Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)

Sypnosis
The Doctor and Ace battle two Dalek factions in 1963, London, both of them seeking the Hand of Omega, a Gallifreyan Superweapon.

Plot
The Seventh Doctor and his companion Ace have landed the TARDIS in London, 1963, where the Doctor has unfinished business: The Hand of Omega, an ancient relic of the Time Lord civilization that the Doctor hid on Earth on a previous visit to 1963.

Unfortunately, the Daleks have also heard about the Hand of Omega, and are trying to find it before the Doctor does. To complicate matters, there are two groups of Daleks at work — the Daleks are currently in the midst of a civil war between those that accept and those that reject the leadership of their creator Davros, and each side wants the Hand for itself. The Imperial Daleks have set up an outpost at the Coal Hill School.

In the meantime, the alien activity around the Coal Hill area has attracted the attention of the military. Group Captain Gilmore and his unit engage a Renegade Dalek at the junkyard, destroying it with the help of the Doctor and Ace. The Doctor tries to convince Gilmore and his scientific advisor, Dr Rachel Jensen, that human weapons are no match for the Daleks and the best thing they can do is just stay out of the crossfire. The Doctor, however, is playing a deeper game — he wants the "right" Daleks to take possession of the Hand.

The Renegade Daleks enlist the help of a local fascist, Ratcliffe, in first obtaining the Hand, but they are soon attacked by the Imperial Daleks, who retrieve the Hand. Determining that the Imperial Daleks are from Skaro, the Dalek homeworld, the Doctor allows them to return to their mothership with it. The Imperial Daleks plan to use the Hand to create a power source that will give them mastery of time travel, a technology that the Daleks only have in the crudest sense.

However, when the Dalek Emperor, a much deteriorated Davros, activates the Hand, he also triggers a booby-trap that the Doctor has programmed into it. The Hand transports itself to the future which the Imperial Daleks have come from and turns Skaro's sun into a supernova, destroying the star system and Dalek homeworld, and then returns itself to Gallifrey. The resulting feedback blows up the Imperial Dalek mothership, but Davros manages to flee in an escape pod before its destruction. The Dalek Supreme, the last Renegade Dalek on Earth, destroys itself when told by the Doctor that it is the last of its kind.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Ace - Sophie Aldred
 * Davros - Terry Molloy (Credited as 'Roy Tromelly' in Part 3 to preserve the surprise at Davros's return)
 * Group Captain Gilmore - Simon Williams
 * Professor Rachel Jensen - Pamela Salem
 * Mike Smith - Dursley McLinden
 * Allison Williams - Karen Gledhill
 * Ratcliffe - George Sewell
 * Headmaster - Michael Sheard
 * Harry - Harry Fowler
 * The Girl - Jasmine Breaks
 * Embery - Peter Hamilton Dyer
 * Voice of the Battle computer - John Leeson
 * Vicar - Peter Halliday
 * John - Joseph Marcell
 * Martin - William Thomas
 * Kaufman - Derek Keller
 * Dalek Operators - Hugh Spight, John Scott Martin, Tony Starr, Cy Town
 * Dalek Voices - Roy Skelton, Brian Miller, Royce Mills

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Managers - Val McCrimmon, Lynn Grant
 * Costumes - Ken Trew
 * Designer - Martin Collins
 * Incidental Music - Keff McCulloch
 * Make-Up - Christine Greenwood
 * OB Cameraman - Robin Sutherland, Barry Chaston
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Rosemary Parsons
 * Production Associates - June Collins, Hilary Barratt
 * Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
 * Studio Sound - Scott Talbott
 * Stunt Arranger - Tip Tipping
 * Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Stuart Brisdon

Daleks

 * The Renegade Daleks have a Time Controller and Battle computer on Earth.
 * The Imperial Daleks (and Davros) use a Dalek Shuttle and Transmat to gain access to Earth.
 * The Imperial Daleks' 'base' is located within Coal Hill School.
 * At this stage, the Daleks are seen to have split into two factions - Imperial (lead by Davros) and Renegade (led by the Black Dalek) Davros has augmented the Imperial Daleks with cybernetic implants, whereas the Renegade Daleks have remained 'pure'. Although not explicitly stated, it can be reasonably inferred that the Imperial Faction have control of the Dalek home planet Skaro.
 * The Daleks use a human child linked into their battle computer in order to provide a random element to their battle strategies. This tactic was developed after the stalemates of the Dalek-Movellan War.
 * The Doctor constructs a Dalek jamming device which he used / built: "something like it on Spiridon".

Weapons

 * A Renegade Dalek is cornered by Group Captain Gilmore's men in Totter's Lane Junkyard and is eventually destroyed using Ace's Nitro-9.

Time Lords and Gallifrey

 * The Hand of Omega makes its first appearance.
 * The Doctor speaks to Ace concerning: Rassilon, Omega and Omega's hand (Hand of Omega).
 * The Doctor states he has 900 years experience with alien technology and also describes himself as "The Doctor, President elect of the High Council of Time Lords. Keeper of the legacy of Rassilon. Defender of the Laws of Time, Protector of Gallifrey."

Story Notes

 * This is the first instance of a Dalek levitating up a stair case on screen.
 * This was the first story to be broadcast in NICAM stereo sound.
 * This is the first instance of "Skeleton Effect" caused by Daleks deathray
 * The pre-credits sequence includes voiceovers from famous speeches including those of JFK, Charles de Gaulle, the Duke of Edinburgh and Martin Luther King.
 * In Episode 4, When Ace is attacked by The Girl at Mike's house, she hides behind the sofa. (If anybody has evidence that this was a deliberate reference to the popular cliché, please share it with us.)

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 5.5 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 5.8 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 5.1 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 5.0 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The gates to the junkyard bear the label "I.M FORMAN", as a nod to the junkyard seen in the first ever episode (An Unearthly Child), and as a continuity link. (The Doctor also has knowledge of the geography of the junkyard). The junkyard in Unearthly Child however, is advertised as "I.M Foreman"This is due to a time blip, as explained in The Algebra of Ice.


 * When the Doctor is counting ten seconds until the Nitro-9 he obtained from Ace explodes, you can clearly see where the re-dubbed audio doesn't quite match the original footage.


 * Various details, such as the "French Revolution" book in the science lab, match up with The Pilot Episode but not with An Unearthly Child.
 * The Doctor says that the Daleks are dependant on rationality and logic, whereas Daleks are actually driven by Xenophobia and race hatred (it seems an especially odd statement to make as one of Remembrance's core themes is racial purity). The Doctor is obviously referring to their battle strategies, not to their psychology.
 * This inaccurate assessment of the Dalek psyche is first mentioned in Destiny of the Daleks, and frequently throughout the new series.
 * In episode 2, during the scene in the undertaker's, Ace's baseball bat suddenly switches from the Doctor's left hand to his right. (Sophie Aldred points this out on the DVD commentary.)
 * It is strongly suggested that the events of this story take place on or about 23 November, 1963, to coincide with the first broadcast of Doctor Who in real life, yet no reference occurs to the assassination of John F. Kennedy the day prior, or the subsequent death of Lee Harvey Oswald, both of which would have been dominant topics of conversation even in London. Although strongly suggested, it's not definitively stated that this takes place in November 1963; all we know is it takes place soon after the events of An Unearthly Child which could have taken place at an earlier or later date.
 * Also left unmentioned is the absence of teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright and student Susan Foreman; if this story takes place within a few days of the events of An Unearthly Child (as suggested by the presence of the "French Revolution" book), their absence should be noted by the police and the school undertaking investigations and news reports of a missing teenager and her teachers.
 * The Doctor proclaiming himself as "President Elect of the High Council" contradicts The Five Doctors in which he was named full president and The Trial of a Time Lord in which it was stated that he was deposed. Perhaps in an unchronicled adventure, he was reelected, or his deposition was reversed when it was discovered that the Trial had been orchestrated by enemy elements. On Earth it is also common practice for people elected to high government offices to continue to be referred to by their title, even after leaving office, such as prime ministers and presidents. Or he might have simply been bluffing.

Continuity

 * The Doctor constructs a device to disorientate the Imperial Daleks in order to rescue Ace replying when asked "I constructed something like it on Spiridon", a reference to a Third Doctor story DW: Planet of the Daleks.
 * EDA: War of the Daleks offers an alternative explanation (or a 'retcon') to many of the events of this story.
 * BFA: Terror Firma follows up on Davros' fate.
 * NA: Lungbarrow explains the detailed history of the Hand of Omega and how the Doctor obtained it.
 * EDA: Interference - Book Two explains the some of history behind IM Forman's junkyard.
 * This is the first time a Dalek levitates up some stairs, it is not seen again until DW: Dalek.
 * Daleks were previously seen floating in DW: Revelation of the Daleks (although the camera angle didn't show it properly), and DW: The Chase implied that the Daleks could fly, as it showed the Daleks on two levels of the Marie Celeste. Flying Daleks have also been featured in numerous Daleks comic strips since the 1960s.
 * According to ST: In the Community a Doctor Who Magazine short story (which appeared in DWM Issue 195) the girl who is the Dalek's battlecomputer name is Judith Winters.

DVD, Video, and Other Releases
DVD Releases

Released as Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks, this release was the second release of 2001.

Released:
 * First Release:
 * Region 2 26th February 2001
 * PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1040


 * Region 4 13th May 2002
 * Region 1 2nd April 2002
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1183

Contents:
 * Deleted Scenes/Out-takes
 * Multi-Angle Sequences
 * Trailers
 * Music-only Option
 * Photo Gallery
 * Production Subtitles
 * Commentary: Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred

Rear Credits:
 * By Ben Aaronovitch
 * Produced by John Nathan-Turner
 * Directed by Andrew Morgan
 * Incidental Music by Keff McCulloch

Notes: An error was made and the Region 2 DVD is missing some SFX from certain shots. The Australia/NZ release is in NTSC format, not the standard PAL format, due to an inability to clear the music and the SFX problem which had been corrected for the US DVD.

This second release was as part of the Davros box set (along with Genesis of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks). The SFX errors and the Multi-Angle feature in the first release were corrected, the Photo Gallery revised and expanded, and the following additions made to the DVD package:
 * Second Release:
 * 5.1 Dolby Remix
 * Back to School Documentary - Cast and crew talk about the making of the story
 * Remembrances Documentary - Cast and crew talk about the influences and references to other adventures

Video Releases

Released as Doctor Who: Rememberance of the Daleks.

Released:
 * First Release:
 * UK September 1993
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV5005
 * Australia/NZ September 1993
 * US October 1993
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1145

Notes: Released in a special edition Dalek Tin along with The Chase and a book entitled The Daleks. The US release featured no book or tin, both stories packaged in one box without individual artwork.


 * Second Release:
 * UK September 2001
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV7255

Notes: W.H. Smith exclusive as part of the The Davros Collection box set.

Target Novelisations

 * Novelised as Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch in 1990.