Doctor Who's Dalek Redesign Is Perfect For Jodie Whittaker

The Dalek, complete with a redesign that was perfect for the current era. Of course, the Daleks have attempted to invade Earth on numerous occasions throughout Doctor Who history, and this latest episode revealed that a lone reconnaissance scout from Skaro had been defeated by a dream-team of 9th century Earth warriors, split into three parts and scattered across the planet.

Thanks to the meddling of some unwitting archaeologists, however, the Dalek was revived on New Year's Day 2019 in Sheffield, a city rapidly overtaking Cardiff as the U.K.'s hive of alien activity. Deprived of its usual casing, the exposed Dalek was forced to commandeer a human host until it could find a weapon and enough spare parts to build itself a makeshift new body.

Naturally, this spontaneous rebuild led to a striking new appearance for Doctor Who's most notorious villain - one that was a rough, disheveled mutation of what came before. While some viewers have mocked this new amateurish look, many have responded favorably to both the episode itself and to this latest reimagining of the Daleks. Although the new design is unlikely to be a permanent getup for Skaro's finest, here's why it was the ideal style for integrating these iconic characters into the Jodie Whittaker era.

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The Dalek's New Design Mirrors The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver

Jodie Whittaker with her Doctor Who sonic screwdriver

"Resolution" created a symmetry within Jodie Whittaker's first season as the Doctor. The idea of a Dalek being forced to recreate their outer body in a Sheffield warehouse, using whatever materials they could gather, shared a clear connection to the Thirteenth Doctor's debut episode, in which the newly-regenerated Time Lord was forced to construct a brand new sonic screwdriver from steel spoons.

Parallels between the Doctor and the Daleks have arguably been present in Doctor Who since the 1970s but the theme has been far more prevalent in the series' post-Time War landscape. Episodes such as "Dalek", "Into The Dalek" and "The Magician's Apprentice" have highlighted how these two sworn foes perhaps have more in common than either would like to it. By revisiting this idea, "Resolution" creates a very personal battle between Doctor and Dalek, despite this being Whittaker's first encounter with the creatures, and the episode's dialogue further pressed home the concept of a bitter one-on-one duel of wits between two mortal enemies.

Since Doctor Who season 11 noticeably didn't include any classic villains, this simple, back-to-basics approach is exactly what was needed to re-introduce the Daleks. By stripping things back to the Doctor, armed with a hand-made sonic screwdriver, versus a Dalek, armed with a hand-made outer shell, "Resolution" immediately creates an intense, personal battle for the Thirteenth Doctor.

The Rough Dalek Design Distances Doctor Who From Its Past

Doctor Who faces his enemies in "Asylum of the Daleks"

In modern Doctor Who, the Daleks have naturally become sleeker in design and the hastily-assembled scrap metal specimen seen in "Resolution" was about as far removed from the stylish and efficient designs of recent years as it's possible to get without reverting back to the "plunger-and-whisk" days of yore. Many fans would likely argue that this drastic change was necessary since one of the biggest criticisms of Doctor Who's recent past has been an overuse of classic enemies to the point where they're presence no longer felt like a big deal, with the Daleks perhaps suffering from this phenomenon more than anyone.

It is partly for this reason that Doctor Who season 11 has not featured any familiar baddies and instead focused on self-contained characters and stories. However, there was only so long the show could avoid revisiting former foes and it was important that when a classic enemy did finally arrive, viewers didn't feel like they were watching "just another episode" and that the sense of peril and excitement created by these iconic characters was restored.

"Resolution" achieved exactly that, and the drastic new Dalek design must take some of the credit. If the impact of seeing a fleet of elite Daleks decimating an enemy force had been lost during the Moffat era, witnessing a single scrappy Dalek effortlessly take down the British Armed Forces hammered home exactly why the Doctor considers these creatures her most dangerous adversaries.

Page 2 of 2: Why The New Dalek Design Is Good For Doctor Who's Future

The Doctor poses in front of a row of multicolored Daleks from Doctor Who

The Dalek Redesign Isn't Permanent

Despite their reputation as ruthless killing machines, the Daleks are surprisingly fashion-forward and have always changed their look to keep with the times. While some designs have lasted the course - the 2005 metallic relaunch look for example - others have been quickly discarded. Steven Moffat infamously attempted to get away with introducing the mockingly-dubbed "Power Ranger Daleks" during Matt Smith's tenure but after heavy backlash, soon reverted back to the standard look for later episodes.

The rough, rebuilt Dalek design seen in "Resolution" is smart because its origin automatically makes it temporary. If a section of the Doctor Who fandom feel that this latest iteration looks too much like a junkyard kitchen appliance to be considered scary, they can rest easy knowing that the regular-looking Daleks are still out there in space somewhere terrorizing some poor defenseless planet.

Conversely, the door does remain open for future Daleks to adopt a similarly scrappy appearance, should fans respond to the look in a positive way. Perhaps there are more defeated Daleks buried on Earth, maybe the Dalek race will adopt a new method of invasion where they infiltrate a planet naked and build a tank from scratch after landing, or perhaps the Daleks will just start taking recycling more seriously - the new design can potentially be built upon in future stories or simply never used again.

The New Dalek Look Helps Solve Season 11's Biggest Flaw

With a new Doctor and new showrunner, Doctor Who season 11 was always going to be a divisive run but, generally speaking, Jodie Whittaker's debut was both well received and posted solid viewing figures. One overriding criticism of the season, however, was a lack of serious villains for the Thirteenth Doctor to face off against, with Tzim-Sha proving the only notable source of extra-terrestrial evil-doing throughout the ten-episode stint.

For this reason, the return of the Daleks was certainly timely and the drastic, striking new appearance helped make this returning villain the most exciting and engaging foe Whittaker's Doctor has been pitted against thus far. By distancing the new design from previous Daleks and drawing a connection to the Doctor's own sonic screwdriver, the revived Dalek in "Resolution" also proved to be a highly memorable enemy; one that was linked to Doctor Who's illustrious history, but that simultaneously felt fresh and new. The same can't confidently be said of any previous villain this season.

This should give fans plenty of reason to look forward to show's return in 2020 could see a raft of other new and exciting interpretations of familiar foes.

The DIY-Dalek design may not have pleased every viewer, but it certainly worked for this particular special and elevated "Resolution" to perhaps the strongest Doctor Who holiday episode not to feature a regeneration - although some would argue that bar isn't particularly high. Chris Chibnall and his team presented an enemy that was vastly different yet comfortingly familiar, threatening and formidable but still ultimately beaten by a dismantled microwave and, crucially, completely at home in the Jodie Whittaker era.