Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Resurrection of the Daleks

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Resurrection of the Daleks doesn't fit well with other DWU narratives. You can also talk about the plot holes that render its own, internal narrative confusing.

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• The gun-carrying, near-murderous Doctor of this episode seems wildly out of character.

This is examined as a key point of the story, as is later repeated in Dalek. Davros is responsible for death and destruction of billions of people and worlds due to the creation of the Daleks. The Doctor wants to destroy the Daleks and stop any more destruction. He ultimately cannot bring himself to pull the trigger.

This conflict within the Doctor, especially as regards the Daleks, has already been explored in Genesis of the Daleks. The Fourth Doctor faces the choice between genocide of the Daleks and preventing billions of deaths and unimaginable misery, or taking the moral high ground and permitting the evil to continue. This is referenced by the Fifth Doctor in his dialogue with Tegan before he goes to kill Davros.

Call it hypocrisy or not, but the Doctor has never had many moral qualms about killing Daleks, even when not strictly necessary to survival (such as when he plants a bomb for one in "The Chase", and blows up two after making his escape in "Destiny...", though it is possible Davros was the intended target). While he balks at taking responsibility for actual genocide in "Genesis...", his general attitude to the Daleks, ever since their first story, is that they have become too inextricably identified with their machines to be considered as redeemable individuals.

I don't see how you could call his actions "near-murderous" or "out of character". (1) The Doctor was clearly unhappy about being given a handgun in episode two. He used it when he had to but was very quick to get rid of it once he decided it was no longer necessary. (2) He was clearly distressed about executing Davros, but knew it was necessary, and took on the responsibility. He was so reluctant that he latched onto the slightest hint that Davros might have turned over a new leaf and ultimately didn't carry out the execution at all. (3) The closest he came to being ruthless was when he killed the Daleks. And his reasons are covered in dialogue.

• Why do the Daleks allow Turlough to wander freely? This is not necessary in order to use him as bait.

Neither do they need to contain him. They see him as no threat.

• Davros, although aware of the Movellan War, is surprised and fascinated by the problem of the impasse, and even says he wished he had been there. Yet he was there - in TV: Destiny of the Daleks he was aware of the problem and even actively worked on solving it.

Davros' memories may be still hazy.

On the other hand, Lytton said that Davros knew most of the war. He was just away from the battle, so I've always seen his wish that he was there on the front lines.

• Despite having spent his time in suspended animation he has been able to make his mind control device and has learnt enough about Time Lords to deduce that they're 'all soft'.

Davros' primary contact with Time Lords has been the Doctor. To the creator of the Daleks, anyone who shows compassion or mercy is soft. Taking the Doctor to represent Time Lords, he would undoubtedly consider them soft. The Daleks, based on their knowledge of and interaction with Time Lords, would undoubtedly agree. As for the mind control device, it is safe to assume that at some point Davros had to be transferred from the holding cell on the Movellan ship to the permanent cell on the space station, not to mention was presumably unfrozen for the duration of his trial. During that period, the modifications to his life-support chair were carried out, and he took advantage of the time to construct his concealable injector device, but did not find an opportune moment to use it.

Alternatively, the mind control device may be something that Davros created during the timeframe of Genesis of the Daleks, upon realising that several of his scientists were becoming disobedient. He likely didn't have it on his person at the time the Daleks shot him, but eventually retrieved it during the events of Destiny of the Daleks, and just didn't need to use it in that story since the Daleks obeyed him from the start.

• Davros appears to distrust the Daleks, and declares that they will not abuse him again. Yet in Destiny they were slave-like in their obedience.

The Daleks in "Destiny of the Daleks" were desperate and manipulative. Davros has had time to reflect on and learn to distrust their suspicious reversal of loyalties.

Considering that as soon as the Daleks were finished with Davros in "Genesis" they attempted to murder him, his suspicions of their motives is far from a plot-hole, and is in fact incredibly justified.

• Who are the prisoners who escape at the start? Duplicates? The originals of duplicates?

Their flight might suggest they are originals attempting to escape. They are referred to as 'specimens', which may imply they were captured for experimentation or for duplication. But if so, why is Stien with them? Perhaps, like Stien, they are unstable duplicates rebelling against their conditioning, which would explain why Stien returns to the Daleks. But I think it's more likely that they were allowed to escape, along with Stien, as part of the trap for the Doctor. If so, an over-elaborate and wasteful one (as the commander of the troopers comments)! I get the feeling from watching the story again that the original script explained these and other events, but the final production bared it down, creating obscurity.

Prisoners of war, possibly? Like the Skaro mine workers in "Destiny of the Daleks" they could be a mixture of slaves looted in raids, and unlucky military personnel (such as Galloway and Stien's original) who have been sent to the battlecruiser to be used as test subjects. I've always felt that a couple of them look as if they might be updated Movellans (the ones in white suits, with Egyptian-y headdresses) although if so Dalek imprisonment and torture has certainly done nothing for their habitual stoicism.

• Why use duplicates as soldiers, rather than to infiltrate?

They are simply a resource the Daleks have available and are willing to expend.

Dalek numbers are low after the Movellan war, and they are clearly very unhappy about having to employ mercenary troops such as Lytton (though it is ambiguous in this story if Lytton is a conditioned clone or not). Given the Daleks' racism and arrogance, especially concerning their technological prowess, it makes sense that they would sooner place their faith in Dalek-made troops.

• Why are the cylinders of Movellan virus left on 1984 Earth, a planet that the Daleks want to invade? It's a bit like the Allies hiding an atom bomb in Berlin.

Put another way, hiding an atom bomb in Berlin would be a brilliant idea, as long as you had the ability (through spies, a remote control, whatever) to detonate it. Much better than bombers that can be shot down or can miss their targets…

That scenario would work for an atom bomb but here the Daleks effectively give the humans a deadly weapon that only works on Daleks. It's like hiding an atom bomb in Berlin that somehow won't kill Germans. My personal guess would be they had the cylinders on their ship but were very uneasy about keeping it around so they sent it down the time corridor for storage so if it did go off their main population would be unharmed.

Getting the virus that is specifically designed to kill you as far away from you as possible is far from a terrible idea. Note also that they make a point of killing and replacing any humans who so much as go near the warehouse that the virus is hidden. They almost certainly did not plan on the Doctor getting his hands on it.

• When Tegan handles a cylinder she remarks on how light is. But later it takes two Dalek agents to lift one.

It's not a matter of weight, it's a need to be very careful as the contents of the cylinder will kill their employers.

• How do the Daleks have duplicates of Tegan and Turlough? The 1984 Earth soldiers appear to be duplicated in an extraordinarily short time. And why do the Daleks make such a fuss to keep the Doctor alive to clone him, when they can clone dead people as well?

Davros needed him alive to copy his memories, which he explicitly mentions wanting to do.

It appears they have duplicate bodies in store, but need to extract memories from the original as part of the programming of the duplicates.

If the duplicating technology is a development of the replicant-making technology in "The Chase," then it can work well enough from image references as far as creating a physical duplicate goes, and in mental terms clearly not all of the duplicates are as meticulously copied as the others (Colonel Archer's duplicate in particular makes Zygon Harry look like a competent infiltrator...). However, when the quality of the copy is important (as with Stien, who needs to be good enough to convince the Doctor, and the Doctor himself, who needs to infiltrate the High Council), the full physical and mental duplicating procedure is followed.

• How are the Daleks able to view what's going on inside the station from their own ship?

Being a prison ship, they would have to have video cameras.

• Why does Davros immediately assume correctly that Lytton and his troopers are working for the Daleks after they unfreeze him?

The Daleks are likely the only creatures in the universe that would want Davros free. The obviously Dalek-inspired design of Lytton's headgear probably also helped convince Davros that his creations were behind the attack.

• Why do the duplicated Earth soldiers attack Davros' Daleks with weapons they know will not harm them?

Their weapons actually do work against the Daleks, as is seen when they managed to disable a Dalek earlier in the story by shooting out its eye stalk.

Presumably they don't have any other weapons -- they have, after all, been created to duplicate and blend in as Earth soldiers, and giving them obviously anachronistic weapons would defeat that purpose. But they have still been created to unquestioningly follow orders, and they've been ordered to attack Daleks, so they do the best with what they've been given.

• When the Doctor is captured by the Daleks he asks where Davros is. But he does not know that the Dalek ship is docked onto the prison ship where Davros was held, let alone that he has been released.

It's a plausible assumption that Davros is involved, particularly as the last time the Doctor saw the Daleks they were trying to find Davros. Had he been wrong on the assumption, he probably would have simply turned it into a humorous quip.

• The Dalek plan to infiltrate Earth with their duplicates is never really explained. At the end of the story the Dalek Supreme tells the Doctor that the duplicates have infiltrated Earth. The Doctor explains to Tegan and Turlough that these duplicates will become unstable like Stien. Does this mean they will die, or that they will lose their Dalek conditioning? In the meantime, could they not they create chaos on Earth?

At the end, Turlough suggests they inform Earth's authorities, and the Doctor agrees, so that is what they most likely do after leaving Tegan.

• When the Daleks discover the Doctor they mean to exterminate him. Lytton appears and tells them that the Supreme Dalek wants him alive. One of the Daleks electronically confers with the Dalek Supreme and confirms this. Why would the Dalek Supreme give this command to Lytton, who is not entirely trustworthy, but not to the party of Daleks sent to the Doctor?

The Dalek Supreme believes that they have enough control over Lytton's actions that they have put him in charge of the mission. Logically, he would have more information from the Dalek Supreme than the Dalek soldiers.

Lytton specifically comments that the Doctor needs to be duplicated before he is exterminated. This is evidently the current general modus operandi. As Lytton and Stien discussed after the incident, it seems the Dalek's impulsive desire to kill tends to lead them astray. (This is somewhat ironic considering the Dalek race was stripped of emotion.)

Along with the many prominent shots of squishy Dalek mutants, I suspect this scene (and Stien and Lytton's assessment of the Daleks as consumed with hatred) to have been written very much in the "lets pretend Destiny of the Daleks never happened" ethos... rather ironically, considering the story is a direct follow-on.

• Later, when the survivors of the ship's crew are killed in the self-destruct chamber, a Dalek tells Lytton it must inform the Dalek Supreme. But it physically leaves.

The camera just switches to focus on Lytton. You can actually hear the Dalek electronically communicating with the Supreme Dalek in the background. It just doesn't appear in the shot itself.

• Why does Davros look so different to when we last saw him in TV: Destiny of the Daleks?

A new mask was created with a 'sagging' effect to simulate the years spent in cryo-stasis

• How does does the Dalek Supreme survive the contagion or the destruction of the prison ship?

The Supreme Dalek was on the Dalek ship; the Movellan virus likely never got a chance to spread there before Stien set off the self-destruct. Odds are the Supreme didn't survive the events of the story, as it is never seen again after the prison and the Dalek ship are destroyed.

• Leela doesn't appear on the scanner.

The Doctor has an inkling of the Daleks' plans, so tries his hardest to hide his memories of the one person he knows the clone will encounter on Gallifrey, and the one person he knows will kill the clone if she thinks it's dangerous.

What about Romana?

Romana is assumed to still be in E-Space.

This was a production mistake (not a discontinuity). However, there's no reason to assume we should have seen anyone in particular. We simply saw various snippets from the Doctor's past.

• Why wasn't Stien killed when he was shot with the Dalek death ray?

His survival for several seconds may be due to a quality given by the duplication process or the Dalek conditioning. As agents of the Daleks the duplicates might be expected to be stronger than the originals.

Additionally, Dalek guns are generally known for delivering a slow and painful death: especially the blue-ray post "Genesis" version. Note that everyone shot with them in "Genesis" dies screaming in agony, and often only after several seconds, as is also the case with most Dalek-caused deaths in "Resurrection" and "Revelation". Admittedly, the "death ray" casualties in "Destiny" were seemingly quick and painless, but that is probably symptomatic of the toned-down, horror-light nature of the Graham Williams era. Stien is also not the first Dalek victim to survive long enough to fight back: Kristas in "The Daleks" also withstands a single "death ray" blast, manages to get back on his feet again, and destroys the Dalek power controls.

• Why, towards the end, does the erstwhile ruthless but level-headed Lytton suddenly become randomly trigger-happy? Having been betrayed by the Daleks, he has nothing to gain from shooting at the Doctor, and since he allows his "policemen" to survive and assist him in escaping from Earth, why not the other trooper whom he casually blows away?

I thought he was trying to kill the Doctor because he is an enemy of the Daleks, even if they've betrayed him. As for killing the last Dalek Trooper with him, I thought he was just cutting off all ties before escaping to Earth with his faux Policemen.

• The title of the story seems odd, given that the Daleks revive Davros because they are dying, not resurrecting. And the effect of reviving Davros is their near total destruction.

Yes, the Daleks are dying--so they revive Davros in hopes that it will lead to their resurrection. Unfortunately for them, it doesn't, but you don't change the name retroactively. People still talk about The Crusades, The Mongol Invasion of Europe, Vitalian's Rebellion, The Arab Revolt of 1916, The War for Southern Independence, etc., even though the end result was the Christians losing all remaining territory in Asia Minor, the Mongols being pushed out of everything west of Russia, Vitalian being sold out by his officers and retreating without a fight, the Arabs losing and having to wait for the post-War Ottoman partition, the Southern US being forcibly reintegrated with the North and subject to Reconstruction, etc.

The title could also mean the Davros' resurrection by the Daleks.

The title also serves as a behind the scenes reference to the fact that this is the first significant televised appearance of the Daleks in some time.

• The Movellan virus is of dubious strategic value. It kills so quickly that it is eminently detectable and containable (it would make a lot more sense if it lay dormant long enough for Daleks to become carriers and infect each other), and how would one space-based fleet deploy it against another more effectively than conventional ranged weapons?

And what would be its advantage in a space war anyway? In Destiny we are told that neither battle fleet has fired a meaningful shot. Since each side can predict and outmanoeuvre the other the Movellans would never have the opportunity to come into contact with Daleks. Yet Resurrection tells us the Daleks are losing the war on account of the virus. And according to Destiny the Daleks had no organic component left to be infected. It seems there is a huge continuity gap between Destiny and Resurrection that, as yet, hasn't been filled.

• Almost certainly an intentional discontinuity, but this story makes a complete mockery of the central premise of "Destiny of the Daleks": that only an irrational, organic mind would be able to break the logical impasse of the Dalek-Movellan war. The Daleks of "Resurrection..." are most definitely organic (graphically and repulsively so), emotional, and irrational to the extent that they need Lytton, of all people, to urge restraint. Nevertheless, they have lost the war catastrophically to the passionless machine-people.

• Why did Lytton's "policemen" shoot the man with the metal detector on the mud banks of the Thames Tegan called out to, even though he saw and heard nothing?

Perhaps the "policemen" mistakenly believed the man to be one of the specimens they had missed killing earlier (at the start of the story). Or maybe they thought Tegan had alerted the man to what was going on, and decided he had to be silenced permanently. Or perhaps they simply killed the man out of pure spite.

Why did Faramir's rangers nearly kill Gollum just for fishing in the waterfall near their camp? Trained soldiers securing an area in what they, at any rate, consider to be a war zone are apt to behave ruthlessly (though since their training also involved Dalek conditioning, spite is also entirely possible).

• Tegan was a coward. Running away. How'd you think she'd react if future companions call her a traitor, especially when it truns out by turning a blidn eye she helped start events leading to the Time War? And how'd you think she'd react if Nyssa doubted her for lying and abandoing the Doctor?