Doctor Who pleased its fans on New Year’s Day by bringing back the Daleks for the show’s latest winter special, “Resolution.” Well, to be precise, it was just one Dalek.
The plot saw the squid-like creature running around Sheffield trying to build itself a makeshift casing. When it finally managed to, the iconic monster was given a top-to-bottom redesign, with the villain’s distinctive shape being altered and the sleek bronze look being replaced with rusted scrap metal.
If you’re interested to find out more about the creation of this new Dalek, then the BBC has got just the thing for you. The Doctor Who YouTube channel has shared a new featurette (seen below) to tie into “Resolution,” which has the cast and crew discussing the return of one of the scary critters from Skaro.
In particular, production designer Arwel Wyn Jones explains how the Dalek’s redesign was approached:
“We wanted it to be the traditional silhouette, so there was no doubt about what we were seeing. But at the same time wanting to update it, really, wanting it to feel like something quiet scary still and also to give us some leeway to use real material, real metal and rust… It gives it a little bit more chunkiness and makes it feel that little bit more real.”
If you’re thinking that this Dalek design – with its thin middle section and unusual pattern of orbs on its lower half – is now the ongoing look of the monsters on the show, you’d be mistaken. Exec producer Matt Strevens reveals in the featurette that this Dalek is very much a one-off, saying:
“This Dalek, in a sense, can exist outside of all the other Daleks. We’re not sort of saying that this is the beginning of a new race so it very much is a one-off Dalek in this environment.”
Finally, right at the end of the promo, showrunner Chris Chibnall leaves us with a hint that the Daleks will return again in the future, teasing:
“The moment you think you’ve destroyed them, they keep coming back. As the Doctor says, ‘I’ll never be rid of them.'”
Could the metal meanies come back once more in season 12? We’ve got a lot of time to speculate about that, as the next batch of Doctor Who episodes won’t arrive until 2020. In the meantime, though, tell us, do you like the Dalek redesign? Have your say in the comments section down below.