Production
| Episode | Broadcast date | Run time | Viewership |
Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Dead Planet, original version" | Unaired | ??? | n/a | Only stills and/or fragments exist |
| "The Dead Planet, remounted version" | 21 December 1963 (1963-12-21) | 24:22 | 6.9 | 16mm t/r |
| "The Survivors" | 28 December 1963 (1963-12-28) | 24:27 | 6.4 | 16mm t/r |
| "The Escape" | 4 January 1964 (1964-01-04) | 25:10 | 8.9 | 16mm t/r |
| "The Ambush" | 11 January 1964 (1964-01-11) | 24:37 | 9.9 | 16mm t/r |
| "The Expedition" | 18 January 1964 (1964-01-18) | 24:31 | 9.9 | 16mm t/r |
| "The Ordeal" | 25 January 1964 (1964-01-25) | 26:14 | 10.4 | 16mm t/r |
| "The Rescue" | 1 February 1964 (1964-02-01) | 22:24 | 10.4 | 16mm t/r |
Script editor David Whitaker commissioned a six-part serial from comedy writer Terry Nation, after being impressed by his work in the science-fiction series Out of This World. This was formally commissioned under the title The Mutants on 31 July, and was originally intended to air fourth in the season's line-up, after Marco Polo. The designer originally assigned to this serial was Ridley Scott, later a famed film director. However, a problem with Scott's schedule meant that he was replaced by Raymond Cusick, who was thus given the task of realising the Dalek creatures. Cusick based the design of the Daleks on a man sitting in a chair. The Daleks proved to be very popular, but Cusick received little money for merchandise sold with his design.
Nation once claimed that he came up with the name "Dalek" after seeing a set of encyclopedias with one volume spanning the section of the alphabet from Dal - Lek. However, he later admitted that this was simply a good story for the sake of the press, and that in fact he had just made up the name. The cliffhanger to the first episode, in which Barbara is confronted by a Dalek's sucker arm, was filmed with floor manager Michael Ferguson holding the arm, rather than it being attached to a full Dalek body.
Read more about this topic: The Daleks
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