RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS

Looking Back:

RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS

When Dr Who briefly forgot it was for kids

When I was a kid, my Mother took me to the not-so-official "Dr Who Shop" hidden deep in Butler's Wharf, main location for Dr Who's production of Resurrection of the Daleks. 

This must have been a year or two after it was broadcast but before the entire site was turned into posh flats. I still remember walking down those haunting streets with all those girder catwalks along Shad Thames etc. It was all there, just as it had been in Resurrection. The rain had just lifted, leaving a sheen on the cobbled streets. 

And it was eerie as hell. I half expected a Dalek to be pushed out of a second floor window or one of Lyttons police goons to shoot me, using a silencer. 

Anyway. Resurrection of the Daleks. Like your Marmite, either take it or leave it. For me, it was the best Dalek story of the 1980s. Why ? Because it was a big deal when it first came out, because we hadn't seen any Dalek action in like five years. 

Most of all, it made the Daleks actually scary, established Davros as a Sith Lord Bad-Ass and crossed the blurry line between tea-time kiddies show with  adult themes and body horror. 

DAVROS RETURNS

The return of Davros in Resurrection, was a big deal, mainly due to Terry Molly taking over from Michael Wisher and a total revamp of the Davos's 'look'.

The costume upgrade was the best of all the incarnations. More switches and nobs on his control panel, not to mention a really kool gadget that he uses to control the minds of his minions, such as pre Dirty Den actor Leslie Grantham.

Then theres Molly’s awesome portrayal. like WOW! 

Now this was a Davros for a 1980s audience. Whatever that means. Perhaps a more mature audience? 

A Return of the Jedi / EastEnders audience. Whatever. 

And like some Dirty Den being thawed from carbonite, so too was Davros, revived from his cryogenic prison, making his return one of the most memorable in the series.

He’s also a bad-ass mofo. No longer a mere crippled scientist being pushed around in his Daleky wheel chair. This version of Davros is TERRIFYING.

All power to the disabled, that’s what I say.

Now his ambitions are up there with Atilla The Hun and his rants make Hitler’s speeches at the Nuremberg Rally, look like a crappy juggling act on Britain’s Got Talent before a bemused Simon Cowell.

Somewhere between the Evil Emperor, Hannibal Lecter and a disgruntled wheel chair user trying to get on the 149 bus to Tottenham, this Davros can talk the backside off a Movellan Battle Cruiser and then some !

"The universe is at war, Doctor! Name one planet whose history is not littered with atrocities, and ambition for empire! It is a universal way of life."

Molly got to play Davros in two sequels, and expanded on his Sith Lord Abilities, paving the way as the quintessential Davros, with the knack of levitation and firing arcs of electricity from his finger.

LOCATIONS

The location work is also fantastic. Those wet cobbled streets down Shad Thames with its girder cat walks criss-crossing above. Very atmospheric. These scenes were filmed in London’s Butler's Wharf, a once thriving industrial community.

Often referred to as 'London’s Larder', its warehouses stored huge quantities of tea, coffee, spices and other commodities. By the 1970's container shipping, trucks and railways had made this area redundant.

With subsequent cheap rents, it became a hotspot for local artists such as David Hockney and Derek Jarman, paving the road for gentrification, which turned this area into the posh hive for expensive flats and Star Bucks, that it is today.

SCARY DALEKS 

In their previous excursion, Destiny Of The Daleks (partly written by Douglas Adams), the Daleks rolled down a rocky comical road, becoming farcical pepper-pots. It was a stigma that was hard for them to shake off.

By the 1970s, the Daleks popularity was on the wane. No longer huge movie stars, now they trundled about the Tv series rather lifelessly, flashing their lights out of time. It was like the operators were either asleep or weren't in them at all. 

It would be a running theme,  notable from Day of the Daleks onwards. This was mainly due to directors who hated working with them and thus took the money and ran. Plus they didn't get to do much anyway, always playing second fiddle as Davros took centre stage as usual. 

Cheaper build methods also meant cheaper looking Daleks. By the late 80’s Remembrance of the Daleks had reduced them to stereo types of themselves.

The exception during this hiatus being Resurrection. But it would be the last time the Daleks were ever taken seriously during the series original BBC tenure. 

For the next twenty years, the Daleks suffered ridicule and were knocked for their short-comings, that is until Russell T Davis made them respectable again.

SUPREME DALEK 

So the Dalek Supreme was back. The likes of which not seen since Planet of the Daleks and only mentioned in Destiny.

He doesn't do very much of course, apart from bark orders and scheme plans. 

But he looks the part, with his Sith Lord black paint job and white hemispheres. While the other Daleks look decidedly worse for ware. 

All the Daleks in this story, were voiced by actor Brian Miller, who was also married to former Dr Who Companion Elizabeth Sladen of Sarah Jane Smith fame. Small world. 

LYTTON

Commander Lytton, played by the formidable Maurice Colbourne, almost steals the show. With his mercenary gang for hire, posing as coppers, this gives the story a whole new dimension. 

Like, sorry ? The Daleks need mercenaries? When did this happen? Things must really be bad. Usually they just robotise everyone. Not anymore. 

The heady days of subjugating all other life are long gone, in the wake of The Movellan War. 

The Daleks have been reduced to scavengers. Fortunately for them, Lytton and his not-so-merry men are available. The only thing missing, is Mr T and the A-team van. 

Lytton is not afraid of anyone. Thus he has the Daleks by their greeny gonads. So it’s fun to see him bitch-fight with the Dalek Supreme and put him in his place without fear of extermination. Its like watching Eva Braun and Hitler, bickering over who left the chicken in the oven too long.  

Prop wise, there is another nod to the Star Wars era, with Lytton's men wearing helmets that look suspiciously like Darth Vaders but with more Dalek bits. 

CREEPY STORY

Basically, it’s a dark tale. Akin to a Shakespeare tragedy in space. Like Warriors of the Deep, everybody dies and then some. So much so, that even Tegan finally draws the line and jumps ship. Well, who would blame her? After all, Adric was dead, Nyssa joined a Space Leper Colony and Turlough turned out to be a two faced Trion ginger vagina.

That scene when a Dalek octopus escapes and attacks a soldier was particularly effective and scary. 

And the Daleks blasting the airlock was quite exciting. And let’s not forget the epic Dalek battle in the warehouse at the end and them succumbing to Movellan shaving foam.

Thus it was the only 80s story that attempted more horror than in previous episodes.

NOT FOR FAMILY VIEWING

In fact, it broke the precedent in upping the shock-value in Dr Who. I mean. We got to see an extreme close up of this guy’s face eaten away by some Dalek skin eating Gas? Crew members puffing away on cigarettes, soldiers being attacked by Rabid Octopuses etc. Even Lyttons murderous coppers using silencers? It was all a bit much for most Tea Time viewers, straight off the bat of Gardeners Weekly. 

It was almost as if producer JNT wanted to finally break the mould of Dr Who as a children’s Tv show and make it more for adults. But it backfired. 

This time the series went too far. All this culminated in complaints from concerned parents about the series direction. But as a kid I thought this was fucking kool. And still do. 

But the powers that be said no. Dr Who was a children's show and thats were it belonged. Never again would the original series deal with such graphic issues. 

The sequel (Revelation of the Daleks) is by comparison, a much lighter affair. 

It still contains dark undertones and themes of death but it was obvious that budgets were being cut. The Dalek voices sound like nose pinching, comedian Alexei Sayle, as hilarious as he is, seemed too jarring. 

By the Sylvester McCoy era, the show was so dumbed down for kids, that it lost its adult viewership altogether and was subsequently axed. 

LEGACY

What Resurrection gave was the most adult Dalek story since Geneses. With the shows return in 2004, the latter revamps of Davros owed much to Molly’s incarnation. As for the Daleks, it briefly returned them to top monster of Dr Who, in the whole Top of the Pops thing. 

Plus, its shock-horror elements elevated the series into some serious mature viewing, offering a glimpse of what a more grown up show might look like, if the BBC suits had all been exterminated.