The Daleks are always probing people
The Doctor (Peter Davison), Tegan (Janet Fielding), and Turlough (Mark Strickson) have been sucked down the time corridor and find themselves drawn to Earth. There, the travelers discover that one of the Doctor’s oldest enemies have returned…the Daleks are back and they have plans for the Doctor that could spark a war.
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks aired during the twenty-first season of the long running BBC series. The serial aired in two parts on February 8, 1984 and February 15, 1984 due to the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo (a format later adopted the next season). The episode is the final appearance of the Doctor’s companion Tegan Jovanka played by Janet Fielding. Following Doctor Who: Frontios, Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks was collected as part of The Peter Davison Years as Story #134 (or Story #133 depending on how you count the unaired Tom Baker serial Doctor Who: Shada).
You have to ask yourself Davros…do you feel lucky, punk?
Daleks are probably my favorite Doctor Who “regular” (which isn’t unusual since they are generally the fan favorite). The inhuman nature and screeching of “Exterminate” are fun, goofy, but also there is something unnerving about it.
This entry represents Peter Davison’s only encounter with the Doctor’s long time enemy. It is good however (in that sense) that the Doctor got to match wits with Davros. I always liked Davros because he gives the Daleks some humanity in a sense in that there is a face to the evil…of course the Daleks working as an unstoppable force is also creepy.
It stopped being fun, Doctor
This entry is also the final trip for Tegan. Tegan first appeared in Doctor Who: Logopolis and was one of the Doctor’s more faithful companions in the later entries. Of the terrible trio of companions (Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric), I think I probably preferred her over Nyssa and definitely over Adric. The reason behind Tegan’s leaving is also pretty interesting. She had enough of the danger and darkness and didn’t want to be afraid anymore…finally a legitimate reason to stop travelling with the Doctor. The only thing that hurt it is that Tegan “left” once before at the end of Doctor Who: Time-Flight (Story #122)…which made this leaving not as powerful as it could be.
Doctor Who: The Resurrection of the Daleks isn’t a bad entry in Doctor Who’s later run. I am not a huge fan of any of the Doctor’s past Baker. It isn’t that Peter Davison, Colin Baker, or Sylvester McCoy are bad, but a combination of poor stories and bad companions hindered the series at this point. Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks was followed by Doctor Who: Planet of Fire.
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Preceded By:
Doctor Who: Frontios (Story #132)
Followed By:
