Robert Shearman Talks 2005’s Dalek, Returning
Speaking to Den of Geek about the episode’s impact a decade on: “I think it was very carefully positioned in the series so that in 2005 it had maximum impact as the big bad reveal at the centre of series one. And now, in 2015, it stands as being the very first Dalek story of the new series, so it comes with this wonderful nostalgic weight – it’s a significant episode, you can draw a line from that story to where we are now.”
He adds: “Even Peter Capaldi’s Dalek story [Into the Dalek] gets to riff on it. At the time it was this urgent piece of TV – Chris Eccleston is on fire, Joe Ahearne’s direction is properly dynamic. Now in some ways it feels like a signpost for where Doctor Who was going. (Not down to me, I must add – but down to the tone of what Russell was doing, and the broadening of the parameters of what Doctor Who was going to do.)
On whether he’d ever pen another story: “I’d never say never to a Doctor Who return. I love the show so much – but I’ve really had such fun trying to work out my own more personal stuff since doing it, and I’m a better writer because I did move away from the series. But I hope our paths will cross again at some point. It’s been twelve years or so since I wrote a Big Finish adventure. I’d like to do that again, once I’m taking a breather space between books.”
