Doctor Who - Audio Details

Hurrah! The deadly Daleks are back! Yes, those loveable tinpot tyrants have another plan to invade our world. Maybe this time because they want to drill to the Earth¹s core. Or maybe because they just feel like it.

And when those pesky pepperpots are in town, there is one thing you can be sure of. There will be non-stop high octane mayhem in store. And plenty of exterminations!

But never fear. The Doctor is on hand to sort them out. Defender of the Earth, saviour of us all. With his beautiful assistant, Evelyn Smythe, by his side, he will fight once again to uphold the beliefs of the English Empire. All hail the glorious English Empire!

Now that sounds like a jubilee worth celebrating, does it not?

SO HERE WE ARE - we've reached the anniversary year!  Forty years.  Who would have thought it?  (Well, certainly not my parents.  They've been praying I'll grow out of the thing since 1982.)

But it's not just the fortieth anniverary of Doctor Who.  It's also forty years since the Daleks first appeared.  And it's hard to imagine what the programme could have been like without them...

Which is why writing a Dalek story is so fiendishly intimidating.  They're not just another monster who menaced Doctor Who - they are Doctor Who.  The actors who've played the title role have come and gone, but the Daleks have stayed true to their sixties design.  Whether they're appearing on Royal Mail stamps, or guesting on ads for chocolate wafers, they are easily the most recognisable feature of the searies, Sontarans, Wirrn, Bandrils even - only we fans remember them, we own them, they belong to us.  But we've had to share the Daleks with the general public.  They outgrew our love and moved on.

They've become icons.  They've become safe and soft, they've become funny and camp.  The boogeymen of a long ago Saturday evening children's series.  Nothing to get worried about.  Nothing to take seriously.  Just a bit of fun, that's all.  And that's what Jubilee, in this jubilee year, is all about.

Night night.  Sleep tight.  Take care the Daleks don't bite.

Robert Shearman, December 2002