A special ready reckoner rounding up the best and worst of Doctor Who’s most popular adversary…
Weve had the Daleks, weve had the Cybermen, weve had the Master.
In terms of the classic, instantly-recognisableDoctor Whovillains, there was really only one left and despite Russell Davies half-hearted protestations that hed never go down that road (yeah, he said the same thing about the Master, AND he said Rose was gone for good), most of us knew it was only a matter of time.
Davros is back.
Originally played by Michael Wisher (later by David Gooderson and, for the longest stint, Terry Molloy) and first appearing in Terry Nations 1975 Tom Baker storyGenesis of the Daleks, Davros was a superb creation, ranking up there with the Daleks themselves in terms of inspiration.
A demented, crippled scientist, Davros genius ensured the survival of the mutated-by-nuclear-war Kaled race by placing them in fearsome, indestructible travel machines.
you’re free to certainly see why the character instantly went down in televisual lore half human, half Dalek is the classic description, even if it misses the point somewhat but this was a double-edged sword, as he instantly rendered it impossible to do a Dalek story without him.
Throughout the eighties in particular, this would reduce the Daleks to little more than lackeys to their increasingly deranged creator, and would arguably lessen their impact significantly until the advent of the new series and Rob ShearmansDalek.
Nevertheless, he remains one of the most iconic elements of the shows entire history probably ranking behind only the TARDIS and the Daleks themselves in terms of widespread visual recognition and theres no doubt that his return to the new series is a stonkingly exciting prospect, particularly with the known-for-playing-creepy-figures Julian Bleach behind the mask.
Here, then, is a run through his appearances so far…
Genesis of the Daleks(Fourth Doctor, 1975)
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Destiny of the Daleks (Fourth Doctor, 1979)
Resurrection of the Daleks (Fifth Doctor, 1984)
Revelation of the Daleks (Sixth Doctor, 1985)
Remembrance of the Daleks (Seventh Doctor, 1988)
