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Daleks Return to Dr Who
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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> Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a
> terrifying new function.
Is it just me or does that sound terrifyingly sexual?
I guess I won't need to be shocked when the actual episode comes on now, will I?
The terrifying new feature is a dupe checker for /.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
"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.
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).
"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.
What is it about the typical English psyche that finds the image of giant saltshakers so horrifying?
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.
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
We are here to protect you... from the terrible secret of space.
Do you have stairs in your house?
"Is it just me or does that sound terrifyingly sexual?"
Now you know why former IT workers are going into the plumbing business.
Perhaps because they have some *imagination*. They respond to the atmospheric build-up, the audio cues, and the general theatre of the program.
AND ITS A FRIGGING KIDS PROGRAM FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. One step up from a cartoon. The fact that lots of adults like it now is BECAUSE THEY WERE KIDS WHEN THEY FIRST SAW IT.
I hope that has cleared things up for you.
""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 rarely criticize things I don't care about.
./me hides behind sofa
Anyone got a torrent of it yet?
-stalefries
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!
Deleted
The elusive C M Burns, who wants to form an army of dogs with bees in their mouths, but it turns out the dogs are merely a front for a Dalek invasion of earth.
Who?
With a Land of the Lost movie 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.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
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 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!
Your name wouldn't be Barry by any chance, would it?
Seen Elvis recently?
-JH
I remember one of the staff commenting on that fact that they never let the lack of budget for production get in the way of the script. And that sometimes that lead to some ridiculous visuals when they ran out of money. Most other productions would compromise the script to suit what they could deliver visually, but Dr. Who stayed with the epic ideas, even when the budget called for cardboard.
THIS is news?!! Sweet Jesus on a motorbike!...you might as will run a Google story or a "bring back Enterprise" story.
GET FREE APPLE STUFF!
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?
Man I wish I could remember which commedy sketch that was from.
"I may be full of crap about this game, and I may be wrong, and that's fine." -Jack Thompson
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 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.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
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.
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Well I don't know about you, but I for one welcome our new... aaah crap, that one actually makes sense.
Really, they could have updated the design to be a little more "now" It looks like the original crappy dalek, it's laughable why anyone would be convinced by an up-turned dustbin with wheels and a plunger is beyond me.
Wasn't it obvious?
My toilet is plugged. A plungerbot sounds like just the right thing.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
It is to scare young children into hiding behind the sofa. I suspect we're all just that little bit too old for it. Having said that my nearly OAP parents schedule their dinner times round it.
Think horror for 5-10 year olds.
Deleted
except....EXTERMINATE!!
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
Borg: the sequal.
There were a lot dalek episodes in the first 10 or so seasons, which was fine because it was new and they allowed much development. Then they reduced the frequency in the height of the Tom Baker years, and then were made occasionally to support the weaker seasons, especially after Davidson.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
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.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
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.
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The trailer for Doctor Who Episode: Dalek
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/video/index.shtml
It is in Real Video format.
Maybe a good slashdottting will encourage the BBC to put up bitorrent links for its trailers?
That's typical Dr. Who stuff. I'd be disappointed if it didn't have that kind of thing.
On the other hand, for the non-Who-fan, imagine if the original Star Trek series had just kept going on, and on, with a new cast starring in the same roles. Sort of like 60 minutes, but more realistic :-).
Now, where'd I put my sonic screwdriver? I need to brew some tea.
Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
First it was a new Doctor Who that quit after one episode. Hey a new Doctor Who! Now they bring back an old enemy, the Dalek, now with fewer weaknesses so it doesn't suck so bad. Who knows, maybe Daleks run Linux now as their core OS and have a better vocabulary now?
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
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 something which fires about 1 shot every 10 seconds?
Plus the doctor has his magic screw driver, he can screw it over with that alone.
I like muppets.
One of the highlights of my family going to England when I was 5 was a merry-go-round ride that had a Dalek that you could get inside and wave the arm at people as you went around.
The Aliens being able to launch WMD in 45 seconds was the highlight of the episode IMHO... Does this sound familiar to the Iraq WMD 45min claim!?!? Good to see the BBC being the independant media broadcasting station they are... Even after Mr Dyke was fired for this before.
...in asking 'what the fuck are you talking about?'
[i]Which clues would these be? Some kid wrote his nickname in graffiti on the side of the Tardis... later the doctor caught him and made him paint it blue again. This is a clue to something? Somehow I doubt it.[/i]
Episode 1 (hearsay) - The Nestine Conciousness mouths the words "bad wolf" when speaking with the Doctor.
Episode 2 - The Moxx of Balhoon mentions a "Big bad wolf scenario" to the Face of Boe.
Episode 3 - Quinneth mentions the "Big bad wolf" and pulls away from Rose, terrified.
Episode 4 - "Bad Wolf" spray painted on the TARDIS.
Episode 5 - Indirect reference. Who Is Doctor Who?, the tie-in website, mentions "big bad wolf" when referencing the closing minutes of the episode.
There is also an upcoming episode titled "Bad Wolf."
Where is the ambiguity?
The writers have already implictly and explicitly stated that there is a dark mystery regarding Rose and the Doctor, and their relationship.
What? You are crazy... he is the best Doctor since Tom Baker.
He's the first Doctor to brutally kill a villian. His behavior is sometimes darker than Colin Baker's darkest moments. We still don't know all the events surrounding the Time War, and we have no regeneration sequence to show that this Doctor came from McGann's incarnation. It has even been explicitly stated that there will be no such sequence.
Plus, from a practical standpoint, he's eating up incarnations like candy. Going on to the 10th out of 13 after just one series seems a bit quick, but allowing the current Doctor to be a phoney gives the writers an extra incarnation to play with.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
BAH! The Borg were just Cybermen rip-off anyhow.
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 the Doctor anyhow? The CBC site still claims that it will start "in early April". Well guess what guys -- early April has come and long gone.
Yaz.
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
Did you mean it to be funny?.
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.
/. 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.
:)
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
If you can find it... enjoy.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
becasue... it's... a... dalek. Would you rather it looked like an iPod?
"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.
and yet, one could say exactly the same thing about the current spate of pre-election ads..
sad, isn't it?
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.
The first torrent (at the bottom) is just a preview, the rest are the current episodes.
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
...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.
Plays violent online games as: Nerfherder76
I wouldn't consider BSG as neither Sci nor Fi, it's just an attempt to make a stupid show look more serious by filling it with unbelievably bad and sexual obsessed characters.
It won't die soon because today people actually want dark shows filled with bad characters, but that doesn't change the fact that BSG is a total pile of crap, and the idiotic use of a constantly shaking camera demonstrates that further.
I'm angry at the production because BSG gave them a great opportunity, and they totally ruined it.
. . . besides, in the future, Ipods look like Wurlizter jukeboxes. And play Earth's finest classical music, like "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell . . .
Am I the only one who has no idea what a "Dalek" is? I've been watching the new series, but the original is just a bit before my time, so the reference is lost.
Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a terrifying new function
It has a hat-removal function?
Looks like you need to explain it...
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?
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
http://homepage.mac.com/stuart621/dalek.mov Looks cool.
On BBC7 today there was a documentary about Delia Derbyshire (a god of radiophonic workshop goodness)as well as a documentary on being a Dalek presented by Mark Gatis (League of Gentlemen as well as writer of Dr Who novels and episode 3 of the 2005 series)
s hop
Find it all on the listen again page:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/sunday/
and information on the radiophonic workshop at wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Radiophonic_Work
'cuse the clunkiness of the post, it's late (listen agains are good for 7 days and are in the loathsome realplayer, it's just the way it is)
Take this with a pinch of salt because I can't find the original source but I was reading a while back that this old Dalek (that has been on Earth for years) somehow gets free and is able to send a message and call for help, so at the beginning of series 2 we see the new Super Daleks and their invasion fleet...
I was conned by an old man in a cloak. It turns out those *were* the droids I was looking for.
... The Daleks don't turn out to be hot chicks.. ;)
It's just a good-natured joke. I thought the word play was cute, and not really that political. Fat green dyspeptic aliens (possibly adult Teletubbies) saying that with a Cockney banter is not exactly something to be taken seriously.
You're going to give yourself an apoplexy like that. ^^
One of the few recurring nightmares that I had as a child was of those friggin' Daleks.
They were scary as hell just being a trashcan that awkwardly bumped around and screamed "EXTERMINATE" at everything... BUT NOW, with their "upgrades" they are scary as hell x 100 which = nightmares x 100 for me.
Thanks BBC for bring back my nightmares!
I found the cybermen more scary than the daleks, what with their elite stair-climbing skills, and how they could kill people and then re-animate them with nasty control-helmet things on as proto-cybermen.
The daleks did have a spot in Paradroid on the C64 though, one of the better games of the era, and faithfully reproduced in Freedroid
"Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a terrifying new function."
Look out, Angelina Jolie - somebody with more lips than you!
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
Its funny if you're the type that finds
humor in that sort of thing.
We'll see the *actual* updated designs later this season. The ones that finally managed to take down Gallifrey.
When can we Americans start viewing this? I've been a huge Dr. Who fan since I was a little kid. I first saw Dr. Who in the early 80's on PBS in Chicago. Are there any UK people nice enough to recommend a way to view these new episodes without resorting to buy expensive international subscription channels? Thanks and much appreciated!
Vince
"Happily lived Mankind in the peaceful Valley of Ignorance." -- Hendrik Willem Van Loon
Look back at "trouble with tribbles" the klingons are basically mongoloid makeup applied to give a bunch of guys fu man chu beards... kinda timely with politics of the day. The klingon got more russian as the 80s movies came to pass, and also got their own language (which i believe has taken off in a really big way).
Michael Dorn's forehead is the final evolution of trek makeup. Much like the difference between the season 1 red dwarf cardboard sets and the final season sets with all their elaborate "lived in" detail.
On the other hand, shows like "buffy the vampire slayer" and "dark angel" had remarkably consistent, convincing and affordable special effects from start to finish. Probably because Joss and James insisted on starting and ending well.
Its trademark 'sink plunger' attachment also reveals a terrifying new function.
It now does toilets as well?
-= This is a self-referential sig =-
It's a pity they had to sex them up so much - you could always hunt down a set of plans on the 'net and build your own Daley - now they are so ornate that it would take someone with a serious workshop to build one.
Bummer
The Dalek was in the bloody preview at the end of this week's episode! Hardly a big scoop, is it?
Yes, but do they still look like trash cans?
I guess that can be an advantage...camaflouge
They can sneak up on you, and then pounce on you when you try to stuff your drink up down their heads.
Gosh darnit! The end of each episode includes too many spoilers for the next episode :( :( :(
Oh yeah, I remember those as a kid too. Scared the hell out of me as well. If I remember right it was the only Dr Who story line that they either didn't repeat, or they cut it short because of the number of complaints they received from parents. It was giving the kids nightmares.
Of all the Dr Who monsters, the Green Death maggots were the scariest. Though those large spiders that attached themselves to your back and took over your mind were a close second.
You forget the wonderful ability we here in America have to "Americanize" food from elsewhere. First, we remove any flavor or spiciness so as to not offend, then we remove all freshness, replacing it with processed preservatives so that it can sit on a store shelf for a hundred years. Then we package it colorfully and advertize it on television to kids. So you see, super-sized portions aren't our only contributions to the world's cuisine we've made.
they feature the dalek machine in an episode of "Pimp my ride" and add the undercarriage neons and big bass boosters.
Non, je ne veux pas coucher avec toi ce soir.
"When sailors get tattoos, they do it to express their individuality, and their choices range from Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse to raging sea serpents. When Marines get tattoos, they do it to express their solidarity, and choose bull dogs, 'death before dishonor,' and 'USMC.'" http://leathernecklane.com/marine/text/reasons.htm
^^
Death ray, cool. But will it have Bluetooth?
^^
and you don't see me blathering it around the place.
Matter of fact, I only told it to this bloke named Beck. Nice guy. Plays a harmonica.
Like the Tardis being the Bad Wolf, for instance?
Zagreus is about the Dr's darkside and is based on a Gallifrean fairytale story, and the sentinet Tardis takes on several personas because it is jealous of the Dr's relationship with a companion (and he hasn't been as close to any companion as much as Rose)It would make more sense for a mainstream TV series to refer to a well known fairytale rather than a fictional one.
Perhaps Rose should have been killed by the Autons in the normal timeline, if the Dr hadn't intervened?
Were the Gelphs the people who had their existence wiped from history because of the Dr's intervention?
The graffiti was written on Tardis ( do you know that in early episodes it was referred to as 'TARDIS', not 'The TARDIS'?)
I can't remember how the Dr has been referred to in this series...is he 'The Dr' or 'A Dr'?
If he is an alternative Dr then that might have the benefical side-effect of saving a regeneration; DT could be the 'same' Dr as CE in an alternative leg of time.
I'm sure the BF audios hold the key to what is going on.
JF