'Revelation of the Daleks' hit the screens only a year after 'Resurrection', and it featured some new props not seen on screen before! The story required two differing factions of Daleks, those loyal to the Supreme Dalek and those loyal to Davros.

Dealing with the force loyal to the Dalek Supreme first, these were the same four props as used in 'Resurrection' in basically the same component mix. They only appeared towards the end of the story and in the main only three were seen, bar one very short scene where all four appear. All the props do appear in promotional pictures from the time.

The new Daleks, those loyal to Davros and built on the planet Necros, were mainly fibreglass with a number of different features from the existing props. The skirt was steeper at the front and almost vertical at the back and the hemis were smaller. The shoulder section was broader at the top which, when combined with the skirt, gave the Dalek a stockier look. The neck and dome were similar to the NSC props of 'Planet'. I.E. The vertical parts of the neck were just simple rods rather than the clover shape of the original props. All three props had the neck section raised off the shoulder which seems to be a design fault! As we have previously covered, as the necks were constantly swapped, they very rarely sat on the shoulder section, and it appears that the designers of the new props took this to be normal! In addition the arm was shorter and the oval, between the gun and arm, more elongated. They were painted in cream and gold.

In the main only two props were ever shown at the same time in the serial (aside from two short instances where there were three), however they formed part of a larger batch of up to ten props in this style used for BBC Enterprises promo work and exhibitions. They were all constructed by the BBC visual FX department.

A 'glass' Dalek was constructed (from perspex) and used for scenes in the incubation chamber. A commercially available Stuart Evans Dalek model was also used in these scenes as the first dalek to be seen hovering in the shows history! Several lightweight Daleks were also used for blowing up.

The DVD release of the story included some raw studio footage from the story, which gave a few insights on how the show was made. Of interest to Dalek fans were images of a new 'Necros' prop without an eyeball, and close ups of the lightweight props just prior to destruction.

'Revelation' marked the last screen appearance for two of the four long-standing props. One of the 60s props and a 'Necros' prop went to Longleat along with the film skirt, original neck and dome. The 'Necros' prop itself already had had a hasty repair job carried out on its eyeball!

To the amazement of Dalek fans the following story would be the second story in a row to feature a new design of Dalek!

Next Chapter: 'Remembrance' >>>