TheDoctor Whoseason 15 trailer brings back Skaro at the height of its power, promising to show the Daleks at their most dangerous. Ncuti Gatwa is set to return inDoctor Whoseason 15, now accompanied by newcomer Varada Sethu as his new companion. The trailer promises a lot of thrills and excitement, as the Doctor tries to take his companion home - “the long way round,” a very familiar line from the 50th anniversary.
As exciting as that may be, though, the trailer promises something even better. There’s a glimpse of a golden city, one with domed spires reaching to the heavens, and spaceships shaped like flying saucers. The design will be very familiar to anyone who’s familiar with theTV Century 21"Daleks" comic strips - this is Skaro, the homeworld of the Daleks.
We’ve Never Seen Skaro Like This In Doctor Who Before
This Is Skaro At The Height Of Its Power
The legendary homeworld of the Daleks, Skaro made its debut all the way back in 1963’s “The Daleks.” Rendered a radioactive wasteland after generations of war between the Thals and the Kaleds, this inhospitable planet is a harsh world on which few can survive. The Kaleds evolved themselves into monstrous new forms, surviving inside travel machines, and they rechristened “Daleks.” Genetic engineering bred all but the most vile, evil emotions out of the Daleks.
Doctor Who: The Daleks' Complete History & Timeline Explained
Doctor Who’s latest tie-in offers a fairly definitive timeline of the Daleks - so here’s how their continuity works in the TV series, at last.
The Doctor has visited Skaro many times, but the planet has seldom been seen at the height of its power. Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor visited it in the 1967 story “The Evil of the Daleks,” where he reintroduced human emotions into some Daleks, causing a civil war. But that version of Skaro was created using older, cheaper special effects, well before the days of CGI. We’ve seen more impressive versions of Skaro in the modern episodes “Asylum of the Daleks” and “The Witch’s Familiar,” but nothing like this.
Why Is The Doctor Visiting Skaro?
What Does The Return Of The Daleks Mean?
Why would the Doctor visit Skaro? More to the point…why would he visit this version of Skaro, at a time when he and his companions would be in the greatest danger? Even stranger, though, is the fact the Dalek saucers appear to be engaging in a battle - with some apparently firing on their own homeworld. It’s possibleDoctor Whoseason 15 is revisiting that classic civil war plot from the Troughton era.
Alternatively, the similarities between this version of Skaro and the ones seen in the comics could be intentional.Doctor Whohas never been known for its continuity, but there are far too many differences between those comics and the unforgettable Tom Baker story “Genesis of the Daleks.” This glimpse of Skaro is accompanied by dialogue teasing a continuation of theToymakerplot - an arc featuring quasi-mystical entities from outside the universe who can rewrite reality. Is it possible a creature similar to the Toymaker has created its own version of Skaro, one based on the comics?
This is, of course, the purpose of any good trailer; to raise a lot more questions than answers. Given that’s the case it’s no surprise theDoctor Whoseason 15 trailer pulls that off admirably. Only one thing can be said for sure; Skaro is back, and the Doctor will wish it wasn’t.
