After a full season without any returning monsters, Whovians the world over were overjoyed when the Daleks made a comeback in Doctor Who‘s New Year’s special “Resolution.” Well, technically one Dalek did, as the tale saw a lone Dalek creature possess a human body in an attempt to make itself a new casing and take over the Earth.
Impressively, it was only revealed that the evil pepper pot was the main villain of the episode when the BBC featured the iconic “Exterminate” soundbite in a trailer. So how did the production team keep the secret? Well, smartly, the Dalek was referred to by a codename in the script. And it was a hilarious one.
Apparently, the codename used for the deadliest monster in the universe was simply Kevin. In a recent interview, guest star Nikesh Patel revealed to Doctor Who Magazine (via RadioTimes.com) that the codename made the script a “confusing read,” saying:
“It was a really tense horror thriller, but this buried, ancient tentacled evil was only referred to by a codename! As someone who’s not a die-hard Who fan, I thought, ‘That’s a step too far, surely?’”
“In the read-through, Jodie [Whittaker] stuck with the codename,” Patel continued. “Although with hindsight she did it with a wry smile.”
In response to the article, his co-star in the episode, Charlotte Ritchie, revealed on Twitter that the codename used was Kevin, which the actress admitted “took away a lot of the drama.”
https://twitter.com/Charitchie/status/1093595790046572544
No doubt the Dalek’s codename produced a lot of laughter and confusion, but the end result proves that it was definitely a smart move as fans didn’t expect that the Doctor’s nemeses would be making a surprise return. Kudos to the production team for hiding the actual Dalek prop, as well, as we’re surprised that set photos of it didn’t leak online – as they did with the redesigned TARDIS.
Hopefully when Doctor Who returns for season 12 in 2020, we’ll have more codenamed classic monsters to look forward to. How about a Cyberman named Brian?
