The resurrection of the Daleks (1984)

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Review

This is a four-part serial, first broadcast (as a two-parter) between 8th - 15th February 1984. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: in a London warehouse, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough encounter some new enemies and some old ones, and a lot of good people die.

The good bits:

The not so good bits:

The puzzling bits - and I'm just picking a few at random here:

However, my biggest problem with this story is that Saward seems to be repeating himself here, and that this is basically Earthshock revisited. Let's have a closer look, shall we? (And beware, there are spoilers ahead.)

Earthshock: the Cybermen return.
The resurrection of the Daleks: the Daleks return.

Earthshock: nice, creepy opening episode with two androids killing people.
The resurrection of the Daleks: nice, creepy opening scene with three policemen killing people.

Earthshock: the androids are controlled by the Cybermen.
The resurrection of the Daleks: the policemen are controlled by the Daleks.

Earthshock: in part one the Doctor finds a bomb.
The resurrection of the Daleks: in part one the Doctor encounters objects that were initially thought to be bombs.

Earthshock: two of the people who were attacked by the androids join the Doctor and get to travel in the Tardis.
The resurrection of the Daleks: one person who was attacked by the policemen (Stien) joins the Doctor and gets to travel in the Tardis.

Earthshock: the Cybermen take over a spaceship as a small number of crew members attempt to defend it.
The resurrection of the Daleks: the Daleks take over a space station as a small number of (remaining) crew members attempt to defend it.

Earthshock: at a crucial moment, one crew member announces he's working for the Cybermen and betrays the rest of the crew.
The resurrection of the Daleks: at a crucial moment, Stien announces he's a Dalek agent and betrays the Doctor.

Earthshock: there's a confrontation between the Doctor and the Cyber Leader.
The resurrection of the Daleks: there's a confrontation between the Doctor and Davros.

Earthshock: the Doctor aims a gun at the Cyber Leader and kills him.
The resurrection of the Daleks: the Doctor aims a gun at Davros but fails to kill him.

Earthshock: Adric's attempt to break through the 'locks' that keep the spaceship on course is interrupted by a Cyberman.
The resurrection of the Daleks: Styles' attempt to break through the safeguards that keep her from destroying the space station is interrupted by the Dalek troops.

Earthshock: in the end the spaceship is destroyed, and Adric is killed while trying to save the earth.
The resurrection of the Daleks: in the end the space station is destroyed, and Stien is killed while trying to save the universe.

Earthshock: Adric dies.
The resurrection of the Daleks: Tegan leaves (and about everybody else dies).

My verdict - and this is another tough call:

Quite good, actually.

A good-looking and reasonably entertaining mess.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "quite good, actually" Doctor Who:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: quite good, actually

More from the Peter Davison years:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: 1982 - 1984

Similar stories:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: alien invasion

Original version of this review:
On-site link, opens in this window 06/09/06

More about this serial

Episode guides:
Off-site link, opens in new window BBC Cult

Serial reviews:
Off-site link, opens in new window Behind the sofa
Off-site link, opens in new window Outpost Gallifrey

DVD reviews:
Off-site link, opens in new window Outpost Gallifrey



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