After
16 years off the screen (The TV Movie aside) Doctor Who returned in 2005. It was
inevitable that the Daleks would return too. 
The
new series was bigger and bolder with far better production values than the "classic"
series and these values were reflected in the props that have appeared so far.
Interestingly the story that saw the return of the Daleks featured just one. However
viewers were not disappointed as this lone Dalek turned out to be far deadlier
than anything that had been seen before.
The
team that designed the Dalek prop this time featured a number of different styles
of previous Daleks, all finished with far more intricate detail than before. Costing
around £4000 the whole look of the Dalek seemed chunkier, a result of the teams
wish to do "a Mini Cooper" to the design.
The
dome was a standard shape but with large lights quite similar to those in the
films, which themselves had a metal frame around them. The bulb itself was the
round ping-pong ball style in a nod to the original TV props.
The biggest difference
was the large housing around the swivel joint of the eyestalk. In addition the
dome section was now remote controlled freeing up the operators to concentrate
on other aspects of control. The neck rings were similar to older props but the
rods were wide rectangular struts.
The
shoulders were perhaps the most changed area. The lower collar was again a moulded
part of the section, like the new props built for 'Remembrance'
had had. The upper collar was missing completely and a recess running around the
shoulders appeared instead. In this recess were attached chunkier slats. The gun
was made to look more heavy duty, and the arm returned to the multi-stage telescopic
version not seen for some time.
The
skirt returned to the original shape rather than the newer shape designed for
'Revelation' and 'Remembrance'. The
fender again was reminiscent of the film style although not as big. It was slightly
wider and added to the 'bulkier' look the design team were trying to achieve.
The whole prop was painted in shades of bronze. A variety of colour schemes was
considered by the production team, illustrated below.
The
Dalek was this time were aided by CGI! An alliance which enabled it to fly freely,
disperse gun bullets, and perhaps most deadly, enabled the whole shoulder section
to rotate to create the perfect killing machine! For the first time, the viewer
was able to see a properly-designed underside of the Dalek machine and, unlike
the TV serials of the 60s which revealed a blank underside or a piece of black
cloth, the new series Dalek revealed a system of anti-gravity units which glowed
blue shown above right.
As
mentioned previously the plot of 'Dalek' required just one prop. Initially the
Dalek was imprisoned and undergoing torture to make it talk. 
To
achieve the tortured look the top section of the prop had a damaged gun fitted,
along with some damaged slats. Of course in this new design the slats were easily
replaced. This was put onto a different skirt entirely, which was also made to
look damaged. The whole thing was dirtied down to complete the effect. Later the
Dalek regenerates itself and the full glory of the new prop is revealed. The climax
of the story also bought something new to the screen. The whole front of the Dalek
opened up to reveal the creature inside. This was achieved with a combination
of CGI and a different prop top half.
The
Daleks returned in the end of season finale, and in greater numbers. Two brand
new props were built for the episode 'Bad Wolf' in which the Daleks
revealed themselves at the very end. At the climax of the episode CGI was used
to depict the Dalek army inside their saucer but for the studio work, a modern-day
version of split-screen was used to multiply the three available props, as shown
in the image above.
There
was only one real difference between the Daleks' appearance in the story 'Dalek'
and when they returned. The lower collar of the lone Dalek was the same light-coloured
bronze as the skirt hemispheres and shoulder slats. By the end-of-season two-parter
these collars had been changed to appear the same darker colour as the main body
of the prop.
One other feature of the returning props was a link back to
the film Daleks of 1960s. Some of the new Daleks were given claw-hands and although
they were never used for gripping anything they also included a blow-torch feature
which emerged from between the 'fingers' of the claw. This was used for a scene
where a Dalek cuts down the door, harking back to the very first Dalek serial.
As has been established the dome and eyestalk of the new props were
controlled by remote control. Curiously though at least one of the
three props had the "old-style" rod movement. Its unknown
exactly why this is (above right).
The Emperor Dalek also returned and again this was a new design but
heavily used the new style thinking. This Emperor was aided by entirely CGI 'Throne
Room Daleks' with black domes, an idea first used way back in 'Evil
of the Daleks'.
The following
year, the Daleks made a shock return again, in the end of season climax, 'Army
of Ghosts' and its concluding part, 'Doomsday'. For this story another new prop
was built, which took the number to four.
These
four were collectively called the 'Cult of Skaro' in the story and formed a new
branch of Dalek lore, created to be 'above' the Emperor.
All the props
till this point had been the same shade of bronze, but this time the leader was
painted all black in a nod to the leader Daleks in the original series, which
first appeared in 'The Dalek Invasion
of Earth'. Again CGI was used to produce the thousands of flying Daleks that
battled the Cybermen over London.
As
had happened with the original series the Daleks were in demand outside of their
work on the series. They have appeared regularly on Blue Peter, who themselves
regularly promote the series. They appeared at the press launch of the very first
episode of the new series and, in a rather large mistake, the black Dalek appeared
at the Bafta TV awards before it was seen on TV, rather giving away the surprise
that the Daleks were to reappear in series 2!
The
Daleks once again returned in the 2007 series three in 'Daleks in Manhattan' and
the second part 'Evolution of the Daleks'. These were the same four props from
Series 2. This story had several points of
note. Firstly CGI was used to show the entire black Dalek opening, right down to
the floor, so that a man could be engulfed by Dalek mutant inside. Secondly some
of the Dalek skirt panels had been sacrificed to aid the Dalek plan, with boards
on the skirts hiding the missing parts. Also another attachment was seen, and
further use of lightweight props was made. These props were made so
well made that even with the images paused its hard to tell them from
normal props.
