More actions
The Eternal Dalek was a unique, specialised Dalek with yellow livery, a foundational member of the New Dalek Paradigm. Created by the Progenitor in 1941, it was the only one of the five original Progenitor Daleks to have black, not grey, sense globes on its base unit.
Nature
The Eternal Dalek was usually silent, although when it did speak, the Supreme Dalek held its advice in high esteem. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe) When they first released a set of documents about the New Dalek Paradigm to the galaxy, the Anti-Dalek Force had yet to ascertain the Eternal's true purpose, but pointed out that it was surely a deadly one, as yellow and black were recognised across the Universe as "Nature's danger colours". (PROSE: The New Dalek Paradigm) The Eternal Dalek later demonstrated a propensity for quoting prophecy. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe)
Biography
The original Eternal was one of the five New Paradigm Daleks created when the three survivors of an encounter with the Doctor tricked the Eleventh Doctor into allowing them to activate the Progenitor device. It escaped through a time corridor with the others (the others being the white Supreme, blue Strategist, orange Scientist, and red Drone) and went on to help rebuild the Dalek Empire. (TV: Victory of the Daleks) The original five Progentior Daleks its ultimate leaders until the institution of the Parliament of the Daleks with its Prime Minister. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe)
The Daleks joined the Alliance formed to imprison the Eleventh Doctor in the Pandorica and save the universe from the cracks in time created from the TARDIS exploding. When they arrived in the Underhenge in 102 A.D. with the rest of the Alliance, the Eternal, the Supreme, and a Drone witnessed the Doctor being locked in the Pandorica. (TV: The Pandorica Opens) The Eternal Dalek was reduced to dust and stone along with the Supreme Dalek and the Drone Dalek following the total event collapse. This timeline would later be negated by the Doctor, restoring the Eternal and the other Daleks in their proper place in time. (TV: The Big Bang)
After the decision-making of the Parliament was crippled by their forgetting the Doctor, (TV: Asylum of the Daleks) the original Paradigm Daleks returned to the leadership of the Empire. (PROSE: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe) When the Question was heard emanating from Trenzalore, the usually-silent Eternal Dalek relayed the prophecy of the Fall of the Eleventh to the Supreme Dalek, (PROSE: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe) driving the Supreme to take the Dalek Fleet into the Siege of Trenzalore where it was ultimately annihilated. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)
Behind the scenes
Prop history
As with its fellow new Daleks, the Eternal Dalek in Victory of the Daleks was depicted with a specially created prop. This prop was later used to portray the Eternal Dalek in The Pandorica Opens.[1]
On 21 April 2010, by which point the Strategist and Scientist had been modified to create the Stone Daleks in The Big Bang, the Eternal made a public appearance in Sheffield alongside the Drone and the Supreme to promote the video game City of the Daleks, forming the same Dalek trio which appeared in The Pandorica Opens.[2][3]
Invalid appearances
- The "New Paradigm Eternal Dalek" is an enemy in the Doctor Who: Legacy mobile game, which is not considered a valid DWU source by this Wiki.
- In the stage play The Monsters Are Coming!, the Eternal claimed it could "calculate and lock Time Parameters", with the implication that its function is to turn key Dalek victories into fixed points in time to ensure the eternity of Dalek conquests.
- All five archetypes of the New Dalek Paradigm feature in The Lego Batman Movie, appearing among the inhabitants of the Phantom Zone, alongside many famous villains from a number of fictional franchises. Like the others, they are unleashed upon Gotham City by the supervillain known as "the Joker" at the climax of the film, only to be defeated and sealed back inside the prison dimension. Their one line is the exclamation "Exterminate!", actually a piece of archive audio originally recorded by Nicholas Briggs for The Parting of the Ways.
- In Dalek Hack, the player has the option to turn a Dalek's casing, shaped identically to the bronze Dalek, into any of the five colours of the New Dalek Paradigm.
Other matters
- Doctor Who Confidential revealed that the name of Eternal Dalek was provided by Steven Moffat in a "naming session" with Mark Gatiss. Neither had a meaning for the name, but Moffat opened in Confidential that he thought that the functionality of the Eternal would one day become critical to a story. The Dalek Handbook quotes Gatiss as saying "its exact function is a total mystery, but it's probably something to do with the Progenitor device and the continuation of the race."
- Doctor Who The Official Annual 2011's feature on the New Dalek Paradigm makes the claim that there is only ever one Eternal Dalek and Supreme Dalek.
- The Eternal Dalek is the only one of the five Progenitor Daleks to have black rather than grey orbs — like the Gold Daleks from TV: Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space.
- The packaging of the action figure version of Eternal refers to the Dalek as The Eternal.
- The Eternal Dalek is the only Dalek of the New Dalek Paradigm that has yet to appear in any material outside of the main TV series. A yellow Dalek (with dark grey rather than black orbs) is seen on the loading screens for City of the Daleks, and in the game itself. It is the only one of five Dalek variants absent in The Eternity Clock.
Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.dalek6388.co.uk/the-new-series-series-five/
- ↑ http://www.dalek6388.co.uk/the-new-series-series-five/
- ↑ New Footage and First Reactions, BBC Doctor Who, 24 April 2010; accessed 26 November 2011