all time: The Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Deadly Assassin, The Robots of Death, City of Death and more. Under Baker's reign, the show hits its highest-ever audience figures of over 16 million, and achieved its first breakthrough in the United States, with Baker stories airing on PBS creating a small but devoted following (including future Simpsons creator Matt Groening).

Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor (1981-84).

Baker stayed in the role for seven years, still a record, and may have stayed for longer, but incoming new producer John Nathan-Turner was keen for a revamp, feeling the show needed to be revitalised for the 1980s. For Baker's last season a new, more electronic theme tune and title sequence was developed, younger companions were introduced and Baker's tendency to adlib dialogue and improvise on set was heavily reigned in. Baker quit at the end of the eighteenth season and was replaced by the younger Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor (1981-84). During Davison's tenure it became clearer that the show's low budget was becoming extremely problematic in keeping the show relevant, and viewers interested, especially in the face of increasingly stiff competition from big-budget, glossy American shows. However, generally strong scripts ensured that Davison's reign was remembered fondly.

Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor (1984-86).

Davison was succeeded by Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor (1984-86), with the plan being that Baker's Doctor would be unpredictable and unstable, even dangerous, before evolving into a more civilised version of the Doctor. Unfortunately, this simply made him unlikeable out of the gate. Incoming, new BBC executives disliked the show and tried to kill it, but viewing figures remained reasonable. After an eighteen-month hiatus after Baker's first season, the show was brought back with a drastically cut episode count (to just 14 half-hour episodes) and a shift to a midweek timeslot opposite Britain's most popular show, Coronation Street, carefully designed to make the show unviable.

Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor (1987-89, 96).

Baker was also fired and replaced by Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor (1987-89), a comedian best known for an act involving putting ferrets in his trousers. Against the odds, McCoy played his Doctor as a master-manipulator and cunning instigator of plots, developing a formidable bond with his companion Ace (Sophie Aldred), a teenager from a rough London estate who thrives when taken on adventures in time and space. McCoy's era generated several classic stories and was on a creative and critical high when the BBC decided to "rest" show after its 26th season in 1989.

Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor (1996).

Doctor Who spent sixteen years in the wilderness, with only a single TV special in 1996 starring Paul McGann as the short-lived Eighth Doctor. The show continued to generate considerable income for the BBC through VHS and, later, DVD sales, toys, models, video games, comic books and a vast range of novels and short story collections (including stories by Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell and Mark Gatiss, amongst many others). The BBC kept trying to relaunch the show as a big-budget movie, but could not attract significant Hollywood interest.

Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor (2005).

Finally, the BBC resurrected Doctor Who in 2005. Russell T. Davies, one of the hottest British TV writers in the business and a lifelong Doctor Who fan, picked up the reigns after the success of his dramas Queer as Folk, The Second Coming and Casanova. He returned the show to Saturday night primetime and recruited Christopher Eccleston to the play role of the Ninth Doctor, with former pop star Billie Piper playing his companion Rose. The new show shared continuity with the old, but was softly rebooted, with a new premise which saw the Doctor as the last survivor of his race after they were annihilated in the Great Time War against the Daleks.

David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor (2005-10).

The show saw impressive viewing figures on its return, with young children particularly swept up in its charm. The show started shifting vast amounts of merchandise, and picked up steam on BBC America in the US. There was an early hiccup when Eccleston quit after just one season due to creative differences with one of the directors, but he was quickly replaced by David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor (2005-10). Tennant's performance came to be regarded as iconic, on a par with that of Tom Baker for the classic show, and his popularity was impressive. He did three full seasons as the Doctor and a series of specials. During Davies' run he also extended the franchise's reach to other shows, with the adult-focused Torchwood (2006-11) and the kid-friendly Sarah-Jane Adventures (2007-11) both launching on his watch.

Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor (2010-13).

Tennant's departure coincided with that of Davies, and the immensely popular writer Steven Moffat picked to succeed Davies. He brought in Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor (2010-13), who brought a younger energy to proceedings. Under Smith's sure hand, the show experienced arguably the zenith of its appeal and fame, achieving a major, breakthrough success in profile in the United States. The 50th anniversary special, Day of the Doctor, aired in cinemas worldwide and saw huge viewing figures achieved.

Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor (2013-17).

The reign of the Twelfth Doctor (2013-17), played by Peter Capaldi, was critically acclaimed, particular for the episode Heaven Sent, but saw complaints about convoluted plotting. The show also experienced budget problems during this time, airing increasingly intermittently and dropping its episode count. There was also speculation that Moffat had stayed too long (eight years, only one less than John Nathan-Turner in the 1980s); he departed alongside Capaldi.

Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor (2017-22).

Capaldi was succeeded by Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor (2017-22), the first actress to play the role. Chris Chibnall, who had been writing for the show since the Russell T. Davies era, became showrunner off the back of his hot detective show Broadchurch (2013-17). The show became more filmic during this period, with most sophisticated effects and expansive location filming in South Africa. However, the budget continued to be squeezed, with the show dropping to just ten episodes per season and extremely long gaps between seasons (not helped by the COVID pandemic). The show also moved from Saturday to Sunday nights, and the Christmas Special was dropped in favour of a New Year's Special that attracted far less attention. The show's critical acclaim dropped to its lowest level since its return in 2005, with criticism of the overlarge cast (which sometimes left the Doctor with little screen time), leaden pacing and a curious decision to retcon the Doctor's origins. Viewing figures also fell significantly during this period.

David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor (2022-23).

Despite early discussions about a five-season run and story arc, Whittaker and Chibnall decided to leave after three seasons and a series of special episodes; ironically, their very last episode as also their best, and best-regarded. In a shock move, the BBC was able to recruit Russell T. Davies to return to the show. Davies had gained international stature after leaving Who in 2010 through a series of prestige dramas, including Years and Years and It's a Sin. Davies used his return to leverage impressive results: Doctor Who would return to Saturday nights, the Christmas Special would return, the entire Doctor Who archive would be made available via the BBC iPlayer, the show would move to an independent production company (Bad Wolf, founded by Davies' former friends and coworkers from during his original tenure on the show) and Disney+ would co-fund the series and distribute it internationally on its streaming platform. For the show's 60th Anniversary, Davies would also bring back Tennant, albeit playing the distinctive Fourteenth Doctor rather than the return of the Tenth.

Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor (2023-??).

It would be confirmed that Tennant's return would be limited, with Scottish-Rwandan actor Ncuti Gatwa cast as the Fifteenth Doctor, to debut in the 2023 Christmas Special. Gatwa is already filming his second season as the Doctor months before his first is due to air.

The appeal of Doctor Who is fairly obvious: the show can go anywhere in space or time. Despite a gradual accumulation of lore, backstory and story arcs over six decades, the show is mostly focused on standalone stories than anyone can enjoy. The show has always been aimed at family audiences, as Davies once said, to appeal to everyone from eight to eighty. The show features action, but the Doctor is reluctant to kill or use violence, preferring thinking and negotiation. The concept of regeneration, as well as the revolving door of companions, constantly allows the show to refresh itself every few years, with constant media interest in the next actor to take on the role.

That Doctor Who is still being made after sixty years is incredible. Hopefully it will go on at least sixty years more.

DOCTOR WHO's first Dalek story gets major revamp for 60th anniversary

The BBC has confirmed that the very first Doctor Who story to feature the Daleks is to get a makeover and revamp for the imminent 60th Anniversary of the franchise.

Originally airing across seven episodes in late 1963 and early 1964, The Daleks was the first story to feature the titular tinpot menace, and the second-ever Doctor Who serial. The first serial, An Unearthly Child, which introduced the Doctor, the TARDIS and the first-ever companions (Susan, Ian and Barbara), had aired to fairly poor ratings, suggesting the new show would be cancelled before it ever really got off the ground. However, The Daleks was a smash-hit, almost tripling ratings over the course of its run and encouraging thousands of British schoolchildren to run around their playgrounds yelling "Exterminate!"

For the 60th anniversary, the serial has been re-edited from its original near three-hour runtime down to a breezier 75 minutes. Mark Ayres has contributed a re-edited musical score, building on the work of original composer Tristram Cary. Most impressively, the 75-minute cut has been completely colourised, with more than a year's work going into the process (the original six seasons of Doctor Who were recorded in black-and-white).

The original version of the serial will remain available on BBC iPlayer.

In the serial, the Doctor (William Hartnell), his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford) and their reluctant new companions Ian (William Russell) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) arrive on the planet Skaro, where an energy drain prevents the TARDIS from leaving. Outside they find a forest that has been completely petrified and evidence of a massive nuclear war in the recent past. They also discover an eerily empty, technologically-advanced city. Of course, the city is not as abandoned as first appears, and the Doctor is soon introduced to his most infamous foes.

The Daleks was originally written by Terry Nation and directed by Christopher Barry (episodes 1-2, 4-5) and Richard Martin (3, 6-7). The executive producer - today's equivalent of a showrunner - was Verity Lambert, and the script editor was David Whitaker. The serial aired from 21 December 1963 to 1 February 1964. The Daleks were designed by Raymond Cusick.

In 1965 the serial was adapted as the first Doctor Who feature film, Dr. Who and the Daleks, starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor.

The revamped version of The Daleks will be released on the BBC iPlayer on 23 November, the actual 60th Anniversary of the franchise.

Ten classic DOCTOR WHO stories

Due to the high popularity of the new Doctor Who, it's not uncommon to see people asking online about what stories from the original series they should check out. Here are my recommendations.

Note: whilst I have watched a significant number of Who stories in my time (thanks to the relatively low-priced VHS releases of the series in the 1980s and 1990s), I haven't seen all of them. And before people ask, no I haven't seen The Talons of Weng-Chiang or Pyramids of Mars.

Also note that this list is in chronological order, not any order of merit.


An Unearthly Child (episode 1 only)
23 November 1963, Season 1

Doctor Who's first episode was broadcast on Saturday, 23 November 1963, and was almost completely ignored due to events that had transpired just a day earlier in Dallas, Texas. The episode was subsequently repeated a week later, where it got more attention. This episode revolves around two schoolteachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, who become concerned over the behaviour of one of their students, Susan Foreman. They decide to talk to Susan's guardian, her grandfather, only to discover that the address she gave the school is for a junkyard, the only notable feature of which is a police telephone box...

This first episode of Doctor Who is talky and tense, with the Doctor (played with a stern, authoritative air by William Hartnell) shown to be an ambiguous figure as he tries to work out what he's going to do about these two teachers who have stumbled upon the secret of the TARDIS. The rest of the four-part story is dull as dishwater (the Doctor and his companions become involved in a dispute between two opposing tribes of cavemen and inadvertently end up giving them the secret of fire), but this first episode is an effective opener to the series.


The Dalek Invasion of Earth
21 November-26 December 1964, Season 2

Doctor Who's opening story may have not been a great success, but its second turned it into must-see TV. The Daleks introduced the Doctor's most enduring foes and triggered the phenomenon of 'Dalekmania', which swept across the UK for much of 1964-66. This second Dalek serial saw the BBC respond to the success of the series by giving it a ramped-up budget, allowing generous amounts of location shooting in London. The premise is extremely simple: the Doctor and his companions arrive on Earth in the mid-22nd Century to find it under Dalek occupation. The team are split up among several different groups of prisoners, quislings and rebels and undertake separate adventures until their paths cross again for the epic showdown. By the standards of the time, this is a big story, well-paced (unlike most of the contemporary six-episode or longer serials, which are glacial by modern standards) with a large cast and some great set-pieces. The story also introduces some enduring ideas, such as the notion of a black-cased 'Dalek Supreme' and the pain the Doctor experiences when one of his companions departs (here even moreso, as it's his granddaughter Susan who elects to remain behind on post-occupation Earth), ideas that even the new series has continued to mine.


The War Games
19 April-21 June 1969, Season 6

Making a pick for the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, is difficult as his surviving stories tend towards the 'cheesy bollocks' (most notably the so-bad-it's-glorious The Dominators, in which two aliens try to conquer a planet with the help of impractical shoulder pads and some very dumb robot servants). Basically it came down between The War Games and Tomb of the Cybermen, and Tomb has to lose out due to the astonishingly bad acting of quite a few of the supporting cast (though the Cybermen waking from their tombs of ice is still a haunting image).

The War Games is a long, long story, weighing in at 10 episodes, but the four-hour length just about works due to a shift in focus every few episodes. The first few episodes see the Doctor, Jaime and Zoe arriving on Earth during WWI and get involved in various shenanigans on the Western Front. However, it is eventually revealed that they are really on a planet divided into historical timezones where unknowingly-kidnapped soldiers from different periods of Earth history fight it out whilst aliens study them. After exploring a couple of the zones, the story takes an unexpected turn when we discover that the aliens' time travel technology is the creation of the War Chief, an exile from the Doctor's home planet. As the Doctor and the War Chief face off, it becomes clear that the War Chief is a pawn for the leader of the aliens, the War Lord (a formidable performance by British character actor Philip Madoc, who brings 100% deadly earnestness to the role). Where the story succeeds is that it throws the Doctor for a loop every time he thinks he's solved the crisis, with the War Lord shown to be a remorseless foe who may be more than a match for the Doctor. Patrick Troughton, always a strong actor as the Doctor, is tested more than in any other story and rises to the occasion, showing the Second Doctor becoming increasingly frustrated and desperate as the crisis escalates. Eventually, the Doctor's resolve to defeat the War Lord cracks and he calls in his own people, the hitherto enigmatic (and unnamed) Time Lords, to sort it out for him!

This then leads us into the extremely different and hugely revelatory final episode, in which the Time Lords, having dealt with the threat of the War Lord, now bring the Doctor to trial for his crimes of interfering in the affairs of other planets. The Doctor puts on an impassioned defence of his desire to fight evil and injustice wherever it may be found, which doesn't seem to move the emotionless Time Lords...until they read out the verdict, in which it appears that the Doctor's arguments have indeed swayed them, and he is exiled to Earth in the 20th Century. A rather grim final episode with an ending that is rather mixed in its outcome: the Doctor survives, but he loses his companions and (temporarily) the use of the TARDIS, and sets up a very loose story arc that unfolds over the next three seasons. Fans remain divided to this day on the morality of the Time Lords 'killing' the Second Doctor by forcing him to regenerate as well.


Day of the Daleks
1-22 January 1972, Season 9

Day of the Daleks is a clever story as it's one of the vanishingly few times the original series dealt with temporal paradoxes (Steven Moffat has used the temporal paradox story idea more times in his two seasons in charge than in the entirety of the original series, for example). The Doctor (now played as more of an action hero by Jon Pertwee) is highly confused to find that Earth in the 22nd Century is again under the rule of the Daleks (since he defeated them in The Dalek Invasion of Earth) and learns that time-travel has resulted in the creation of an alternate future. Ironically, it's not the Daleks' fault, but rather that of the well-meaning rebels who are trying to stop them. The story is a tense affair as the Doctor tries to repair the timeline in the future, but in the present UNIT are put on alert by the apparently-imminent outbreak of World War III. Aubrey Woods gives the main human villain, the Controller, a sense of depth as he is shown to be ravaged by guilt for his actions as a collaborator of the Daleks, whilst Doctor Who gains a new race of villains with the entertainingly dumb Ogrons (footsoldiers of the Daleks). Crucially, the Daleks are not overused and are kept in the background throughout, Machiavellian masterminds rather than easily-defeated soldiers.


The Sea Devils
26 February-1 April 1972, Season 9

One of the best things about the Pertwee Era was the relationship between the Doctor and his arch-nemesis, the Master, played in this incarnation by Roger Delgado. The Doctor and the Master here are portrayed as the alien equivalent of Sherlock and Moriarty, well-matched opponents who both hate and respect one another. The Sea Devils opens with the Master in prison and the Doctor paying a visit to the apparently reformed villain, but unsurprisingly the Master is soon revealed to be up to his old tricks. This time, he's in cahoots with the Sea Devils, an off-shoot of the Silurians (the original inhabitants of Earth who are in stasis far below the planet's surface, awaiting the chance to return; they most recently appeared with Matt Smith last year), who are planning to conquer the Earth etc. A lot of the story is rather forgettable, to be honest, but it's the game of cat and mouse between the Doctor and the Master which is most fascinating, especially when it escalates to a literal fencing match between the two (here enhanced with lightsabre effects because...erm...why not?).

The Ark in Space
25 January-15 February 1975, Season 12

In 1974 Tom Baker took over the role of the Doctor, bringing an element of demented insanity to the role that, in later seasons, took over the show to its detriment. Early on, however, Baker delivered a series of iconic performances where his humour, intelligence and dramatic skills were kept in balance. The Ark in Space is a perfect example of this, as the Doctor's comic early exasperation with new companion Harry Sullivan gives way to probably his finest speech about why he likes hanging around human beings so much (a speech so iconic even the new series has referenced it) upon viewing the thousands of humans in cryostasis on an immense space station:

"Homo sapiens, what an inventive, invincible species. It's only a few million years since they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenseless bipeds! They've survived flood, famine and plague. They've survived cosmic wars and holocausts. Now here they are out among the stars waiting to begin a new life, ready to outsit eternity. They're indomitable."

Later on, things go a bit Alien as parasitical lifeforms attach themselves to the sleeping humans and turn them into ferocious monsters. Ignoring the fact that the alien grubs are clearly covered in green-painted bubble-warp, this was probably the scariest and most horrifying episode of Doctor Who to this time, marking the beginning of a period when Who was frequently criticised for being too disturbing for children to watch. But overall this is a well-written, dramatic and slightly disturbing story.


Genesis of the Daleks
8 March-12 April 1975, Season 12

After another period in which the Daleks had been heavily over-used, the production team decided to rest them for a while. But before they bowed out, Dalek creator Terry Nation decided to write a story exploring the creation and origin of the Daleks. He introduced their creator, the crippled, insane scientist Davros, and had the Doctor face an ethical dilemma as he is ordered by the Time Lords to destroy the Daleks at the moment of their creation (this move was later retconned as the opening salvo in the Time War). The Doctor thus spends the serial agonising over the morality of genocide even as the humanoid Kaleds and Thals slaughter one another with shocking abandon. Nation uses Nazi imagery to further make it clear that Davros and the Kaleds are Not Nice People, though the violent Thals hardly come out of it any better. This is Doctor Who at its most morally murky, but also at its most dramatic and watchable. A terrific story in which, again, the Daleks are purposefully kept off-camera as much as possible to make their appearances more memorable and powerful.


City of Death
29 September-20 October 1979, Season 17

City of Death may be the single most totally-bonkers story in the history of the series. Written by Douglas 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' Adams and filmed partially on location in Paris with a totally random cameo by John Cleese and Tom Baker's comedic skills being fully unleashed, City of Death is an unabashed joy from start to finish. Baker has some golden lines ("What a delightful butler, he's so violent!") and the plot is bananas (an exploding alien spaceship half a billion years ago splits its pilot into several incarnations scattered through Earth's history), but a key element here is Julian Glover (most recently seen as Pycelle in Game of Thrones) giving a steely, well-judged performance as the main villain. Boundlessly inventive and propelled by palpable cast enthusiasm, this is Doctor Who at its funniest and most entertaining.


The Caves of Androzani
8-16 March 1984, Season 21

Peter Davison's sojourn as the Fifth Doctor comes to an end in a remarkably grim and 'different' Doctor Who story. Directed by Graeme Harper (the only director of the original series invited back for the new one) and written by the ever-reliable Robert Holmes (he also wrote The Ark in Space), this story pits the Doctor and Peri against the disfigured and violent Sharaz Jek (a blistering, intense performance by Christopher Gable). However, the situation is complicated by political machinations between Jek's allies and enemies, and frankly none of the characters come out of the situation very well. With its cast of fully-realised characters (each of whom has a fully-fleshed out motivation for what he's doing), this is Doctor Who at its best-written (and, frankly, not a single story since, not even the splendid Blink or The Doctor's Wife, matches it). It also features the best regeneration to date, with Peter Davison's Doctor having to will himself through a difficult rebirth, egged on by visions of his past companions and threatened by images of his greatest enemy, the Master. The final scene, of the new Doctor Colin Baker rather threateningly saying that change has come, "Not a moment too soon," promises more than subsequent stories deliver, however.


Remembrance of the Daleks
5-25 October 1988, Season 25

A tricky choice, since Remembrance does feature some of the weakest guest stars of Sylvester McCoy's admittedly difficult era, but Ben Aaronovitch's script is very strong and it's certainly one of the most ambitious Doctor Who stories. It brings us full circle back to the events of An Unearthly Child, being set just a few days after the Doctor, his granddaughter and two teachers vanished from Earth in late 1963, and we discover exactly why the Doctor was on Earth in the first place: to recover the Hand of Omega, an immensely powerful artifact capable of manipulating stars. No less than two factions of Daleks are also on the trail, and as they get closer to the device this results in some epic battles on the streets of London (the fact that the other three serials of Season 25 look like they had a combined budget of 25p is probably explained by this), most notably when the ludicrously over-powered Special Weapons Dalek is deployed which can take out streets full of enemy Daleks with a single shot.

But beyond the fireworks, it's McCoy's performance as the Doctor as a grand chess-master, orchestrating events from behind the scenes and manipulating others - even his companion Ace - into doing what he wants which really stands out. This is one of the few times in the show's history that the Doctor himself sets in motion the events of the story rather than being reactive to it, and that simple change elevates the story to a new level, as does its raising of normally-ignored issues like racism in 1960s London.


So there we go. Ten stories from the original run of Doctor Who that I think are pretty good stuff (bearing in mind that some dating and aging of things like special effects and filming techniques have taken place).

Specieswatch: The Daleks

This is the first in an occasional series which will look at some of the various alien or nonhuman species from various SF and fantasy franchises from multiple mediums. To start off this series I decided to go with arguably one of the most infamous and prominent nonhuman races in all of speculative fiction.

The original Dalek, as seen in Season 1's The Daleks (1964).

Fictional Overview

The Daleks are a race of cyborgs originating on the planet Skaro and are the mutated remnants of a humanoid race known as the Kaleds. The Daleks consist of an external, highly durable robotic shell and an organic creature inside. The Dalek creature evolves (or mutates) over the course of their history, and is sometimes capable of independent movement and action away from the shell (at least for a limited period) and at others is immobile within the shell and totally reliant on it for survival.

The Daleks are active in several distinct timeframes in the course of the Doctor Who fictional continuity, and at various points command a vast empire spanning hundreds of planets in multiple galaxies, a single city on their home planet, and indeed at one point were reduced to a single Dalek which barely survived and managed to recreate the species using Kaled genetic material. The Daleks evolve during the course of the fictional history of the TV series, with early-history Daleks being relatively slow, ungainly and vulnerable to explosives and missiles. Far future Daleks hailing from the post-201st Century are capable of flight, time travel, limited teleportation and possess personal defence forcefields.

The advanced Dalek used in the Russell T. Davies years (Seasons 27-30, 2005-09).

The Daleks are held to be the most dangerous lifeform in the Doctor Who fictional canon, and at one point are believed to have succeeded in destroying all other life in the universe. The Time Lords of Gallifrey averted this fate by sending an unwilling agent, the Doctor, to the moment of their creation to destroy them. Although he failed, he did retard their development and inadvertently ensured the survival of their creator, Davros, which later led to both a massive schism and civil war amongst the Dalek civilisation and a full-scale 'Time War' between the Daleks and Time Lords which led to the mutual and near-complete destruction of both species.


Fictional History
(note that this is my interpretation of the history of the race as given in Doctor Who based on the Daleks' changing levels of technology in the original and new series)

Skaro, homeworld of the Kaleds/Daleks and Thals (as seen in the 1996 TV movie).

The Kaleds were originally a humanoid species native to the planet Skaro, the twelfth world of its star. The Kaleds developed a technologically-advanced civilisation before becoming embroiled in a nuclear war with another race called the Thals (it is unclear if the Kaleds and Thals were genetically different species or merely different national or ethnic groups of the same race). During the long years of the war, which also involved the use of chemical and biological weapons, much of Skaro was reduced to a wasteland and much of its indigenous animal life was killed off or mutated. A brilliant Kaled scientist named Davros experimented on mutations of actual Kaleds. Publicly, he claimed his experiments were designed to ensure the future survival of their species in a life-support/travel machine even if the planet became too radioactive to support their continued existence. In private, he experimented on the mutants, removing such 'weak' concepts as fear, pity, empathy and tolerance of other races and beliefs, and turned the supposedly innocent travel machine into a war machine equipped with sophisticated weaponry. When the Kaled government, horrified at Davros' experiments, tried to shut him down, Davros leaked intelligence to the Thals that allowed them to destroy the last Kaled city before he released his prototype Daleks into the Thal city, wiping out most of the population. The Daleks turned on Davros and apparently exterminated him. However, the intervention of the Time Lord known as the Doctor apparently changed history so that Davros survived (the Doctor, under the threat of torture and death, revealed details of the future history of the Dalek race, including their extreme capability for duplicity and ruthlessness, to Davros, who apparently took precautions to ensure his survival) and the prototype Daleks were entombed in their original laboratory.

Davros confronting the Fourth Doctor in Season 12's Genesis of the Daleks (1975).

Centuries later, the Daleks had emerged, constructed an elaborate city and now appeared content to exist in peace on Skaro alone. However, they discovered that the Thals had also survived, now a race of peaceful pacifists, and attempted to destroy them. The Doctor, in what was by his own internal chronology his first encounter with the Daleks, prevented them from succeeding and helped shut down the city, destroying the Daleks present. However, it was later revealed that the Daleks had spread across the face of Skaro and founded other cities, and soon begun a new war with the Thals.

Events from this point forward are confusing and contradictory. The Daleks became a space-faring civilisation and, by their own internal chronology, had their first encounter with the humans of Earth in the mid-21st Century when they encountered an early human colony world, Vulcan. The intervention of the Doctor again ensured the defeat of the Daleks. The Daleks then invaded Earth itself in the mid-22nd Century and occupied the planet for several years. The Doctor assisted Earth in liberating itself and the planet was able to rebuild with help from its colonies. From this point forwards Earth was in a state of almost permanent war with the Daleks whenever they were encountered. Three centuries after this time the Daleks, allied with another Time Lord, the Master, almost succeeded in triggering a war between Earth and the Draconian Empire, but were exposed. The humans and Draconians launched a joint war against the Daleks which drove them from Earth's corner of the Galaxy (apparently including Skaro, which was abandoned). An attempted Dalek counter-attack using a vast army secreted on the jungle planet of Spiridon was defeated by a Thal guerrilla squad aided by the Doctor (who froze the 10,000-strong Dalek army), whilst a Dalek ship fleeing from the warzone was destroyed on the planet Exxilon.

Some time after this point the Daleks developed primitive time travel technology and sent an extermination squad in pursuit of the Doctor, hoping to kill him in his first incarnation and undo their previous defeats at the hands of his later incarnations. This plan failed and the Dalek squad was destroyed by a race of robots known as the Mechanoids.

Following their war with Earth and Draconus, the weakened Daleks came into another war, this time with a race of powerful androids known as the Movellans. The two races fought one another to a stalemate, with the two sides unable to break the impasse. A small team returned to Skaro and retrieved their creator Davros (now revealed to have been in suspended animation since the Daleks' creation, centuries or millennia later), banking on his knowledge of Dalek genetics and intelligence to create a solution to the impasse. Whilst they succeeded in rescuing Davros, the retrieval team was destroyed by a Movellan strike force and Davros was apprehended by humans and imprisoned in a penal facility.

Davros is rescued from the penal station in Season 21's Resurrection of the Daleks (1984).

Ninety years later, the Daleks stormed the facility and again rescued Davros, this time to find a cure for a Movellan virus that was wiping the species out. Davros, aware of the Daleks' capacity for betrayal, instead seized control of several Daleks in an attempt to create his own faction of Daleks completely loyal to him, although these were destroyed in battle with the 'real' Daleks. He escaped from the penal colony in an escape pod (having been adversely affected by the Movellan virus himself) and found his way to a human retirement colony, Tranquil Repose, where he used the genetic material of the residents to create a new race of Daleks. However, the 'main' Dalek faction led by the Dalek Supreme was alerted to Davros' plan and captured him, destroying Davros' Daleks in the process. Davros' fate after this point is unclear, but it appears that he escaped and succeeded in creating an army of 'Imperial Daleks' under his control. One strong theory is that he retrieved the 10,000-strong Dalek army on Spiridon left frozen by the Doctor and adapted these into a powerful army that the original Daleks, who had been severely weakened by centuries of warfare against the Thals, humans, Draconians and Movellans, could not withstand. The original Daleks became known as 'renegade Daleks' whilst Davros' faction became dominant and retook control of Skaro.

This marked the beginning of the Dalek Civil War, which raged for an indeterminate amount of time before it was ended by the Doctor tricking Davros into using the Hand of Omega, a powerful Time Lord piece of technology, to destroy Skaro and the Imperial Dalek faction once and for all (although Davros, once again, escaped thanks to a handy escape pod). The renegade Daleks survived, but went to ground for some considerable time to rebuild and recover.

Imperial Daleks suffer heavy losses in battle with renegade Daleks during the Hand of Omega gambit in Remembrance of the Daleks (Season 25, 1988).

The Daleks re-emerged over a thousand years later when they forged an alliance between several races in an attempt to destroy Earth and its allies using a powerful weapon known as the Time Destructor. As to be expected, the Doctor again thwarted this plan. Frustrated with the ability of 'inferior' species to constantly defeat them, the Daleks attempted to distill the 'human factor' of ingenuity and intuition and add it to their genetic make-up, but thanks to the inevitable intervention of the Doctor this plan failed and instead a number of 'humanised' Daleks were created. The two Dalek factions fought one another apparently to the point of mutual annihilation, but the humanised Daleks were eventually overcome and destroyed. After this the Daleks attempted to change their own history by ensuring their invasion of Earth in the 22nd Century was not defeated, a major violation of the laws of time (although the Doctor was able to help restore the original timeline).

After this point the Daleks appear to have vanished from the Galaxy for a long period of time, many thousands of years, becoming considerably more advanced and powerful in their long exile. Aware of repeated attempts to destroy them by the Time Lords, the Daleks launched the 'Great Time War' against Gallifrey which saw the destruction of many worlds and species with battles raging over all of time and space. The war turned against the Time Lords, who prepared a weapon of last resort that would destroy the Daleks but also possibly the entire universe. The Doctor prevented them from using the weapon and on the last day of the Time War was able to destroy both the Daleks and Time Lords, sealing the entire war out of the reach of time travel technology. Unfortunately, the Doctor was not entirely successful and several Daleks survived, one falling through time to Earth in 2012 where it was destroyed, another - the Emperor Dalek - proceeding to the 202nd Century where it rebuilt its forces. This force was also destroyed, apparently marking the final end of the Dalek race. Inevitably, this proved not to be the case as it was discovered that four other Daleks - the elite Cult of Skaro - had taken refuge in interdimenisonal space during the Time War to escape the destruction of the Time Lords and Daleks. The Cult fought the Doctor on two occasions and all but one member was destroyed. The surviving Dalek somehow breached the Time War to rescue Davros, who was able to use Kaled genetic material (cloned from his own cells) to recreate the Dalek race in a massive assault on Earth and several other worlds, but this was defeated yet again by the Doctor. A single ship escaped from this battle and took refuge near Earth during World War II. The three surviving Daleks lured the Doctor to their ship, where he triggered a failsafe device which resulted in the creation of five powerful new Daleks, the 'new paradigm'. These new Daleks, markedly superior to their predecessors, destroyed the old Daleks and disappeared, ready to undertake new plans to conquer the universe and leaving the Doctor with his old foes once again on the loose.

The 'new paradigm' Dalek Supreme from Victory of the Daleks (Season 31, 2010).

Behind the Scenes

When Doctor Who was launched in November 1963, the production team envisaged it as a show that would alternate between telling educational stories set in the past and more escapist SF adventure yarns, the logic being that the latter stories would keep the audience tuning in. Whilst this plan was eventually abandoned - savvy audiences felt that the historical stories were too boring and audience figures plummeted every time one appeared, recovering when the show returned to an SF setting - it did allow the production team to plan ahead and budget accordingly (the historical stories, which could use stock BBC sets and costumes, tended to be cheaper). With the very first Doctor Who serial, An Unearthly Child, being a story set in caveman times the production team knew the second would be a big SF story, and called in veteran TV writer Terry Nation to write it. Nation came up with the idea of an alien race which had survived a nuclear war (at the time a hot topic, due to the ongoing Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis of just a year earlier) but been forced to merge with machines in order to survive.

The production team responded well to the concept and the serial - then dubbed The Mutants, later The Dead Planet but more commonly now called The Daleks - was put into production. The all-important element of the Daleks' design was handled by Raymond Cusick (after the original slated designer, a certain Ridley Scott, dropped out) and a company named Shawcraft built the original props (four Daleks for £500, about £2,000 in today's money and a significant chunk of the show's budget at the time). The Daleks were destroyed at the end of the seven-part serial and a return appearance was not envisaged. Indeed, due to disappointing ratings for the opening Unearthly Child serial, it was assumed that Doctor Who itself would not last more than a few more episodes after this serial was concluded. Instead, the Daleks proved an immediate hit, with children impersonating them in playgrounds and the show's ratings more than doubling from the opening serial. The Daleks had saved Doctor Who, and public demand for their return rapidly rose. 'Dalekmania', a frenzy for Dalek-related merchandise, is a term usually given to the period from the Daleks' first appearance in 1963 to the bombing of the second Dalek movie, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD, in 1966.

The Daleks returned frequently during the first four seasons of Doctor Who, namely in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Chase in Season 2, Mission to the Unknown and the massive 12-part epic The Daleks' Masterplan in Season 3 and then in Power of the Daleks and Evil of the Daleks in Season 4. As mentioned above, they also appeared in two (relatively) big-budget feature films. However, by Season 4 the public had shown signs of tiring of the Daleks' regular reappearances. The second Dalek movie was a failure and the writers were keen to introduce other villains and monsters. Terry Nation was also trying to launch the Daleks in their own spin-off TV series, so it was decided to destroy the Daleks for good at the end of 1967's Evil of the Daleks.

The Daleks return after a five-year absence in Day of the Daleks (Season 9, 1972).

After the Daleks' disappearance, Doctor Who's popularity remained high as the show entered the 'classic monster years' of the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)'s reign, with monsters such as the Cybermen, Ice Warriors and Robot Yetis (seriously) becoming very popular in their own turn. It wasn't until 1972, after Jon Pertwee had taken over as the Third Doctor, that the production team decided to return the Daleks to the series. Building on the five-year absence of the Doctor's deadliest foes, excitement was high for their return, and Season 9's Day of the Daleks was a big hit, so much so that the BBC decided to return to using the Daleks on an annual basis. Season 10 saw them return with Frontier in Space (in which they teamed up with the Doctor's other deadliest foe, the Master) and Planet of the Daleks and in Season 11 in Death to the Daleks.

However, again creative fatigue on the part of the producers and ennui on the side of the viewers meant that excitement for more Dalek adventures was starting to ebb. The producers took the decision to again temporarily retire the Daleks in Season 12's story. Looking to do something different, Terry Nation took the step of writing a story in which the Doctor is given the opportunity to destroy the Daleks at the moment of their creation, but fails. The resulting story, Genesis of the Daleks, is frequently cited as one of Doctor Who's single most popular stories and is notable for introducing the character of Davros, the Daleks' creator.

The Daleks returned briefly in Season 17's Destiny of the Daleks and for a cameo in Season 20's The Five Doctors, but regular reappearances did not resume until Season 21's Resurrection of the Daleks. Producer John Nathan-Turner had appeared hesitant to rely on old or established enemies, but after achieving a major success with reintroducing the Cybermen after a long absence in Seasons 19 and 20, he decided to do the same with the Daleks. Writer Eric Saward was fascinated by the character of Davros and resurrected him as well, and Davros and his machinations were the focal points for both Resurrection and Season 22's Revelation of the Daleks. Some fans objected to the sidelining of the Daleks in favour of their creator, although Saward did establish an interesting recurring storyline with Davros attempting to create a new race of Daleks loyal to him in both serials. Doctor Who's near-cancellation in 1986 and Saward's departure saw this story abandoned for a while before the Daleks were brought back in Season 25's Remembrance of the Daleks as part of the show's quarter-century celebrations. Writer Ben Aaronovitch ran with some of Saward's ideas, with the Daleks now revealed to have been split into two factions battling one another for supremacy and returning to Terry Nation's ideas of the Daleks being obsessed with racial purity and eugenics.

The Cult of Skaro in Doomsday (Season 28, 2006).

Doctor Who was put on 'indefinite hiatus' after Season 26 in 1989, and the show remained off the air for sixteen years. During this time the Daleks continued to appear in spin-off comics and occasionally novels (of dubious canonicity). When Doctor Who was restored in 2005, it was inevitable that the Daleks would also return, and so it proved. New producer Russell T. Davies made the Daleks an integeral part of the restored series continuity, in which the Time Lords and Daleks had fought a 'Great Time War' leading to their mutual destruction. Inevitably, the Doctor would encounter survivors, leading to Dalek appearances in Season 27's Dalek, Parting of the Ways and Bad Wolf, Season 28's Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, Season 29's Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks, Season 30's The Stolen Earth and Journey's End, and Season 31's Victory of the Daleks. These frequent reappearances of the Daleks would again lead to some fans complaining of overuse of the Daleks and boredom with their predictable reappearances (appearing in three out of the four big season finales, for example).

With Davies' departure, incoming new producer Steven Moffat decided on a broad revamp of the series, with the introduction of a new Doctor (played by Matt Smith), a new companion, a new TARDIS set and exterior prop, a new title sequence and new music. He also decided to revamp the Daleks, giving them arguably the biggest changes in their design in forty-seven years. He also decided that the Doctor constantly encountering the 'last surviving' Daleks who then somehow escaped (or were destroyed, only for yet more 'last surviving' Daleks to show up elsewhere) was getting repetitive, so had the Daleks restored as a race and force to be reckoned with in Victory of the Daleks.

The Daleks' return in Doctor Who is inevitable, though hopefully not in the too-near future (though the sheer cost of building the new Dalek casings means that the production team might decide to return to them in the currently-airing 31st season). The Daleks are an intriguing race, created when World War II and Nazism was still fresh in the mind, and a formidable foe for the Doctor whenever they appear. However, as the above shows, their threat level tends to diminish whenever they appear too frequently, and their seeming inability to kill the Doctor or even win once in a while reduces their credibility as villains. It is notable that, arguably, the single most effective use of the Daleks is in the 2005 episode Dalek, when one single Dalek wipes out dozens of people trying to destroy it and is defeated only by a fluke (contrived as that is) rather than the Doctor's ingenuity. That episode felt more tense and threatening than when hundreds of them were flying around in any of the big season finales. It will be interesting to see what Moffat and the rest of the new Doctor Who production team will come up for their next appearance.

Major Appearances
Doctor Who
The Daleks (1963-64)
The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964)
The Chase (1965)
Mission to the Unknown (1965)
The Daleks' Masterplan (1965-66)
Power of the Daleks (1966)
Evil of the Daleks (1967)
Day of the Daleks (1972)
Frontier in Space (1973)
Planet of the Daleks (1973)
Death to the Daleks (1974)
Genesis of the Daleks (1975)
Destiny of the Daleks (1979)
Resurrection of the Daleks (1984)
Revelation of the Daleks (1985)
Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)
Dalek (2005)
Bad Wolf (2005)
The Parting of the Ways (2005)
Army of Ghosts (2006)
Doomsday (2006)
Daleks in Manhattan (2007)
Evolution of the Daleks (2007)
The Stolen Earth (2008)
Journey's End (2008)
Victory of the Daleks (2010)