Resurrection of the Daleks

Plot

Commander Lytton, a mercenary in the Daleks' employ, leads a squad of policemen in shooting a group of humanoids in 1984 London. One of them, Stien, manages to flee through a time corridor. Lytton then travels back to his battle cruiser in the far future, where he prepares to assault a prison space station that holds Davros. The Daleks seize the station and free Davros from his cryogenic cell.

The TARDIS, carrying the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough, is pulled into a time corridor and deposits them in the London Docklands. They encounter Stien and head back to the warehouse to locate the corridor. Turlough accidentally falls into it and ends up on the Dalek ship. Learning the Doctor is in the warehouse, the Supreme Dalek orders a Dalek to capture him. That Dalek travels through the corridor, kills several men, and is then destroyed.

Lytton reveals that the Daleks lost their war with the Movellans due to a virus that attacks Dalek tissue, so they freed Davros to find a cure. Davros insists on staying on the station to research the virus. While Lytton goes to discuss terms with the Supreme Dalek, Davros uses a mind control device to take over a human. The Doctor and Stien take the TARDIS to the Dalek ship, where Stien reveals himself as a Dalek agent. A Dalek patrol moves in to exterminate the Doctor, but Lytton orders them to take him alive on the Supreme Dalek's command. The Daleks plan to clone the Doctor and his companions, using the copies to assassinate the Gallifrey High Council.

In the duplication chamber, Stien grows confused. The Doctor tries to restore his independent thought. Just as the mind-copying process finishes, Stien breaks his conditioning, halting the procedure and freeing the Doctor. The Doctor retrieves Turlough and Tegan, and they return to the TARDIS. He intends to destroy Davros but fails when Stien's conditioning takes hold again. Davros sends his own Daleks to Earth. Expecting betrayal, he opens a capsule of the Movellan virus. Two Daleks loyal to the Supreme Dalek enter to kill him but are destroyed by the virus. At the warehouse, Davros's Daleks fight those still loyal to the Supreme Dalek. The Doctor returns through the time corridor, realizing that the "unexploded bombs" he saw earlier actually contain the Movellan virus. He opens one and places it behind the Daleks, who begin to die.

Production

Before it was called Resurrection of the Daleks, the story went by the working titles The Return, Warhead, and The Resurrection. It was first planned as the big finish for season 20, but an electricians' strike pushed it back. With a few changes to the script, it was brought back for season 21. Peter Grimwade was the original choice to direct, having impressed writer Eric Saward on Earthshock. When the story was delayed, Grimwade took the production team out to dinner but left out producer John Nathan-Turner, planning to take him separately. Nathan-Turner took offense and blocked Grimwade from directing the rescheduled story. Matthew Robinson, known for action direction and new to the series, took over. Saward had already promised Grimwade a script for the season, so Grimwade wrote the next story, Planet of Fire. The delay also meant Michael Wisher, the original Davros from Genesis of the Daleks, was unavailable. Robinson cast Terry Molloy and showed him Wisher's performance on tape. Filming happened at Shad Thames and Butler's Wharf in September 1983, with studio work at TC8 in BBC Television Centre from September to October. The story was meant to be four 23-minute episodes, but the 1984 Winter Olympics took over the regular slot. To avoid a break in transmission, it aired as two 46-minute episodes on back-to-back Wednesdays. Many say this experiment led to the next season using the same format, but that choice was already made.

Broadcast and reception

Mark Campbell awarded the serial two out of ten, calling it 'an ultra-violent, soulless remake of Earthshock' with no sign of a plot beneath the technobabble and continuity references. Paul Mount of Starburst described it as 'a collision of clunky ideas artlessly welded together' with a meandering plot and unremittingly grim tone. Mark Braxton of Radio Times gave it three stars out of five, praising the serious intent, deserted docklands setting, and performances of Rodney Bewes and Maurice Colbourne, but noting that the story does not enlarge the Dalek mythos and that parts of the plot seem tacked on. Andrew Allen of Cultbox awarded four stars out of five, comparing it to a Blake's 7 episode with its grim mercenaries and high body count. He praised the location filming in Wapping but criticised perfunctory production aspects, including the presentation of the Daleks without fanfare and Davros' introduction behind frosted plastic. He concluded it was not the best Dalek story but full of drive and energy.

Commercial releases

A fan group in New Zealand published an unofficial novelisation in 2000, later republishing it as an online eBook. Eric Saward's official novelisation was released in hardcover on 18 July 2019, with an audiobook edition on 4 July 2019, and a Target Books paperback on 11 March 2021. The story was released on VHS in November 1993; both the VHS and DVD releases reverted to the four-episode format, with episode breaks when the first Dalek comes through the time corridor and when Davros begins preparing the Movellan virus. The original VHS cover art by Bruno Ellitori depicted a space battle not actually in the show, intended to make it look higher budget. The DVD was first released in the UK on 18 November 2002, with commentary by Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Matthew Robinson, deleted scenes, a trailer, and a 5.1 surround sound mix. A feature 'Resurrection of the Daleks - On Location' included interviews with Robinson and Saward, and the final on-screen interview with John Nathan-Turner before his death. It was re-released in 2003 as part of a limited box set with The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Remembrance of the Daleks, and in 2007 in a box set with Genesis of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks. It was also released as the accompanying DVD with Issue 34 of the Doctor Who DVD Files on 21 April 2010.