2. The Return Of Classic Daleks As A Major Plot Point
One of the biggest talking points in the Series Nine trailer was the appearance of a classic sixties Dalek in the background of a shot of a Russell T Davies style drone. Queue excited speculation that this iteration of the pepperpots will play a major role in one of the stories. But haven't we learnt our lesson from Asylum Of The Daleks which promised us "every Dalek ever?" It failed to deliver on that front, except for a brief shot of the inactive Daleks driven mad by the past interventions of the Doctor. The curious shot of what looks like a Dalek city also fuels the rumours of a return to Skaro and earlier this year the press were reporting a scene in which the Doctor meets Davros as a boy. It's all a bit tenuous at this stage. We know that the BBC built new classic Daleks for the drama An Adventure In Space And Time so this could very well be one of those models. But the design is one thing, what about those classic voices as performed by such talents as Roy Skelton, Peter Hawkins and David Graham? Although the versatile Nicholas Briggs can do a passable impression of his predecessors' tones, it would be overly ambitious to do so in an episode. Dalek history is confusing even for the ardent fan. Surely the writers would avoid muddying the waters further and alienating the general audience? Even a two parter would struggle to give enough exposition for such shenanigans. We'd need Daleks' Masterplan length at least. The chances are that just as the iconic old style Dalek features only in the background of the shot, so too it will play a peripheral role in Series Nine, leaving their successors to steal the limelight.