Dalek 6388 - A Dalek Prop History

TV#9 : "Death to the Daleks"

Transmitted:	23/2/74 - 16/3/74
Props used:	4
Operators:	John Scott Martin Cy Town Murphy Grumbar
Voices:	Michael Wisher
(Component parts may be mixed - References to film Daleks means film 'style')

The plot of 'Death to the Daleks' required only a small force of Daleks, and so the same three 'sixties' Daleks and one NSC prop from 'Planet of the Daleks' were used. The director felt that the Daleks had lost their impact from the original stories and so he had them painted up to resemble the early Daleks. This was mainly silver with black trimmings. This new livery is convenient in the respect that small details, such as the bolts pointed out on the 'Power of the Daleks' page, can be seen rather more clearly than a dark finish.

The props by this point were looking very poor. One prop had a sagging collar and the slats touched the lower collar. The gun and arm boxes of one set of the original shoulders were very damaged. These shoulders were part of one of the Daleks that was stolen, and although slight damage can be seen in 'Planet' it's possible that the rough treatment it had had while not in BBC hands caused even more damage.

Curiously there are photos which show neck rings lifted off the shoulders, whilst some that show them touching. This implies that even during studio filming (from where the photos come) changes were made regularly. The rings were also badly aligned and damaged, and there even appear to be shots where they may even be placed in the wrong order!

The Dalek with orange lights (previously the gold 'Day of the Daleks' prop) was given the newer NSC dome. A high up shot of this dome reveals a small hole in the centre of the top of the dome. A possible explanation could be that this particular dome was at some point attached to the NSC prop that was pulled up the shaft via a cable in the head in a scene in 'Planet'.

After 'Planet' the BBC obviously had a pool of props from which to draw on and swapping of available components continued without much regard to their origin.

The first Dalek scene sees the three sixties Daleks emerge from their ship, and out of shot a stagehand pushes the 'NSC' out. This Dalek is seen several times and is always completely static, which makes it look very out of place.

On location the Daleks were mounted on the same tracks that cameras generally move on to keep their movement smooth. In the past, boards had been put down to achieve this. Tight camera angles were the used to hide the tracks but they were still sometimes visible on screen. This was moderately successful although several accidents occurred during filming. The movement was smooth but one Dalek fell off the tracks and one ran away down a slight incline!

The plot also required a change of weapon for the Daleks, and a projectile gun was added instead of the 'laser'.

Along with the four main Daleks, at least one FX prop was provided. This was needed for when a Dalek is blown up while Exxilons are attacking and when another falls off a cliff. Its construction is noticeably rougher even than the NSC props. The dome was made of some type of soft material which crumples easily, the eye was non spherical, and the skirt was very rough even compared to an NSC skirt. Its possible that 2 sfx skirts were provided as the hemis appear to be placed differently in the two different scenes. Additionally a close up shows that there is possibility that the shoulders were from an NSC prop as there is quite a similarity between them. It would explain why two NSC Daleks disappear between 'Death' and the following story.

Just prior to transmission (December 1973) a 'Death' prop made an appearance on the BBC1 daytime show 'Pebble Mill' along with several other monsters. Bernard Wilkie (owner of the 'Wilkie' prop - see 'Evil of the Daleks') was being interviewed about how the BBC visual effects department create some of the monsters and effects for Doctor Who. The Dalek was seen in close up several times which gave some very good views of its details. The main components being the film style skirt and thin collared original shoulders, with what appears to be a film neck (pictures left and right).

'Death' was the third and final Dalek adventure of the Pertwee era. All three had been pretty unremarkable in story terms, but coming next was a defining Dalek story, possibly even the greatest Doctor Who story of them all! Surely these tired old props would be rested now? Surely some brand spanking new ones would be made for the occasion?

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