Trivia / Doctor Who S27 E6 "Dalek"

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• Acting in the Dark: Bruno Langley had no idea about how the TARDIS was Bigger on the Inside, producing Adam’s confused look.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Robert Shearman went out of his way to join this episode, going against his agent’s suggestion.
• Blooper: A map of the continental US seen at one point is missing the upper peninsula of Michigan (for reference, that's the state divided into two parts, the lower half shaped like a mitten and the upper half shaped like a low high-heeled boot). Perhaps it's part of Canada in this universe? (Some of the states of New England are shown as merged as well.)
• Cameo Prop: Behind and to the left of the TARDIS is a display holding a Xenomorph egg.
• Completely Different Title:
  • The Hungarian title of this episode is "Az ősellenség" (The Old Enemy).
  • The Japanese title of this episode is "Dalek - The Lonely Beast".
• Executive Meddling:
  • According to RTD, the Distress Call was written into the script because the execs didn't accept the Contrived Coincidence of the TARDIS always turning up at the right time and place for an adventure.
  • Robert Shearman detested The BBC wanting the Dalek to be humanized in the final scene, proclaiming Rose its friend. Shearman was adamant that the Dalek remain a fascist, and wanted the focus to be on how it would rather die than be like us.
• Fake American: New Zealander Anna-Louise Plowman as Diana Goddard.
• Licensed Game: This episode was the basis for the online game The Last Dalek, which allows the player to take control of the eponymous Dalek, fight their way to freedom, and exterminate the Doctor.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Eccleston’s father was dying at the time of filming. The fury he displays during his dalek rant was very real.
• Self-Adaptation: Robert Shearman adapted his own audio play "Jubilee", then some years later adapted this episode for the novelisation.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: The Dalek's forcefield, enabling it to melt bullets before they even hit it, was added because the special effects team felt it was impractical to have Bullet Sparks for the potentially hundreds of individual times it gets shot in this episode.
• Throw It In!: Christopher Eccleston got so into the Doctor's rage that he literally foams at the mouth one scene. This wasn't planned and he insisted on keeping it in.
• Wag the Director: Nine's interaction with the Dalek was originally written to be just mocking and flippant. Christopher Eccleston decided to pour in incredible amounts of rage and pain as well. Robert Shearman was briefly miffed, then delighted once he realized how well it worked.
• What Could Have Been:
  • During the episode’s development, the BBC weren't sure whether they could use the Daleks as Terry Nation's estate are partial owners of the monster's copyright and must approve of any story idea using them. In case negotiations failed, Robert Shearman had to write a different version of the script with an alternative monster: A childish sphere that killed for fun, the idea of which was recycled into the Toclafane in "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords".
  • Henry van Statten was originally named Will Fences in a joking allusion to Bill Gates. This was later changed to Mr. Duchesne, but Russell T Davies was concerned that this was too difficult to pronounce.
  • Over the fourteen drafts of the script, many things changed. Originally there was more of a focus on the Van Stattens as a family, with Van Statten having a wife and Adam being their kid. The entire motivation for torturing the Dalek was to be to get it to say "Happy Birthday" to Van Statten. The Dalek was to be so Disappointed by the Motive for being subjected to such extreme torture for the most banal of reasons that it wouldn't even dignify them with extermination, turning away with utter contempt. In other drafts, the Dalek was able to mutate others into Daleks, including Van Statten.
  • Shearman, as a way to introduce them for new viewers, tried to not call the Daleks by name in the episode, even titling the original story The Creature of Lies. Shearman also wanted more focus on the supporting cast, taking much of the episode for the Dalek to be released. Davies was unimpressed by both methods.
• Working Title: Return of the Daleks, The Creature of Lies and Absence of the Daleks (the last of which was a placeholder for the draft written when it looked like the rights to the Daleks might be unattainable).

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