Origins of the show

Editor: Nick Scovell · Last update: Saturday, February 10, 2007

“What’s that Daddy?” So asked my eldest daughter, at the tender age of two-and-a-bit.

She was pointing at one of the numerous Daleks that lurk about my house. Talking Daleks, Remote Control Daleks, Comet Miniature Kit Daleks, Key rings, etc. Wherever she went they were there, to my delight and my dear wife’s chagrin. However, I took heart in little Esme’s question for it proved to me that you do not need a sense of cultural reference, or childhood memories, to be attracted to the creation of Mr Nation and Mr Cusick. She was drawn to the object. It was a clear demonstration of the sheer success of the design. This is not something new to myself, or any of you who have decided to read this article, but it was quite a revelatory moment.

All this took place nearly two years ago. The late summer of 2004. It was then, during the build up towards Doctor Who’s triumphant return of the following Spring, that my mind turned towards bringing Doctor Who back to the stage again. I was caught up in the excitement of anticipation. I had recently finished a stage production of The Prisoner of Zenda and was thinking of the next theatrical project to get my teeth into. Perhaps it was my daughter’s question that prompted me to reach for the Daleks – The Early Years tape and watch episode two of The Evil of the Daleks. I had not seen it for some time. Two years previous to this I had played the Doctor in Rob Thrush’s hugely successful production of Fury From the Deep. Two years before that, I had Doctored in his adaptation of The Web of Fear. Three years prior to that I had taken on the part for him for the first time in The Millennium Trap – after he had seen me play the Doctor in my own production of The Planet of Storms. Christopher Eccleston was about to take the part. Watching that episode got me even more excited. I wanted to have another stab at it. Could we dare to attempt to re-create the madness of the Maxtible house..?

I phoned Rob Thrush. A colleague and a friend for many years. A man of ideas and action and a very accomplished freelance filmmaker.

“Do you think it’s possible to hire the Third Floor Arts Centre for a week and make a film version of Evil of the Daleks?”
“It’s possible,” he replied. “But we wouldn’t be able to sell it.”
“No, of course not. But it would be fun to do. And we could do it”
“Yes…”

I knew he was thinking.

“Why don’t we do a stage version?”

It was his initial thought to return to the medium for Doctor Who with which we had carved a small, but successful, niche for ourselves – the adaptation of the Lost Stories. We had often dreamed of doing Evil, at least, I think we had. But we had always dismissed it as being too epic and difficult to stage. However, you can do anything on stage, so I decided to get hold of the script and see if it was possible, in some form.

Having never seen the original version (I was born in 1972 – the day after episode 6 of The Sea Devils was broadcast) and never read the novel, nor listened to the soundtrack, I realised that I only knew a few things about the actual story itself. They were:

  • I knew the names of the principal characters and roughly what they were like
  • It was Victoria’s first story
  • It was one of the best Doctor Who stories ever made
  • Episode two is very good
  • It has the Emperor Dalek in it
  • It ends with a Dalek Civil War on Skaro
  • It was mostly set in the Victorian era, circa 1860
  • The Human Factor
  • The Dalek Factor
  • “I will not be your slave!” is one of the best lines the Doctor has ever uttered, in one of the best scenes ever to be filmed for the series.
  • “There is only one form of life that matters – Dalek life!” is one of the best lines a Dalek has ever uttered.

That was about it. I didn’t actually know the story in the way that, for instance, I know Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars or Ghost Light. I knew the basic plot, what happened and who won. The script would have the answers and would, I know, contain a few surprises.

I found the script on the Internet. I printed it off. I read it. I knew we could do it on stage. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was more than possible, it was an opportunity…

I phoned Rob and said something like; “Let’s do it!” He responded in kind. He also contacted the New Theatre Royal. They said yes, especially when we agreed to do the show as a fund-raiser for their restoration needs. This is how we did Fury From the Deep and many a pound or two was made for a very good cause. I said I would like to direct this one, and Rob agreed to be the Production Manager. The date was set – the autumn of 2006. There was one potential stumbling block. We had to get permission from BBC Worldwide, the Terry Nation Estate and the David Whitaker Estate.

With the BBC we had no problem. They are always quick, courteous and understanding in such matters and I am enormously grateful to them. They telephoned me the day after I contacted them and our approval was sent officially within a week. Bless ‘em. However, the others were a different matter…

David Whitaker and Terry Nation are, sadly, no longer with us. I telephoned Nick Briggs (an acquaintance from my Big Finish appearances) and he told me whom to contact at Roger  Hancock Ltd, who represent Terry Nation’s work. They said they would get back to me. So we waited, and waited, and waited. There was a time when we were going to give up, as it looked as if they would never get back to us. It took nine months to get an answer, which was thankfully, yes. I tracked down the holders of David Whitaker’s work (with help from David J Howe) who also said yes. That was it. All permission got. Now, the fun began. I had to get my teeth into the script…

Nick Scovell – 30 March 2006