I'm actually glad to see the Daleks return. First, if they're bringing in Daleks from all eras, that might stop people whining about the coloured Daleks from Series 5. And second, it really feels like the kick-off to an anniversary season doing something like this. Alex
I'm wondering if this episode might be an excuse to get rid of the power ranger Daleks? Maybe some sort of war/contest where the winning Dalek design takes all? BTW, this season is not the anniversary season. That would be next season. Unless they hold the second half until Fall 2013. Mr Awe
Yeah the differences are so subtle that it's almost not worth pointing out. And there have been tons of different variations and color combos from the very beginning, so this doesn't really feel like anything new. Frankly I think it would be a lot cooler to see all the different Cybermen onscreen together at the same time.
I dunno, if you either have to pick an arbitrary height or a height that'll look really good in at least one episode, why not do the one that looks good in the one episode? You're no worse off in general, and in specific, you've now filmed "Dalek."
Plus, how often does a Dalek design outlive a Companion? There's been about as many changes to them as there Companion Periods
Devolution of the Daleks (sadly not my own joke): If the RTD-era Daleks were designed to be Piper's height, it's quite a coincidence that it happens to be pretty much the same height as the previous models.
How can that possibly be true with all the different ones on the cover? Different colors, different lights, different heads, different bands above the arms, different attachments
How unironic. "We're the short gold gay Dalek and the fat yellow gay Dalek, why would we need names?"
True, the colors have changed over the years; the upper of the two "bands" designed for the first Daleks was replaced with "slats" and an underlying mesh screen; the "flashers" went from bulbs to shallow cones, and the "bumper" has been thickened and later narrowed, but otherwise, the basic "shell" remained the same until "remembrance..." when all new castings were made. But even that and years later the RTD "bronze" Daleks possessed very similar symmetries. If one were to overlay those outlines, making sure the "skirts" were aligned, one would discover there is very little variance in the overall proportions. (I think the white Imperial casings might veer a tad more than even the bronze design.) Even MechMaster, a talented Cinema4D modeler who posts the "Second Empire" 3D rendered comic, his primary Dalek designs stick to that classic symmetry even though he gives them claws instead of plungers and all sorts of of greebled detail like indicators and vents. But if one were to place the "New Paradigm" shape over the others (even if it were scaled down to fit), one can not deny the overall shape just does not fit in the least. Several digital modelers have accepted the challenge of taking Moffett's design, keeping the "unique" elements like the recessed seam on the dome, the "nested" flanges in the "neck", the "tool hatch" at the back, etc, but adjusting the overall proportions to more closely match the Ray Cusick plans. And the response has been overwhelmingly favorable. Point is, yeah, tweak those details all you want, Shoot, make the hemis upon the skirt "plasma balls" like you find in the novelty stores, but keep the "classic" outline. Those proportions are heavily ingrained in viewers minds, and if they veer from the "norm", people notice even if they can't consciously point out exactly what it is. Sincerely, Bill
Most of the Daleks from the original series were of one design. These were painted different colors at different points. In fact, they used the original Dalek props for the entire (or nearly entire, at least) run of the original series! They had a few special designs thrown in occassionally. But I think all stories included the basic design and, in most of the stories, they were the only design shown. Mr Awe
I misunderstood and didn't realize you were speaking mostly of the Silhouette not changing, sorry about that.
I'd like to see the "New Paradigm" Daleks on screen a bit more just to get used to the design. Then I might think of them as more than The Hunchbacks of Skaro Dame.
The DVD of The Space Museum/The Chase has a feature about Raymond Cusick visiting the Cardiff studios where NuWho is flimed. When he sees the RTDalek he comments that it's taller than his Daleks, and the guy giving him the tour explains that these Daleks were built to be Billie Piper's height.
Cusick's 60s Daleks were built, IIRC, to be roughly the same size as William Hartnell wearing a cloak...
Of course, the fact that the new daleks have only featured in one fairly crappy episode certainly doesn't help.
Of course, you're forgetting a couple of things. First off, when they built the RTD Daleks, no one knew for certain that the show would survive past Series One. Second, at that point, the format the show ended up taking had not yet evolved. No one knew that any given companion would be "short-term" compared to the main character. There was every possibility that Billie Piper might chose to stay on Doctor Who for years at a time. For all anyone knew at that point, Doctor Who might run for seven seasons, all starring the same actors playing the Doctor and Rose the entire run.