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Sci-Fi Media Television

Daleks Return to Dr Who 339

Jim Hall writes "An article on the BBC says that a Dalek will return to Dr Who, in an episode titled simply 'Dalek'. The Doctor discovers that a Dalek has been collected by an unsuspecting billionaire. Many of the perceived weaknesses of the Daleks have been addressed: 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. 'Dalek' is on BBC-1 on Saturday, 30 April."
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Daleks Return to Dr Who

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:35PM (#12331354)
    > Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a
    > terrifying new function.

    Is it just me or does that sound terrifyingly sexual?

    • Is it just me or does that sound terrifyingly sexual?

      You mean like this? [slashdot.org]

      WARNING: Not safe for work. lol.
      • by LewsTherinKinslayer ( 817418 ) <lewstherinkinslayer@gmail.com> on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:40PM (#12331393) Homepage
        Damnit, I screwed up the URL. lol.

        I meant this! [owned.com]

        WARNING: still not safe for work. ;)
    • by Anonymous Coward
      "Is it just me or does that sound terrifyingly sexual?"

      Now you know why former IT workers are going into the plumbing business.
    • by Anonymous Coward
      google for 'gay daleks'...
    • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:49PM (#12331456)
      From TFA:
      "You would be amazed at the number of people who wanted to get inside the Dalek," says Edwards

      For Christ's sake, this is supposed to be a family show, not alt.sex.daleks
    • > Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a terrifying new function.
      Is it just me or does that sound terrifyingly sexual?
      You're not the only one: on first reading, I thought it said "stink plunger"
    • > > Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a
      > > terrifying new function.

      > Is it just me or does that sound terrifyingly sexual?

      "White wee-wee!"

      "Exsperminate!"

      Bring back the Gay Daleks! [gay.com]. Hmm... [bernardomahoney.com]
  • by Timesprout ( 579035 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:36PM (#12331367)
    The terrifying new feature is a dupe checker for /.
  • by Amiga Lover ( 708890 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:37PM (#12331377)
    "But there were a lot of shots which had to be re-done because the Dalek got stuck in a doorway."

    Well there's an enemy that has me scared.
    • by fm6 ( 162816 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:49PM (#12331460) Homepage Journal
      Yeah, not the most convincing bad guys. But remember that before it became late-night PBS fare, Dr. Who was a kiddie show, and thus couldn't make its horrors too conspicuously horrible. The main selling point of the Daleks was not that they were scary, but that it was a lot of fun to march down the streek, one arm pointing directly in front of you, and screaming in a high-pitched voice, "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
      • by Anonymous Coward
        "The main selling point of the Daleks was not that they were scary, but that it was a lot of fun to march down the streek, one arm pointing directly in front of you, and screaming in a high-pitched voice, "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!""

        REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! CONVERT! CONVERT! CONVERT!
    • by spockette ( 878626 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @04:10PM (#12331612)
      I may be alone in this, but I'm scared of the Daleks. I saw an episode of DW when I was about five, and I had nightmares about Daleks for YEARS afterward. I'm pathetic, I know.
      • Oh not so much - I was perhaps 12 when I saw an episode (the name escapes me) with a robotic maggot thing that bit people on the arm and gave them green pulsing glowing veins until they were cured.

        I remember little more than that from those episodes, and it's the reason I'm STILL apprehensive about What Might Be Under The Bed :)
      • Apparently, when I was about 5 or 6 I was so scared of Daleks I didn't just hide behind the sofa, I actually used to run to the end of out back garden when they appeared and hide out for the rest of the episode.

        And I do still remember those green glowing maggoty things as really yuck. I've had a real parania about maggots ever since.
    • Your average Dalek taskforce has nukes, time machines, radiation-proof armor, the ability to remotely brainwash people, pure evilness, the propensity to massacre in order to control populations. They even tried to extract the Earth's core in order to turn the Earth into a gigantic warship.


      Is it just me, or does this sound awfully familiar?

  • Radio interviews (Score:5, Informative)

    by RonnyJ ( 651856 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:37PM (#12331378)
    It's been known for a fair while about the return of the Daleks - Eccleston has said in radio interviews that they will appear in this next (the 6th) episode, and that they will also have a part to play elsewhere in the current series (although he has been somewhat vague on the details).
  • by The Amazing Fish Boy ( 863897 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:40PM (#12331390) Homepage Journal
    "We have taken all the perceived weaknesses of the Dalek and made them deadly" - Mike Tucker, miniature effects supervisor

    Well, they used to be deadly, too. It's just they were deadly for the Dalek, not for it's opponent.
  • by halivar ( 535827 ) <bfelger@gmai l . com> on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:41PM (#12331399)
    What is it about the typical English psyche that finds the image of giant saltshakers so horrifying?
    • by The Amazing Fish Boy ( 863897 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @04:03PM (#12331564) Homepage Journal
      What is it about the typical English psyche that finds the image of giant saltshakers so horrifying?

      Dude, didn't you see [bbc.co.uk] it? Not only is it a giant salt shaker, it's made of gold. GOLD! Nothing can stop gold! And what are those little bulbs on the outside? Those could be anything! They might be filled with death itself, for all we know. That giant lever? I'm going to assume that plays a random clip from Walker, Texas Ranger.

      But even Cordell Walker himself couldn't stop these things from shaking the salt of death on it's enemy. Oh, no. Maybe Walker could take a Dalek, but only if he enlisted the help of that black Texas Ranger and possibly the younger man & woman Texas Rangers, too. But that's only if the Dalek hasn't taken Walker's wife hostage.

      I predict: many drop kicks in the next Dr. Who episode.
    • I know your joking, but when the dalek's first made an appearance on the show they were made out to be these cold, unfeeling, utterly ruthless beings. I remember when I was a kid the fact they will kill anyone who got in their way without question was pretty frightening.
    • by Anonymous Coward
      What is it about the typical English psyche that finds the image of giant saltshakers so horrifying?

      It's related to the thing in the American psyche that makes space aliens be humans with wrinkly foreheads.
      • "It's related to the thing in the American psyche that makes space aliens be humans with wrinkly foreheads."

        That's not American psyche, that's budget control. When Gene Rodenberry, for example, pitched Star Trek, one of the selling points was that the budget wouldn't grow out of control because the aliens would simply be makeup tricks on humans.

        Star Trek, in particular, is lengendary in it's effeciency with money. The 'bumpy headed alien' is one of the reasons why.
    • by Quirk ( 36086 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @04:19PM (#12331680) Homepage Journal
      It's the horror of being below the salt. At dinner there were two sorts. Those above the salt were entitled to sprinkle salt on their fare, but the unlucky, below the salt, were denied salt and were deemed to be below the salt. Granted they probably didn't use salt shakers when this quaint custom was in play.
    • by Zey ( 592528 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @05:28PM (#12332144)
      Lets see...
      1. They're symbolic of the results of nuclear war (particularly terrifying in 1963 when they were introduced, just after the Cuban Missile Crisis proved how close nuclear war could have been).
      2. General fear of the unknown; what mutant lurks inside the Dalek travel machine. It took a few stories before they were shown. Even then, they're generally only seen briefly.
      3. Fears of biological and genetic engineering, classic Frankenstein losing control of a creation story.
      4. Stories involving Davros also add the fear of fascism, the seductiveness of evil and warns of the dangers of logic and self-preservation over ethics and humanity.
      5. The 'next generation' seen in Revelation of the Daleks added the question: what if you went to sleep and woke up with only your head and turning into a Dalek hybrid?
      Unfortunately, not a lot of that was seen in the Tom Baker era, apart from Genesis... just a lot of Tom causing them to get confused and explode by dropping a hat on their eye-stalk, or yell "Exterminate!" a lot, which really cheapened them as villains.
    • by mikael ( 484 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @06:41PM (#12332614)
      It was probably the fear of evolution into unemotional machines, world war, mutation from radiation, and the ability to replace parts of the human body with machines. The latter concept was greatly extended upon by the "Cybermen", who fought off disease and old age by replacing the failing parts of their bodies with robotics, until everything from their hearts to minds was machine.
      From HypnosInMedia [hypnosisinmedia.com]

      The Doctor's first and most persistent enemy. Created by the mad scientist Davros, they were the descendants of the Kaleds from the planet Skaros. When centuries of nuclear war caused mutations in the race, Davros encouraged the mutations and designed the travel shells they use. He also gave them their unstoppable thirst for conquest. Their chilling cry of "Exterminate!" was feared throughout the galaxy.

      The Daleks would eventually come to realize that they were imperfect, mainly because of their many failures at conquering the galaxy, and they would seek out and eventually be led by their creator, Davros.
  • by cliffski ( 65094 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:43PM (#12331410) Homepage
    Yeah doctor who was fairly crap, the acting bad, the scripts dire, the special effects a joke... But in terms of concepts it was actually pretty good.
    I remember the first time I read the story of genesis of the daleks, in some book, before there were repeats or DVDs of the episodes. Maybe I was young, maybe I was drunk, but its actually a pretty grim, depressing and scary story. The whole idea of the war on skaro being so endless, so destructive, and some maniac scientist deciding that instead of fighting the mutations, he just had to 'roll with it' and see what they would turn into... Its all pretty heavy stuff, carried on into dr who and the daleks, where they are convinced they will never ever be able to leave the dalek machines because they basically fucked up their own planet. The potential for the daleks to be scary is certainly still there, if you can suspend disbelief on the stairs thing.
    My fingers are crossed that this will be a really good episode, handeled well.
  • We are here to protect you... from the terrible secret of space.

    Do you have stairs in your house?
  • ""Roughly a third of the lines in the episode are either spoken by the Dalek or Rose," says Briggs. "It never shuts up!""

    I'm having trouble imagining a Dalek having that much dialogue. They barely know words other than "Exterminate!".
    • I'm having trouble imagining a Dalek having that much dialogue. They barely know words other than "Exterminate!".

      He commented on the quantity of the Dalek dialogue, not the quality.

      For all we know it could go like this:
      Rose: Hi. So, uh, you're like a robot Dalek
      Dalek: EXTERMINATE!
      Rose: Wot? Why are you being like that?
      Dalek: EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!
      Rose: Um, please stop saying that.
      Dalek: EXTERMINATE! ... etc...
    • Re:lines (Score:3, Funny)

      by NanoGator ( 522640 )
      "I'm having trouble imagining a Dalek having that much dialogue. "

      Heh. There was a Red Dwarf vid a while back called from "From A to Z". They went down the alphabet and.. yadda yadda yadda. At some point, they had a pair of Daleks up for an interview. The first said that it didn't watch Earth programs, the second said the red alert bulb gag was funny. Then the first cried that its counterpart had been infected by human propoganda and blew its head off.

      That was the most I ever heard a Dalek speak.
    • Re:lines (Score:3, Informative)

      by SimplyCosmic ( 15296 )
      That's something the later Dalek episodes forced upon them, and adding Davros, who usually did most of the speaking for them in his episodes didn't help.

      In earlier episodes like The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the Daleks are downright chatty.
  • by Skiron ( 735617 )
    ./me hides behind sofa
  • Torrent? (Score:3, Funny)

    by stalefries ( 860068 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:49PM (#12331455) Homepage
    Anyone got a torrent of it yet?
  • by Colin Smith ( 2679 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:51PM (#12331474)
    The Daleks can rule the world....

    Hang on a minute... What if we made all the doors just that bit too narrow for them to get through!!!

    Ha ha! Foiled again!

  • by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @03:54PM (#12331494)
    With a Land of the Lost movie [darkhorizons.com] in the works, this new Dr Who, and the success of "Battlestar Galactica", it seems that these are good times for the return of classic scifi. Except for "Star Trek", which hardly went away, and managed to wear itself out.
  • Dr. Who? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Darvin ( 878219 )
    Hopefully the next episodes will be much more welcoming. The last two episodes had a good story line, however the slapstick of the farting aliens, and hearing the Dr. actually say "fart" several times was more than pathetic, it was cring-making.
    • The fx seem to have been done by someone transfixed by Ghost Busters [imdb.com]. I've watched every episode as they come on in Canada and the fx all seem to be a la the swirling gases and bubbling amorphous masses of ectoplasm introduced in Ghost Busters.
      • pfft the last 2 episodes had blue lights man! Thats like.. blue!

        You have a point, it does have that feel but so does most modern Sci fi. The problem is they keep trying to use Earth settings because "It's scarier" when really it's much easier to use human characters then do a full cast of aliens which costs money.
    • I kind of agree, although I'll cut it some slack 'cos it is a kids programme really!

      Did anyone notice it getting a little bit political with the alien-PM using the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction against the Earth, and being able to deploy them in 45 seconds**?

      **In the UK, the "intelligence" information that Iraq was able to deploy WMD in 45 minutes was used as a pro-war agruement by the government, but the evidence turned out to be very flimsy. Long story [bbc.co.uk], but the government and the BBC were very
  • Old... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by EdZ ( 755139 )
    This was news MONTHS ago, when the issue of 'rights' to the daleks first cropped up, and when it was resolved, also several months ago. And even before the first episode aired (and even before it leaked) we knew that the daleks would first appear in episode 6. How is this news then, if it's not new?
  • by Thedalek ( 473015 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @04:03PM (#12331563)
    I mean, I just feel involved, you know?

    Anyway, the new Doctor Who series is absolutely gripping, laugh-out-loud funny, and subtly frightening all at the same time. In short, all the things Doctor Who has always been, and should always be.

    My only disappointment is that the new series seems to be heavily reusing plot elements from the Big Finish [bigfinish.com] audio dramas. Episode two, The Unquiet Dead, basically took the setting and overall structure (Victorian ghost story, ghosts are caused by alien influence, seance held to communicate with spirits, heavily rational character who has trouble coping with the new facts before him) from the second Big Finish audio play, Phantasmagoria. Granted, they were both written by the same person, but he even goes so far as to mention it in the TV Episode (Charles Dickens [Upon seeing an alien/ghost]: What phantasmagoria is this?)

    Next week's episode (simply titled "Dalek") seems to be a retooling of the Big Finish play, Jubilee. They're both written by the same gentleman, and both deal with a lone Dalek captured and tortured for the betterment of mankind. The trailer at the end of last week's episode implies that they share other plot elements as well.

    Then again, I'm still puzzling over what all the "Bad Wolf" clues mean. I somewhat suspect that this Doctor's relationship with Rose extends prior to the first episode. Who (and where) is Rose's father? Why is the Doctor so staunchly opposed to Jackie travelling with them, when he was willing to bring Mickey? I also suspect that this Doctor may not be the Doctor. This will probably become more clear when the new novel, Gallifrey Chronicles is released, although the TV Show will probably reveal more plot details before then.
  • Hands off! (Score:5, Funny)

    by David Horn ( 772985 ) <davidNO@SPAMpocketgamer.org> on Sunday April 24, 2005 @04:04PM (#12331568) Homepage
    I'd just like to say to any non-British resident that I expressly forbid you to download the new series.

    My license fee paid for the Dalek (or at least the sink plunger), and I don't see why anyone other than me should enjoy it. After all, I'm always being told that it's "my BBC."

    Anyone interested in an exclusive DVD can get in touch using the usual methods, supplying delivery address and credit card number. Doesn't have to be your card, I'm not picky.
  • Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)

    by JumperCable ( 673155 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @04:04PM (#12331569)
    Well I don't know about you, but I for one welcome our new... aaah crap, that one actually makes sense.
  • I have to say, the dialog on last weeks show was beyond cringe-making. I think they can act, but the lines they've been given are just cruel. I can handle the dodgy special effects and the really crappy looking 'organic' tardis (why is it that in every fucking scifi series you here the artists say something like "we were going for a more organic looking ship" its really out of fashion now) but they need some better writing.
  • by gnugnugnu ( 178215 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @04:20PM (#12331686) Homepage
    The trailer for Doctor Who Episode: Dalek
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/video/index.shtml [bbc.co.uk]

    It is in Real Video format.

    Maybe a good slashdottting will encourage the BBC to put up bitorrent links for its trailers?
  • The preview made it look rather lame in all honesty. It seems to be in a giant muesum which looks very similar to a bunker complex. Theres loads of soldiers shooting at it in one scene and the bullets just vanish midair. It zaps a few people and then turns and zaps some more.. it really does look rather tame now.

    The flying wasn't that impressive either, it just sorts of floats upwards, nothing THAT impressive.

    I mean we live in an era where you can fire 10 shots a second if not more yet we're afraid of som
    • Re:The previews.. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Funksaw ( 636954 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @07:57PM (#12332979)
      You're forgetting something important.

      The Dalek is a f*cking tank.

      Who cares if he can fire once every 10 seconds. I would imagine a Bradley tank can't fire more often than that.

      Now, imagine this. An American tank, made with DU armor, up against a WWII era tank - the DU ammunition would tear through the WWII era tank like tinfoil, while the WWII era tank wouldn't be able to do more than scratch the surface of the modern tank.

      Okay, now replace Depleted Uranium shells with a DEATH RAY, and replace DU armor with Dalekanium. Put it into a package that has hover capabilities, 360 degree view, 0" turning radius, and put a mad monster with a nazi-like fascination for genocide of the whole human race behind the wheel.

      The only hope of defeating it is a device which requires you to get relatively close to it. It is paranoid and will destroy everything that gets in it's way. The only person that knows how to use the device is a person that the Dalek vows to kill on sight...

      Salt shaker, my ass. Those things are scary as hell...
  • 'Dalek' is on BBC-1 on Saturday, 30 April."

    Or, for those of us in Canada, it will be on the CBC main network on Tuesday, May 10th.

    So far, I've been good: because the BBC broadcasts the episodes ten days before we see them here in Canada, I could download and watch them rather than wait the ten days -- but other than the initial leaked episode ("Rose"), I've waited for the local broadcasts on CBC.

    I just hope they decide to release the DVD boxed set here in Canada as well.

    And what's up with Planet of t [www.cbc.ca]

  • Its not sci-fi.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Bazman ( 4849 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @05:18PM (#12332094) Journal
    Its political satire.

    Last night's episode had aliens disguised as politicians trying to start a phoney war by claiming alien forces had "massive weapons of destruction" that could be unleashed in "45 seconds".

    And the reason for the war? They wanted the earth for fuel. Mmm. Sounds familiar...

    Now that the BBC cant be overtly political, what with the coming election, its sneaking its politics covertly into "kids" programmes :)

    Baz
  • by eno2001 ( 527078 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @05:29PM (#12332157) Homepage Journal
    With the possible exception of Sliders (which was still low rent compared to any season of Doctor Who), the Doctor Who series is one of the greatest science fiction series ever produced. They got it right from day one: the story comes first. Screw the special effects, the "ass kicking" or the quality of the acting and focus on what matters, a good story line. As a hero, the Doctor definitely has always been brains first and physical action as a last resort. It's not a wonder that this series is really good for children as well as adults. It's got a decent message.

    I've been keeping up with Doctor Who 2005 via P2P since it probably will never air in the states. I have to say that Eccleston plays a really good turn at the Doctor. He definitely doesnt' try to imitate anyone else that came before him. Billie Piper isn't as annoying as I had feared either. I was worried that she'd just be cheesecake like Nicola Bryant. But she seems to play a decent companion that thinks for herself. They also did a really good job of making the new theme song. They still have a lot of the original Delia Derbyshire rendition (1st-4th Doctor) mixed in with the new stuff. Prodution values are much higher, probably owing to better technology than what was available even in the late 80s with Sylvester McCoy.

    What I am surprised about is that I really haven't heard other people's opinions about the new series. I expected to hear lots of people either raving about it or potting it. But I've heard nothing. Hasn't anyone else on /. in the USA been doing the P2P thing to get hold of those shows? One more thing to mention... Apparently, the BBC is going to be releasing a DVD box set of this season in the fall. It will only be for Europe and the UK, so get out those region free DVD players or try out Xine if you're lucky enough to have a DVD drive that is reagion free. They will also be releasing the individual programs starting after the airing of this season's last episode.

    If you can find it... enjoy. :)
  • Stairs? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) * on Sunday April 24, 2005 @05:37PM (#12332192)
    "Stairs have not been a problem for Daleks since 1988,"

    I've heard it said that real Daleks don't climb stairs, they level the building.
  • by Mr. Flibble ( 12943 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @05:56PM (#12332323) Homepage
    I don't even own a TV - however, I do like the 2005 Dr. Who series. For those of you who do not own a TV line myself, or get a channel that has Dr. Who on it:

    Dr. Who (2005) Bittorrents. [btefnet.net]

    The first torrent (at the bottom) is just a preview, the rest are the current episodes.
  • Gitmo'd dalek (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BlightThePower ( 663950 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @06:08PM (#12332411)
    ...well I reckon from the trailer and the fact that the last two episodes were thinly veiled 9/11/Bush allegory (destruction of national landmark by flying craft, blamed on pigs(?), weapons of mass destruction, the UN, fat-people-as-villains (ahem) and something about fuel).

    We'll know for sure when they start threatening it with dogs and taking polaroids I guess.
  • by stuntpope ( 19736 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @06:32PM (#12332552)
    Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a terrifying new function

    It has a hat-removal function?
  • by biglig2 ( 89374 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @06:36PM (#12332581) Homepage Journal
    Am I the only person who watched Doctor Who on the telly yesterday and saw the trail for next week's episode, which had a Dalek in it?

    Am I also the only person to deduce that the Daleks might be back from the fact that the 6th episode is called "Dalek"? (The names of all the episodes except the twelth have been known for quite some time.)

    Was I the only person who read in various news articles that the BBC had sucessfully concluded negotiations with Terry Nation's estate to allow them to use the Daleks?
  • by WorselWorsel ( 687959 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @06:40PM (#12332606)
  • by otis wildflower ( 4889 ) on Sunday April 24, 2005 @07:27PM (#12332855) Homepage
    ... The Daleks don't turn out to be hot chicks.. ;)

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