No Daleks for Doctor Who

As has been widely reported the past several days, the fan favorite the Daleks will not be appearing in the new Doctor Who series, as talks between the BBC and the estate of creator Terry Nation have broken down over issues of editorial control. A BBC spokeswoman told BBC News, "After lengthy negotiations, the BBC and Terry Nation have been unable to reach an agreement on the terms of the use of the Daleks. The BBC offered the very best deal possible but ultimately we were not able to give the level of editorial influence that the Terry Nation estate wished to have." The Nation estate is said to be "bitterly disappointed" while Nation agent Tim Hancock stated that the BBC was trying to "ruin the brand of the Daleks. We wanted the same level of control over the Daleks that we have enjoyed for the last 40 years. If the BBC wanted to re-make any of George Lucas' films, you can bet George Lucas would have something to say about it." Hancock accused the BBC of lying about the reasons a deal had not been made, stating that the BBC had recentrly tried to commission a cartoon series about gay Daleks for BBC Three and that they had allowed Warner Bros. to use the Daleks in the recent big-budget film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" without consulting the Nation estate. "We want to protect the integrity of the brand," Hancock said, and added that the estate would be willing to make a new deal if the BBC accepted the arrangement that had been in place for the last 40 years. Russell Davies told BBC news that he was disappointed by the decision, but that it would not affect the success of the series. "We are reinventing Doctor Who for a 21st Century audience with a fantastic writing team and exciting new challenges," Davies said. "We are disappointed that the Daleks will not be included but we have a number of new and exciting monsters. And I can confirm we have created a new enemy for the Doctor which will keep viewers on the edge of their seats." Elsewhere, an additional comment from agent Tim Hancock noted the following: "IÆm very sorry for Dr Who fans. We accept the Daleks need modernising, and are all for it. All we ask is that they consult us on the designs. But the BBC are not prepared to."

Afterwards, the newspaper The Sun said it was launching a "campaign" to save the Daleks after being exterminated from the new show. The Sun article intimated that the BBC were "desperate hi-tech versions of the Time LordÆs arch-enemies" to appear in the show, but that talks had broken down only last Wednesday when Nation's estate demanded control of Dalek storylines and that they feared producers planned to make the Daleks "too evil". A BBC "insider" told the Sun, "ItÆs hard to imagine Dr Who without Daleks but it seems we have no choice. The Nation estateÆs demands were completely unacceptable. They care a lot about the Daleks. We fear they have been lost forever." The Express ran an article on July 3 that stated that fans in Southampton had staged a protest march, with one fan being quoted as saying, "Daleks were infamous for sending children diving behind sofas in the 1960s and 70s. If an amicable deal isn't reached, the new Doctor won't ever see the Daleks again, which will be a great shame. While most fans are obviously delighted the series has finally come back, there are fears that it may bear very little resemblance to the original. And the Doctor not facing the Daleks is almost unthinkable." Shadow Education Secretary (and Doctor Who fan) Tim Collins said to the Sun, "Dr Who without the Daleks is like fish without chips. It's important the BBC does a deal." And the Manchester Evening News quoted agent Hancock as saying, "Without us the BBC would have screwed up the integrity of the Daleks image years ago."

Commentator John Walsh noted in July 3's The Independent, "It's outrageous that the new series of Doctor Who should feature no appearance by the Daleks. I was one of the original short-trousered Doctor fans who watched through latticed fingers the first gliding steps of the metal myrmidons, and I'm sorry not to see them return. But the way the story appeared in some news pages - the robotic tyrants would not appear because of 'a disagreement over appearance fees' - made it sound as if the Daleks themselves were sulkily refusing to go on TV. The usual reasons, I suppose. They had other commitments; the timing wasn't right for this stage of their career; they weren't in a good place right now; they were scheduled to appear on Broadway, in a musical called Hello Dalek. I pictured them on the phone to their agent, shouting 'Neg-o-ti-ate! Neg-o-ti-ate!'."

Many of the press clippings can now be found at the Cuttings Archive.

Media links and coverage (with thanks to Steve Tribe, Paul Engelberg, Paul Hayes):

BBC News The Sun Sky News The Register The Alien Online DigitalSpy ICnetwork

Manchester Online Big News Network MediaDrome The Mirror Waveguide Guardian Online DeHavilland