Robot Roll Call (Fulfilling “Destiny of the Daleks”)

Is there a story that gets the Daleks wrong more than Destiny of the Daleks? While Douglas Adams’ run on Doctor Who as script editor is revered for many reasons (mostly the story immediately following this one), his first outing is arguably a misstep. Bringing back the Daleks after a five-year absence isn’t a bad idea, but shoehorning the show’s most crowd-pleasing monsters into a story about two rival races of “robots” in a galactic military stalemate robs them of the essence of their terror. You can’t deny the story is memorable — Davros awakes! Romana regenerates! The Movellans dance! — but Adams’ unique humor laced throughout the script challenges you to take any of it seriously. You have to admire K-9’s good sense to sit this one out.

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Story Essentials

• Season 17, Serial 1

• Story number: 103, per the The Pull To Open Codex

• Writer: Terry Nation

• Director: Ken Grieve

• Producer: Graham Williams

• Aired 1 – 22 September 1979

Pull To Open: Destiny of the Daleks

• Season 4

• Episode 9

Hosts: Pete Pachal and Chris Taylor

Music: Martin West/Thinking Fish