The Doctor’s greatest enemies finally returned to our screens in 1984’s ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ after a five year absence. What are we to make of one of the bloodiest adventures in the series’ history?
‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ was originally slated for Doctor Who‘s 20th anniversary season, in an adventure titled ‘The Return’ penned by Eric Saward. However, various logistical problems pushed it back to the following year (most of them involving strikes) meaning that, in the event, it ended up being one of the last adventures of the Peter Davison era.
And it’s a story that divides opinion. Certainly, its author is not a fan. Speaking on the original DVD release, Eric Saward joked that the director Matthew Robinson did a good job with ‘Resurrection of the Daleks,’ despite “the crap that he had to work with,” and was pleased to have been offered a chance to ‘redeem’ himself with the following year’s ‘Revelation of the Daleks.’ He also reflected that there was rather a lot of killing in the story.
And that, it would seem, would be an understatement. ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ has one of the highest body counts of any Doctor Who adventure, unless you include the stories where whole galaxies are wiped out. In terms of on-screen deaths, people are getting exterminated left, right and centre, with Google estimates landing in the 60 to 76 region (do let us know if you’ve sat down to count them!) But, in some ways, this shouldn’t be surprising given that the story is about a race of creatures who believe that every other species is inferior and should be wiped from existence.
This is a family show, though, and ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ arguably sailed close to the wind. On the plus side, there isn’t really any gore – just a lot of people screaming and flailing. This may have been why the Daleks’ creator Terry Nation (according to producer John Nathan-Turner) criticised this story for not featuring the Daleks and their creator Davros enough; too much time was spent watching people perish in horrific ways. That being said, Nathan-Turner did confess that he couldn’t remember if Nation’s remark referred to ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ or its 1985 follow-up.
So, after all the killing, is there much to love in this high-octane adventure? Yes indeed – perhaps too much. There are lots of characters, and lots of competing storylines. First, we have the Doctor and his companions, and a vague character arc involving Tegan which culminates in her emotional departure from the TARDIS (appropriately, she cites all the deaths as being the main reason for her leaving.) Then we have the Daleks, desperate to break their creator out of prison.
But then we have a second set of Daleks, modified by Davros, who oppose the originals, sowing the seeds of a Dalek civil war that would develop over the next two adventures. Then we have the humans from the army who are investigating all the mysterious goings-on at a London warehouse (mostly involving – you guessed it – lots of killing.) Then we have the crew of the spaceship that the Daleks have hijacked, who are trying to reach the self-destruct button so that they can obliterate the metal mutants, taking themselves with it.
And then we have the Daleks’ master plan to start cloning people (namely the Doctor and his companions) so that they can invade Gallifrey and exterminate the members of the high council. And then we have the Movellan virus that Davros has procured and has started using for his ‘evil’ ends (although he’s using it to kill the Daleks, so we can debate the ethics of that one.)
Is there too much ‘going on’ in ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’? Perhaps, but it certainly isn’t dull. And it would have been even more gripping upon its original transmission as, unusually, this four part adventure was condensed into two, 50 minute instalments, foreshadowing the new format that would be employed the following year. But interestingly, ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ was always penned as four episodes, and was released as such on video.
And whilst it is always easy to criticise Doctor Who for its low budget and ‘dodgy’ effects, ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ actually looks quite polished, even today. John Nathan-Turner acknowledged this when he was interviewed for the DVD release, noting that he was impressed at how well the story fared compared to modern standards. This is even more impressive when one considers how tight the series’ budget actually was.
It’s also interesting to note that ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ made a lasting impact on the series, even if it didn’t seem so at the time. The storyline about the Daleks wishing to invade Gallifrey and exterminate the members of the high council foreshadows the Time War of the modern series. And then there is the emotional departure of Tegan, whose plot arc was picked up in 2022’s ‘The Power of the Doctor.’
And then there is the battle scene in episode one, when the Daleks invade the space station to rescue Davros. Although this moment wasn’t referenced in the series again, the sequence was recreated by Russell T Davies for 2021’s It’s a Sin, where its main character ends up as an actor in Doctor Who and plays one of the extras in ‘Resurrection of the Daleks.’
And so whilst this adventure might not be the stand-out story of Season 21, it is certainly a highly-polished, no-holds-barred thrill ride with a tear-jerking conclusion, and if you can look past the overladen plot and staggering body count, you will have a great ride.
How do you feel about ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’? Let us know in the comments below.
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