10 Simple Fixes That Would’ve Improved Doctor Who

It was only a matter of time before Russell T Davies would bring the Daleks into his 2005 reboot, and the Ninth Doctor episode (aptly titled Dalek), marked the much-anticipated return of the most iconic monster in Doctor Who.

The episode centred around the last surviving Dalek of the Time War, and the consequences of it absorbing energy from Rose in order to repair itself. The premise of an emotionless, cold machine developing compassion and hopelessness in the wake of a long, devastating war was a great avenue to explore with the Daleks, and the episode did a remarkable job of switching those dynamics around to show The Doctor as the merciless monster rather than the Dalek.

What was slightly disappointing, however, was the lack of mystery or surprise surrounding the episode. The revelation of the Dalek is treated like a shocking twist, but it’s literally right there in the title! This left nothing to the imagination, and spoiled that grand reveal.

Now, imagine the exact same episode, but with a more ambiguous title, something that hints towards the big surprise, but also maintains an innocence. Metaltron, perhaps? This isn’t really a realistic change because it would’ve been foolish to hide the Daleks in the lead-up to Series 1, but just imagine how chilling it would’ve been to learn about their survival at the same time the Doctor does.