Doctor Who (TV Series) Resurrection of the Daleks: Part One (1984) User Reviews

Almost too much going on. It's enjoyable though.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 23 May 2017]

I'd forgotten how many good bits there were from the first part, each of the last three classic series Doctors end had the obligatory Davros/Dalek story, and whilst this isn't my favourite of the trio it doesn't feel formulaic, it has some really great ideas, the problem is that there are too many, it's what I'd class as a Mug's eye full.

I like the general look of the episode, although the special effects are pretty poor, some of the costumes are quite nice. I'm always struck as to how utterly beautiful sneh gupta is in this, her cocky, cheroot smoking Osborn is so far ahead of her time. She's one of the better characters, I've never been crazy about the characters from Rula Lenska or Leslie Grantham, but they are almost magical compared to Rodney Bewes, who I utterly detest, he's shocking.

The good bits, Terry Molloy makes an excellent Davros, he's very much in character, I like the concept of the Dalek mutant being deadly out of the casing, I love the concept of the villains disguised as cops.

The bad bits, a few already mentioned, but the main gripe I have is The Dalek dialogue, so tedious, functionality overload. Lots of plot holes, way too many to list, why didn't they pick up Turlough sooner? Chloe Ahcroft was shockingly out of place.

Had they condensed some of the ideas a bit, had fewer characters, and tightened the script a little this could have been particularly good, that said it was an improvement over the last few Davison serials which are hardly classic Who.

quiet good for a darvos story

[mervclan · 7/10 · 14 December 2011]

OK this is a review for both two parts I was a huge fan of the new series since after watching some of the old eps with the 9th doctor and series 2 of the 10th doctor I want to get some of the classic eps out on DVD and this dalek story was my first one to get on DVD Resurrection of the daleks may not be the best dalek story of all time but its not as bad as Fear her for the new series. Their are few things I don't like in this eps 1.not enough daleks 2. darvos was overused in this eps I really think he could appear less 3. the wired faces scare me but all in all Resurrection is a good story but not as good as the other dalek stories like The daleks or Planet of the daleks its still wrath watching. if your a darvos then you will enjoy this eps but if your not then watch day of the daleks instead 7 out of 10 wrath watching

Decent Dalek story

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 21 June 2021]

A decent Dalek story for Peter Davison. He was never my favourite era of the show and I didn't think much of him as Doctor, preferring most of the others, but this show's a decent one. It has that grimy and nihilistic '80s feel to it in the depiction of a bombed-out and grubby future London riven by war and fascism. Almost like THREADS at times and the high body count adds to the feel. Some good guest actors like Leslie Grantham, Rula Lenska and Rodney Bewes do their bit, and both Davros and the Daleks get plenty of screen time which is always good.

Resurrection of Dalek Brilliance

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 6 April 2020]

Review of both parts:

A change of format was introduced for this story with two 45 minute episodes instead of the usual 25 minute episodes. The format works well for this story I think but it is not a big difference when watching it back, it just feels like a 4 part story amalgamated into 2 longer parts. At the time I just enjoyed getting more of a fix of my show in one go. This format would be adopted for the following season.

The story itself is, in my opinion, excellent. If I were trying to get a modern fan into classic Who this would be one of the recommendations from me because I think it has good pace, good action, good effects, good spectacle and feels polished. That is a style which appeals more to modern audiences I think.

The plot is strong and very interesting. It has a dark and gritty feel to it like early Pertwee era or early Tom Baker era stories but is also full of scenes that are excitingly action packed with death and explosions.

The dialogue is very good indeed and this is some of Eric Saward's best work. It is high quality. I love the ideas of how Davros is involved and bringing him back to use him as well as how the Daleks split into 2 factions. I also love how the duplicated humans are used and the bleak, death filled seriousness of it all.

The humans are good with some decent acting from a nicely diverse cast where ethnic minority actors are used without race being an issue at all. The setup of the human civilisation and how all the characters behave is convincing and is helped by good sets and costumes.

The Daleks are super impressive and exciting, doing some serious damage. It is a great added spice to have them working in two opposing groups and I like how one group is loyal to Davros while the others just want to use him then destroy him. Davros himself is a bit shouty here but Terry Molloy still is a very worthy Davros who is wonderfully villainous and hateful but also intelligent and devious. Molloy would go on to more nuanced Davros performances in such stories as the audio adventure 'Davros' but despite being a bit more limited here he still adds enjoyment and thrills in this adventure.

There are great guest stars here: Maurice Colbourn (Lytton), Rodney Bewes (Stien), Rula Lenska (Styles) and Leslie Grantham (Kiston) all add class. Stien is a brilliant, layered character. Styles is a really strong female character and Lytton is a superb villain. Colbourn acts perfectly and makes Lytton a fan favourite who would return in Attack of the Cybermen.

Peter Davison is as good as ever as the Doctor and gets some of his best material here which allows him to really shine. This and the similarly gritty and even more terrific Caves of Androzani show how great Davison could be.

This is an excellent story and one of the best Dalek stories in the show's history.

My ratings: Both parts - 10/10.

An Action Packed Mess

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 31 January 2014]

Refers To Both Episodes . Spoilers

Caught in a time corridor the Tardis lands in the London Docklands 1984 and come across an army unit that have found strange alien artifacts . . The Doctor also meets a human refugee from the future called Stein who has escaped from the time corridor

This was hugely anticipated on its broadcast in 1984 . The Daleks had a long absence from the show and not only would they be returning so would Dalek creator Davros . Add to this the fact that it was being written by script editor Eric Saward whose last script Earthshock achieved legendary status this had all the makings of the greatest Dalek story ever . This was before anyone saw the transmitted episode

Resurrection was originally meant to meant to end the disappointing Season 20 and one instantly wonders the reason a script lying around gathering dust wasn't developed more by the writer ? Make no mistake this is one of the most under developed stories from the classic show . There's enough ideas here to keep a whole incarnation of a Doctor in story lines never mind two 45 minute episodes . Things are mentioned such as the Dalek Supremes plan to assassinate The High Council Of Time Lords only for it to be as quickly forgotten as soon as it's spoken about it. It's amazing there's enough space left to write out Tegan at the end of episode 2

Chararisation isn't a strong point . The storyline calls for people to exist to run about , get captured and get killed . If this was a STAR TREK episode it would no doubt be called Day Of The Red Shirts . One thing I find annoying about Moffat's vision of the show is that the gimmick of " Everyone lives " is a constant and if anyone dies it's a novelty . With Saward the opposite is true . This doesn't automatically make a story bad and I do prefer a high body to a DOCTOR WHO story but only if the plotting is logical and adds something . Here the characters are either unconvincing plot devices or exist to pad the episode out . This is also the story that introduces the storyline that splits The Daleks in to different fractions that would continue in to the last two Dalek stories of the classic era . You can see why RTD totally ignored this continuity in the new show

The cast are eclectic to say the least . Despite being underminded by his Dalek trooper helmet that has a laughable phallic appendage Maurice Colbourne is excellent the mercenary Lytton . Despite never matching Michael Wisher in the role Terry Molloy does make an impressive Davros though Molloy does irritate when he has to rant . Del Henney and Rula Lenska are passable considering they're playing superfluous cyphers cum plot devices , but it's always a bad idea to cast a PLAY SCHOOL presenter as a scientist . Rodney Bewes is dreadful as Dalek agent Stein though he's not helped by the script and we get a glimpse of an actor ( I use that word in its loosest sense ) who is possibly best known for hailing taxis , and getting naughty on webcam with an undercover journalist . Who told Leslie Grantham he'd make a good actor ? , Louise Jameson who played Leela ? That explains the reason why she's missing from the highly contrived let's get all nostalgic and shoehorn some old footage just for the sake of it sequence

Hard to believe that Resurrection won the Best Story poll in the Doctor Who Magazine season survey that year . In fact editor Gary Russell felt the need to point out The Caves Of Androzani was probably a more popular story over all . Resurrection isn't an embarrassment in itself but it is embarrassing fandom thought this was a better production than the Davison finale and goes to show that if you're making a show to appeal to fans you're in danger of alienating casual viewers

Resurrection of Darkest Stories

[wetmars · 7/10 · 25 March 2020]

A time corridor forces the Doctor to the London docklands on present-day Earth where a bomb squad watches over some strange, alien canisters. At the other end, a battle cruiser lunches an assault on a prison space station that holds just one prisoner - Davros, creator of the Daleks.

This episode was great but almost everything was going on the same time and this story was meant to end the VERY disappointing Season 20 but ehhh.. I hope the other parts will be better than this, but this was a GREAT story, just slow.

Even I was surprised that the Dalek Emperor was gonna be in this story in the early drafts, like woah.

Most Boring Dalek/Davros Story ever

[wolfsimon-30675 · 6/10 · 2 April 2018]

Just my opinion

I just think it could have been so much better...

Too many bad things

[beatnick49 · 2/10 · 15 January 2017]

I read someone said "the beginning of the end" of Doctor Who was The Twin Dilemma. Most likely it was because the Sixth Doctor tried to strangle Peri, or maybe the Doctor was just an all round jerk. I disagree and think the beginning of the end was in the Fifth Doctor era. The cry-baby sexist Adric, the sexualisation of Nyssa and Peri, the use of violence, the Brigadiers breakdown.

This storyline displays the problem of violence. First the bodycount is HIGH. I calculated at least 40 deaths, at an average of 2 every minute. A website puts the body count at 53. Either way this is way too high for a program aimed at all audiences and aired at prime time. I personally hate violence too.

The nature of the violence is also the problem. We see it at the beginning when mind-controlled policemen massacre fleeing prisoners. We see more when the the Doctor gets a pistol and fires at a Dalek out of its armour. The bullets fly off screen so we don't see the Dalek get it. But it's clear the Doctor isn't firing into thin air or for the fun of it. He didn't even have to it anyway. Soldiers were already on the job. This has the resemblance to a mob attack.

More on the violence. The Doctor, who supposedly hates violence, sets out with a rifle to kill Davros. Yet does he in the end? No. Not only does the Doctor abandon his nonviolence, he can't finish the job. Why? Because Davros is able to reason with and talk down the Doctor and talk him out of pulling the trigger. Even though Davros has betrayed his own people, and has fought the Doctor twice before, the Doctor falls for Davros's words. On top of that Davros is mostly blind and mostly paralyzed, and the Doctor plans to murder him. Something is wrong when a genocidal, ego maniacal traitor with a God-complex has the moral high-ground, over the supposed non-violent hero. There's also something wrong when the hero who knows how ruthless and deceitful his opponent is, is convinced to abandon his plan by said foe.

Now I'm sure if the Doctor is coming off lame, maybe his companions can redeem the episode. Tegan, is concussed and spends a long, long time down and out. I'm no doctor but I'm sure she would have recovered sooner considering the bump she received. What about Turlough? Well he's quite sympathetic, always is, But he's not given much to do other than being held captive.

Maybe the people under attack by the Daleks can get us to care. A bunch of people who smoke, sulk and assume Turlough is an enemy. The soldiers are forgettable. The medic's death it overacted. Scratch any hope there.

What about the Daleks? Sometimes a good enemy can help. These Daleks have been nearly wiped out and they rescue Davros because without him they have no future. But turns out their master plan is to assassinate the High Council of Time Lords Why? Because the Councils death will cure the virus. Because there is no cure and they want to go out with a bang? We're never told. If your race dying, save it first, then wipe out others. But then, the Daleks decide to kill Davros for betraying them. Wait aren't you taking your future away? These Daleks are certainly no slave to logic anymore. On top of that, they have resorted to hiring mercenaries and take a lot of casualties. Not only do they plan badly, they fight badly.

The only interest comes from Davros. He's been frozen for 900 years so you can understand his bitterness and insanity. He also manages to recruit a small army, a feat he does well. Plus he's able to talk his sworn enemy out of killing him. Also admiral.

Maybe we could also salvage this episode with Tegan's farewell speech. It's summed up as "I don't want to do this anymore. Goodbye." Rushed, no reminiscences, and no smiles.

All in all, a poor episode. It showed how Doctor Who has gone from being a fun school-excursion experiencing horror and mystery, to an action drama. Perhaps Tegan's line "It's stopped being fun" wasn't just about the killings, perhaps it was an observation on the series itself.

Resurrecting the Daleks was a good idea- perhaps the producers should have done so earlier.

[JamesHitchcock · 6 June 2016]

The Daleks were Doctor Who's most frequent opponents during the reigns of the first three Doctors, but in the late seventies and early eighties their appearances were much less regular. "Resurrection of the Daleks" from 1984 was the first serial in which they appeared since "Destiny of the Daleks" from 1979, which in turn was the first since "Genesis of the Daleks" in 1975, and the only occasion on which the Fifth Doctor was confronted with them. The story is also notable for being the last to feature Janet Fielding as the Doctor's companion Tegan.

Davros, the creator of the Daleks, was supposed to have been killed at the end of "Genesis…..", but the programme-makers obviously decided he was too good a character to waste, hence his Lazarus-like resurrection in "Destiny". He appears again here, and much of the action concerns the efforts of Dalek agents to rescue him from the space station where he has been held prisoner since the events of "Destiny". The Daleks need him to find a cure for the Movellan virus that has been specifically developed to attack only Daleks. The plot gets quite complicated, moving backwards and forwards in both space and time between the futuristic space station and contemporary London, and featuring several groups of characters, including the Doctor and his companions, the Daleks and their agents, the crew of the space station and a London bomb disposal squad.

I had previously always thought of the Daleks as possessing an attitude of unquestioning obedience to authority, but this serial marks the beginning of a theme which would play an important role in future stories featuring them, a political schism between those Daleks who are loyal to Davros and those loyal to the Supreme Dalek. This would suggest that Daleks are not simply brainwashed automata but are quite capable of holding their own opinions. They do not, however, seem capable of a moral choice between good and evil; it would seem that any Dalek, regardless of the political faction to which it belongs, would, if confronted with such a choice, unerringly choose the evil option.

This is one of those "Doctor Who" serials which reflect the times in which they were made, especially in those scenes set in London's Docklands. In the fifties or sixties, when London was still an important working seaport, the docks would have been bustling with activity. Today the gentrified Docklands, with the gleaming commercial towers of Canary Wharf and the surrounding blocks of luxury apartments, are Britain's answer to Manhattan. In the eighties, however, following the introduction of containerisation and the increase in the size of cargo ships, the shipping trade had moved eastward down the Thames to Tilbury, Sheerness and elsewhere, and the docks had closed, leaving the area a bleak, desolate industrial wasteland. The introduction of a bomb squad also seems an eighties touch; this was the period when IRA terrorism in mainland Britain was at its height.

Much as I had loved Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, I saw the arrival of Peter Davidson as a welcome change. I think the reason was that he was the first new Doctor since I became an adult, and I was interested by the idea of someone I thought of as one of my contemporaries in the role. Actually, Davidson is several years older than I am, but I still thought of his Doctor as a sort of older brother whereas Pertwee and Baker had been more like father figures. Although I liked his characterisation, however, I have to admit that the scripts during his tenure were not always of the highest quality, and on occasion ("Kinda" being a notorious case in point) could sometimes degenerate into the purest nonsense.

"Resurrection of the Daleks", however, is a pretty good serial; the plot is occasionally a bit too complex for its own good, but overall this is a well-made story which managers to generate plenty of tension and which is helped by some first-rate acting. (The cast included some big names from British television of the eighties, including Rodney ("Likely Lads") Bewes, Rula ("Rock Follies") Lenska and Maurice (Howard's Way")Colbourne as Commander Lytton, the cynical mercenary who was later to reappear in "Attack of the Cybermen"). Resurrecting the Daleks seems to have been a good idea- perhaps the producers should have done so earlier.