"Remembrance of the Daleks" was the last "classic" Doctor Who serial to feature his most iconic enemies, and the only occasion on which the Seventh Doctor was confronted with them. It is also the story in which we learn how Daleks can climb stairs, a feat of which they had previously been believed to be incapable. The story does not involve anyone remembering the Daleks, but the title may have been chosen to alliterate with the two previous Dalek stories, "Resurrection of the Daleks" and "Revelation of the Daleks". Alternatively, it may allude to the fact that the story is a nostalgic look back to the very first Doctor Who story, "An Unearthly Child", first broadcast 25 years earlier in 1963. "Remembrance" is set in that year and features settings from "An Unearthly Child", such as Coal Hill School and the Totter's Lane junkyard, both in Shoreditch, East London.
As in "Resurrection" and "Revelation", the plot revolves around the schism between two Dalek factions, the Imperial Daleks loyal to the Emperor Davros (the scientist who originally created the Daleks) and the Renegade Daleks, loyal to a leader referred to as the Supreme Dalek. Davros was supposed to have been killed in the Fourth Doctor adventure, "Genesis of the Daleks", but he was too good a character to waste and a way was found to resurrect him. This schism is not a battle of good against evil but of evil against evil; the two sides are not fighting over principles, simply over power. Both factions have sent groups back to 1963 to try and recover the Hand of Omega, a device invented by Time Lords which will give its possessors immense powers. It falls to the Doctor and his companion Ace to foil their plans. In this they have the assistance of a military unit with certain resemblances to UNIT, although that term is never used. Its leader Group Captain Gilmore is also reminiscent of UNIT's commander Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
As was often done in "Doctor Who" serials from the eighties (and sometimes in the seventies as well) the scriptwriter Ben Aaronovitch takes the opportunity to make some comments on contemporary British politics, in this case the politics of race. Sophie is shocked to see a sign in a boarding house reading "No coloureds", something that was still legal in 1963, although it was to be outlawed by the Race Relations Act 1968. The Daleks are assisted by a racist, fascist local politician named Ratcliffe, possibly based on Sir Oswald Mosley. It is even suggested that the schism between Imperial and Renegade Daleks may be based upon a dispute as to which faction is more "racially pure" than the other.
I will not hide the fact that Sylvester McCoy was never my favourite Doctor; indeed, he is a prime candidate for the title of my least favourite. He took on the role when Michael Grade, the Controller of BBC1 and a more formidable foe of the Doctor than Daleks or Cybermen ever could be, high-handedly engineered the sacking of his predecessor Colin Baker. McCoy, originally a comic actor, tried to play the Doctor as a clown, but when this proved unpopular with both the producers and the viewing public, the scriptwriters tried to make his character darker- closer, in fact, to Baker's interpretation- but he never really seemed able to convey this. He also had to cope with some spectacularly bad scripts such as "Silver Nemesis" and the virtually incomprehensible "The Curse of Fenric". "Remembrance of the Daleks", however, is one of the better Seventh Doctor adventures, with an intelligent, well-written script.
There is, however, a disturbing ending which shows why McCoy has become known as the "dark clown". The Doctor tricks the Imperial Daleks, who have defeated their Renegade enemies, into using the Hand of Omega to destroy their home planet, Skaro. The ruthlessness which he displays here contrasts sharply with the humanity he showed in the Fourth Doctor adventure, "Genesis of the Daleks", when he refused to take an opportunity to wipe out the entire Dalek race. Watching this ending I was reminded of the quote from the Bhagavad Gita made famous by the American physicist Robert Oppenheimer: "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds". Not what the Doctor should be.
A goof. On a bright, sunny day we hear a television announcer saying "It's 5.15 and it's time for the BBC's new science fiction series 'Doctor Who' ". The programme was first broadcast on 23rd November 1963. As we know the year is 1963, the month must therefore be either late November or December when it would be dark at 5.15 pm.
As in "Resurrection" and "Revelation", the plot revolves around the schism between two Dalek factions, the Imperial Daleks loyal to the Emperor Davros (the scientist who originally created the Daleks) and the Renegade Daleks, loyal to a leader referred to as the Supreme Dalek. Davros was supposed to have been killed in the Fourth Doctor adventure, "Genesis of the Daleks", but he was too good a character to waste and a way was found to resurrect him. This schism is not a battle of good against evil but of evil against evil; the two sides are not fighting over principles, simply over power. Both factions have sent groups back to 1963 to try and recover the Hand of Omega, a device invented by Time Lords which will give its possessors immense powers. It falls to the Doctor and his companion Ace to foil their plans. In this they have the assistance of a military unit with certain resemblances to UNIT, although that term is never used. Its leader Group Captain Gilmore is also reminiscent of UNIT's commander Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
As was often done in "Doctor Who" serials from the eighties (and sometimes in the seventies as well) the scriptwriter Ben Aaronovitch takes the opportunity to make some comments on contemporary British politics, in this case the politics of race. Sophie is shocked to see a sign in a boarding house reading "No coloureds", something that was still legal in 1963, although it was to be outlawed by the Race Relations Act 1968. The Daleks are assisted by a racist, fascist local politician named Ratcliffe, possibly based on Sir Oswald Mosley. It is even suggested that the schism between Imperial and Renegade Daleks may be based upon a dispute as to which faction is more "racially pure" than the other.
I will not hide the fact that Sylvester McCoy was never my favourite Doctor; indeed, he is a prime candidate for the title of my least favourite. He took on the role when Michael Grade, the Controller of BBC1 and a more formidable foe of the Doctor than Daleks or Cybermen ever could be, high-handedly engineered the sacking of his predecessor Colin Baker. McCoy, originally a comic actor, tried to play the Doctor as a clown, but when this proved unpopular with both the producers and the viewing public, the scriptwriters tried to make his character darker- closer, in fact, to Baker's interpretation- but he never really seemed able to convey this. He also had to cope with some spectacularly bad scripts such as "Silver Nemesis" and the virtually incomprehensible "The Curse of Fenric". "Remembrance of the Daleks", however, is one of the better Seventh Doctor adventures, with an intelligent, well-written script.
There is, however, a disturbing ending which shows why McCoy has become known as the "dark clown". The Doctor tricks the Imperial Daleks, who have defeated their Renegade enemies, into using the Hand of Omega to destroy their home planet, Skaro. The ruthlessness which he displays here contrasts sharply with the humanity he showed in the Fourth Doctor adventure, "Genesis of the Daleks", when he refused to take an opportunity to wipe out the entire Dalek race. Watching this ending I was reminded of the quote from the Bhagavad Gita made famous by the American physicist Robert Oppenheimer: "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds". Not what the Doctor should be.
A goof. On a bright, sunny day we hear a television announcer saying "It's 5.15 and it's time for the BBC's new science fiction series 'Doctor Who' ". The programme was first broadcast on 23rd November 1963. As we know the year is 1963, the month must therefore be either late November or December when it would be dark at 5.15 pm.