Daleks are set for a big comeback
- Publication: Evening Herald
- Date: 1983-12-03
- Author: John Fraser
- Page: 34
- Language: English
TWENTY YEARS ago, two school teachers pushed their way into an old police telephone box standing in a London junkyard-and found themselves face-to-face with an argumentative old man in a shabby black frockcoat.
Dr. Who had arrived on earth from the planet Gallifrey. Two decades later, he's still the star of the longest-running and most popular science fiction series in the world..
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, the five versions of Dr. Who met in Chicago last week Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, and Richard Hurndall replacing the late William Hartnell.
The previous day, special full-length TV spectacular The Five Doctors, was shown to Dr. Who devotees around the world.
And pride of place during all the celebrations went to the doctor's most celebrated adversaries
the sinister robot Daleks. These pepper-pot-shaped creatures were recently. voted the most successful non-human TV stars of all time... and programme planners intend to bring them back very soon!
As the bizarre cult which surrounds the programme now showing in 35 countries keeps on growing, Terry Nation, its original creator, is still amazed at its success.
"The idea of the Daleks was the greatest stroke of luck in my entire career." he says. "It came to me at breakfast one day when I was fiddling with pepper pot.
"The shape looked promising on the drawing-board. But I never thought the show would have such a long life."
The twists and turns of the series are avidly. watched by a world-wide audience of 100 million, many of whom have seen every spisode.
Richard Landon of the Dr Who Appreciation Society, says: "We are a very learned body. Ask us when the Doctor first said 'There's a fluctose path forming on the periscarp and we'll tell you!"
The fan club now has eight departments producing magazines and films and organising lectures for enthusiasts.
Spokesman Keith Barnfather says: 'It will never end because if they run out of ideas for Dr. Who, they'll have run out of ideas for TV altogether."
Being swept backwards and forwards in time as the good Doctor's assistant is one of the choicest roles on television.
But a long list of actresses have quit, feeling the series restricted their career. The Dr. Who tag clung too long, making offers of other parts hard to come by.
Maureen O'Brien, who played the time traveller's assistant, Vickie, for year, says: "Looking back, it was fun, but I was out of work for a year after I left the series."
Carole Ann Ford, who appeared in the first programme in 1963 and stayed on for two years as Dr. Who's granddaughter, had a similar problem.
"I found it very hard to get work afterwards," she says. "I wanted to be a character actress, but I was typed as Dr. Who's little girl."
Dr. Who himself has long had the power to assume a new body when the old one wears out. Which has proved convenient for the producers when the actors wanted to move on to other work.
John Nathan-Turner, who has produced the series for the past four years, believes its success lies in an endless permutation of story lines.
"We have the freedom. to move from historic stories to fantastic ones as we please. I cannot see any reason why we should not do another 20 years."
Dr. Whos may come and go but the Tardis the London police-box bigger inside than passersby might imagine changed little.
The inherent fault which causes it to land anywhere in time and space unannounced never put right fans would not have it any other way.
Its next journey will be in a 20th anniversary special programme screened coast to coast by 80 American television stations and watched by an estimated ten trillion viewers in Europe.
The Five Doctors was surrounded by tight security to prevent the plot being leaked.
Caption: Peter Davidson... the most recent Dr. Who
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Fraser, John (1983-12-03). Daleks are set for a big comeback. Evening Herald p. 34.
- MLA 7th ed.: Fraser, John. "Daleks are set for a big comeback." Evening Herald [add city] 1983-12-03, 34. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Fraser, John. "Daleks are set for a big comeback." Evening Herald, edition, sec., 1983-12-03
- Turabian: Fraser, John. "Daleks are set for a big comeback." Evening Herald, 1983-12-03, section, 34 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Daleks are set for a big comeback | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Daleks_are_set_for_a_big_comeback | work=Evening Herald | pages=34 | date=1983-12-03 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=5 December 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Daleks are set for a big comeback | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Daleks_are_set_for_a_big_comeback | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=5 December 2025}}</ref>
