‘Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks’ (1984)


So I went and did that really annoying thing yesterday where despite all my best intentions, I totally went and forgot to pack a book for the commute… That’s not a huge deal for the commute into work, where I’m normally trying to catch up on a little sleep, but for the trip back home it’s a HUGE deal for this reader… Oh well, I’ll make sure that I remember tomorrow (he says…) 😉 And given the day that I had yesterday, I was in no fit state to be reading anything last night all of which is a slightly long winded way of saying why you’ve got another ‘Doctor Who’ post today. Sorry about that, I’ll see what I can do for you tomorrow 😉

For those of you that are still here… We’re talking Daleks and one of the darker ‘Doctor Who’ stories that I’ve had the pleasure of watching. Because ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ is a good story but damn it’s dark at the same time.

Earth, 1984, the TARDIS becomes trapped in a Time Corridor and is drawn of course, emerging in London’s deserted Docklands. Deep space, the far future, a prison ship comes under attack from unknown forces. Two seemingly unconnected events – but both linked by one terrible purpose. The Daleks have returned and once again they are in search of their evil creator, Davros.

The further away that I get from the original airing of ‘classic’ Doctor Who stories (and I was feeling pretty middle-aged to start off with so go easy on me…) the more tempting it is to remember these stories as well meaning but ultimately hobbled by wooden acting and sets that were even worse. You know what I mean, I’ll bet you’ve thought the same.

It was a bit of a shock then to watch ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ and realise just how vicious and brutal this story could be (and the sets didn’t wobble at all…) Even the Doctor decides that enough is enough and sets out to kill Davros. Before we get to that though, we’ve got people being gunned down in the streets and some quite explicit looks at the results of a poison gas attack on the space station. Yeah the budget clearly wasn’t anything too special but those people had their faces melted off…Damn… And all of this is before the Daleks show up and join in, gunning people down in that way that only a Dalek can do. I didn’t count how many people died, in this story, but at a rough guess… just about everyone died apart from the Doctor and his companions, Lytton too. It’s not a bad story but I would suggest examining your capacity for bleakness before watching it.

The story itself…? There’s a lot going on here with a number of factions uneasily co-existing with no trust whatsoever and loads of little manoeuvres escalating into the events of the final episode. I’m not sure what the point of all those people escaping the warehouse was, at the beginning of the first episode, but the rest of the plot builds up nicely with plenty to keep you guessing. It’s no surprise that all of this centres around Davros and his own machinations and it’s interesting to see this play out as a continuation of ‘Destiny of the Daleks’ while also sowing the seeds for ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ and ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’.

Back to the ‘here and now’, of ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’, and it’s also a story that has a major impact on the Doctor and his companions. Well, not so much Turlough (who continues to look out for himself) but the Doctor has to re-examine some pretty major life choices and comes out the other side having shed a lot of that childlike sense of wonder at the universe. Having watched ‘Resurrection’ the whole way through, I felt pretty much the same come the end. And poor Tegan but fair play, at the same time, for getting out when it stopped being fun. I think there’s definitely a lesson to be learned here although I’m wondering if she had changed her mind when she came running back.

Quite possibly the bleakest ‘Doctor Who’ story that I’ve seen then (although caveat time, I haven’t seen that many) but I think that the show needs a few stories like this; little reminders that the Doctor might be able to save the day but he can’t save everyone else, he still tries though and that’s why we love him. I can’t see myself watching this story too often (there’s only so much death I can take in a story) but it’s a good examination of how hanging around with Daleks too much can have you acting like one yourself…

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