Resurrection of the Daleks is the fourth serial of the 21st season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 between 8 February and 15 February 1984. The serial was intended to be transmitted as four 23-minute episodes but a late scheduling change by the BBC meant that it was transmitted as two episodes of 46 minutes; reruns (and the 2002 DVD release) restored it to its intended format.
Written by the series' script editor, Eric Saward, the serial marks the Fifth Doctor's only encounter with the Daleks, last seen in Destiny of the Daleks (1979), the debut of Terry Molloy as the third actor to play the Daleks' creator, Davros, and the final regular appearance of Janet Fielding as companion Tegan Jovanka.
Plot
A group of humanoids in 1984 London are shot by policemen led by Commander Lytton, a mercenary working for the Daleks. Two, Galloway and Stien, escape into the adjacent Butler's Wharf where a time corridor is situated, but Galloway is killed. Lytton transports back to his battle cruiser in the far future and prepares to attack a prison space station whose only prisoner is Davros.
The Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are dragged down a time corridor in the TARDIS, where emerge in the London Docklands. The station's crew, led by Lt. Mercer, fight the Daleks, but the Daleks take over the ship, after the Supreme Dalek uses poisonous gas. Lytton and an engineer release Davros from his cryogenic imprisonment.
The Doctor and friends meet Stien, and all return to the warehouse to hunt for the time corridor. They meet a military bomb disposal squad, called in by builders. Turlough stumbles into the time corridor, ending up on the Dalek ship. Having learned that the Doctor is in the warehouse, the Supreme Dalek orders a Dalek to detain him. It travels through the time corridor and kills several men before the Doctor advises them to focus their fire on its eyestalk, blinding it. Then they push the Dalek out of a window and it explodes upon hitting the ground.
Lytton explains that the Daleks lost their war against the Movellans because of a virus that attacks Dalek tissue and that they freed Davros to find a cure. Davros demands that he remain on the station while researching on the virus. When Lytton leaves to discuss this with the Supreme Dalek, Davros uses a mind control device to take control of Kiston.
The Doctor and the bomb disposal squad find the Kaled mutant that was housed inside the destroyed Dalek and kill it when it wounds one of the men. The Doctor and Stien head into the TARDIS to see what is happening at the other end of the time corridor. The TARDIS materializes inside the Dalek ship, and the Doctor tells Stien that they should find Turlough and leave. But Stien reveals that he is an agent of the Daleks. A Dalek patrol closes in to exterminate the Doctor, but Lytton tells them that the Supreme Dalek has ordered that the Doctor be taken alive.
The Daleks plan to clone the Doctor and his companions, using them to assassinate the Gallifrey High Council. Davros demands tissue from two Daleks to find a cure. After consulting The Supreme Dalek, they agree, but Davros uses the mind-control device to take control of them.
In the duplication chamber, Stien becomes confused: the Doctor tries to reawaken his ability to think for himself. As the mind-copying sequence nears completion, Stien breaks his conditioning and stops the process, freeing the Doctor. The Doctor finds Turlough and Tegan, and they return to the TARDIS. Rather than depart, the Doctor decides to destroy Davros. With Stien and Lt. Mercer, he heads to the station lab, leaving Tegan and Turlough in the TARDIS. The Doctor loses his chance to kill Davros when Stien's conditioning re-asserts itself long enough to let Lytton's troops kill Mercer.
Davros dispatches his Daleks to Earth. Anticipating resistance from the Daleks not loyal to him, Davros opens a capsule of the Movellan virus. Two Daleks enter with the intention of killing him but are killed by the virus. At the warehouse, Davros' Daleks battle those loyal to the Supreme Dalek. The Doctor returns through the time corridor, realising that the "unexploded bombs" discovered earlier contain the Movellan virus. He opens one and places it behind the Daleks, who start to die.
Davros prepares to flee, but the Movellan virus starts to infect him. Meanwhile, Stien activates the self-destruct sequence that destroys the station and the Dalek ship, killing him. The Doctor and his companions prepare to leave; only Tegan refuses, no longer enjoying her adventures with the Doctor. As the TARDIS vanishes, Tegan, remembering the Doctor's old admonition: "Brave heart, Tegan", calls out that she will miss him.
Production
The working titles of this story were The Return, Warhead, However, due to an electricians' strike, the story was postponed and, with minor rewrites, resurrected for season 21.
The story was originally supposed to have been directed by Peter Grimwade, whose work on Saward's previous story Earthshock had pleased the writer. When the story was postponed, Grimwade took members of the production team out to dinner, but did not invite John Nathan-Turner, because he had intended to take Nathan-Turner out separately. Nathan-Turner felt slighted by the omission and refused to allow Grimwade to direct the story when it was rescheduled for season 21. Matthew Robinson, who had never worked on the series before but had a "reputation as an action director", was used instead. However, Saward had already promised Grimwade that he could provide a script for the season, so Grimwade was allowed to write the following story, Planet of Fire. As well as the change of director, the serial's postponement also meant that Michael Wisher, who had originated the role of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975), became unavailable. Matthew Robinson cast Terry Molloy instead and showed him the tape of Wisher's performance.
The filming location for the serial was Shad Thames and Butler's Wharf in September 1983, with studio scenes videotaped at TC8 of BBC Television Centre between September and October.
The first copy of the story to be sold to American PBS stations by the BBC was done in the original four-part serial format. However, part two had a raw soundtrack, lacking sound effects and music. The compilation version, in which the entire story is compressed into one feature-length episode, had the entire second half with the raw soundtrack, but the second quarter with music and effects intact. The portions with the raw soundtrack also included some extra scenes not used in the final four-part cut.
Cast notes
It is wrongly stated by Matthew Robinson on the DVD commentary that this serial is the television debut of actor Leslie Grantham. He had actually made his debut in 1982 as a character called Boollie in a BBC2 Playhouse production called "Jake's End". Grantham was offered the role of either Galloway or Kiston, and chose the latter because it would afford him more screen time and was a more challenging role. He was soon cast as "Dirty" Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders, again being cast on the recommendation of Matthew Robinson; Doctor Who would shortly afterwards reference Den Watts in 2006's "Army of Ghosts" as part of a sequence showing international culture, including EastEnders, adapting to the sudden appearance of silvery ghosts across the world.