DOCTOR WHO Showrunner Addresses Divisive Change To Classic Whoniverse Villain Davros' Appearance

DOCTOR WHO Showrunner Addresses Divisive Change To Classic Whoniverse Villain Davros' Appearance

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed that Davros' new look is permanent, explaining why the decision was made to ditch the iconic villain's scarred appearance and wheelchair. Check it out!

By JoshWilding - Jan 18, 2024 05:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Doctor Who
Source: SFFGazette.com

Shortly before Doctor Who's 60th anniversary specials aired, the BBC released a five-minute short for Children in Need. In that, the Fourteenth Doctor - newly regenerated. - inadvertently travelled back to the time when Davros was creating his Daleks (which were then known as the "Mark III Travel Machine").

Julian Bleach reprised the role but ditched the familiar wheelchair and prosthetics to play a Davros who had not yet gone through the transformation which left his future self scarred and weakened. 

The short was tongue-in-cheek and a humorous way to reveal that the Doctor inadvertently named his greatest enemies and even provided at least part of their iconic appearance. In a new interview, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed this change to Davros is permanent and was made not just to show what he looked like when he was young - there were serious Nazi vibes - but to move on from potentially problematic stereotypes. 

"We had long conversations about bringing Davros back, because he's a fantastic character, [but] time and society and culture and taste has moved on," he explains (via SFFGazette.com). "And there's a problem with the Davros of old in that he's a wheelchair user, who is evil. And I had problems with that. And a lot of us on the production team had problems with that, of associating disability with evil. And trust me, there's a very long tradition of this."

"I'm not blaming people in the past at all, but the world changes and when the world changes, Doctor Who has to change as well. So we made the choice to bring back Davros without the facial scarring and without the wheelchair – or his support unit, which functions as a wheelchair."

"I say, this is how we see Davros now, this is what he looks like. This is 2023. This is our lens. This is our eye. Things used to be black and white, they're not in black and white anymore, and Davros used to look like that and he looks like this now, and that we are absolutely standing by."

"It's a night where issues of disability or otherness or being excluded from society come right to the front of the conversation," Davies concluded. "So of all the nights to make this change, I thought it was absolutely vital to do this. And I'm very, very, very proud of the fact that we have."

Some will be quick to accuse Doctor Who of being too PC or "woke," but Davies makes some compelling points and there are elements of Davros which feel dated. Crucially, we've seen a lot of that iteration - including how his story ends - so going back to this point in his timeline could make him an exciting new villain. 

Check out the Children in Need short from last year, which showcases the updated Davros, in the player below.

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MarvelousMarty
MarvelousMarty - 1/18/2024, 5:40 AM
Absolute idiots, all of them.
Snow43214
Snow43214 - 1/18/2024, 5:41 AM
Shame

This reads like if you're in a wheelchair, you can't be evil haha

I would have seen it more as, Davros has overcame his physical limitations to become a leader of an army and used his intellectual superiority to devise technology to allow him achieve his goals...of you know, universe extermination
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 1/18/2024, 5:45 AM
@Snow43214 - I mean , he had used his own body to further his experiments & creation so it’s not like he was disabled since the beginning…

He had done it to himself willingly which made it horrifying.
Snow43214
Snow43214 - 1/18/2024, 6:04 AM
@TheVisionary25 - that's awesome! They definitely should not change him then and leave him as his willingly changed self.

Very Hellboy movie version of Kroenen vibes
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 6:08 AM
@Snow43214 - I get why many don't see it as having ever been a problem but we had more than one instance where a young child was scared of my wife in her wheelchair (or anyone in a wheelchair) after appearances of Davros or other evil character in a chair such as the one who created cybermen in the other universe Rose ended up in on the show. The mothers would have to appologise for their kid's reaction and explain why they were so scared to my wife whenever that occured.

So yeh, entirely see the other side but he does have a point that association with being disabled and evil (and/or genius) is a thing and in a Time Travel show there is always a built in thing for retcons so not worth worrying about even if you think RTD is wrong.

Will only realy be an issue if he returns at a point long after Genesis and never ends up in a wheelchair otherwise for now it is just and Xmen first class situation where he has been used at a point prior to an incident that results in the disability and long term effects of radiations and experimentation on his own body. Even then Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey and variants are always a get out of jail free card on a Time Travel based show.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 1/18/2024, 6:10 AM
@Apophis71 - that’s fair.

Sorry that has happened to your wife
Snow43214
Snow43214 - 1/18/2024, 6:16 AM
@Apophis71 - Fair play man, shared personal experiences in the right context will always trump my views on something I'm not well versed in.

And if the change means people in wheelchairs feel this is progress and bairns are able to disassociate wheelchair users with negative connotations then point proven.

Always happy to be proven wrong when the situation calls for it!
dagenspear
dagenspear - 1/18/2024, 9:31 AM
@Apophis71 - LORD willing, this is a problem for the parents of the kids to deal with. All it sounds like to me is just fear of the "other", the unfamiliar. Kids being educated about the idea that people from about all walks of life can be harmful or not I think is how people learn things as they grow up. If a kid gets that from a character, that individual is stereotyping, nothing else, because other options for villainy are available and explaining to that child that it's just fiction, instead of ignoring it, I think may be more effective at teaching kids about their biases and prejudices and how those things can harm other real life people if done that way.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 9:47 AM
@dagenspear - I don't disagree, as I say, see both/all sides of this but can see the points being made and do think way too many parents don't do their job of parenting well.

As I said elsewhere if this was just for doing an Xmen first class thing of showing he was evil before disability whilst they intro a recurring good guy in a chair then at some point the rechair Davros is the villain of a story where his evil deeds result in him being in one then that would be more balanced and less problematic and wouldn't have been at all if the guy in the chair is evil hadn't been done so often with so many characters previously and never in the show the guy in the chair is good (least non I can think of).
dagenspear
dagenspear - 1/18/2024, 4:54 PM
@Apophis71 - I thank God for your civil response about this.

I'm fine if this is just a let's show young Davros stuff (even though his face not looking as much like him bothered me), but I think I'd get more put off if it was shifting away from it. I do think the stronger option, to me, is to have prominent diversity of both sides in this, if you want to make an actual statement of equality.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 5:19 PM
@dagenspear - Agree, think that is by far the best option, parity not exclusion is always better generaly and with decades of precedent keeping the pre-chair and scars thing as early genesis only and still allow for a more typical approach if her returns in a post genesis stage again. TBH prefer not having Davros at all in DALEK stories again, was a very definitive death last time (not for the first time either) and never REALY felt he was needed in most cases he has appeared post genesis.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 6:48 PM
Figured I'd do a quick check as knew he had originaly been killed towards the end of Genesis by the DALEK's and could recall at least one other time he died (as in seen to die not exploding ship type stuff) during classic Who I'd watched and at least a couple on screen during new Who. This isn't a total number of deaths I suspect as likely has in audio plays, novels and comics too, lol.

Killed by DALEK's during the 4th, as I say towards the end of the Genesis period.
Later revealed the DALEK's put him in stasis AFTER shooting him and resurrected him to help break a logical impasse (then captured by humans and put on trial)

Rescued by DALEK's to help them
Killed by a virus of his own creation during the 5th that he releases to prevent the DALEK's killing him again not realising his physiology was now so close to that of his creations he too would succumb to it.

During the 6th revealed he had escaped not died, bunch of weird stuff where he cloned his own head as a decoy but captured by the DALEK's this time for them to put him on trial... end result the mothership he was in alongside his new loyal White and gold DALEK's (whilst fighting grey ones) is destroyed so presumed dead. Think there was a retcon during the 7th (when I think they returned to that DALEK civil war destroying the Skara sun in order to destory ALL of them instead of one side winning) which showed a possible escape pod.

Revealed during the first year of the Time War (ie prior to the 9th) he died when his command ship flew into the jaws of the nightmare child.

Resurrected or shown to have been rescued from the Nightmare child, killed when the Crucible was destroyed during the 10th, later resurrected by DALEK Caan, killed again by a reality bomb. May have had one more resurrection and death amongst all that with the whole Caan storyline but not sure but the last one was as definitive as it gets without completely altering the timeline or somehow cloning him (which technicaly could create a new pre-chair version to be fair if they did that).

Season Nine, 12th Doctor, episode Magicians apprentice (and finished in the following episode) showed him prior to his disfigurement for the first time on television (so non of this is entirely new anyway) placing the Doctor with the dilema of do you kill the child before they become evil and cause the countless deaths you know is their future.

So for me unless another early in the timeline story I have had enough of him returning from the grave anyway. I'm always fine with DALEK's back again but can't think of a good reason for any more Davros appearances after the whole saving him as a child, giving him the option to destroy all DALEK's before they ever left Skaro and all of that paradox stuff prior to being left to face his prior destiny and deaths.

IF however they did bring him back by cloning, DNA would not replicated post birth injuries that he sustained during the centuries long war on Skara, I simply would prefer they don't go there with that.
Corruptor
Corruptor - 1/18/2024, 6:52 PM
@Apophis71 - Kids can be afraid of all sorts of things, witch like old women for example... Maren in Morbius horrified me... kids have been afraid of me wearing shades, ugh a man with black expressionless eyes, just part of growing up. Maybe young kids shouldn't have been watching Davros in the first place. It's been said before but we should now get able bodied Daleks too.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 7:06 PM
@Corruptor - Already do, they are called Cybermen, lol (created by an evil guy in a wheelchair in at least one storyline).
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 7:13 PM
@Corruptor - Oh, and the DALEK's also created a human looking, walking on two legs version at least once (killed himself when he realised he was a DALEK).

So all been done before including a pre-disfigurement young Davros before so folk are falling for fake controversy anyway over something created as a comedy gimmick for Children in Need.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 7:29 PM
Actualy, thinking about it at least two other times they had a load of walking on two legs humanoid DALEK's so yeh, multiple times of able bodied DALEK's and was already one time during the 12th Doctor we had young Davros pre-disfigurement anyway.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 7:42 PM
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 7:45 PM
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 7:49 PM
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 7:53 PM
This was ALSO Davros during the 12th Doctor Episode Magicians apprentice in 2015



So can we now stop all the fake rage?
dagenspear
dagenspear - 1/18/2024, 11:28 PM
@Apophis71 - Basically all of those are far lamer and less visually interesting to me. Only thing that reaches interesting is the scientist, and that may be because from what I remember he was programmed by Daleks, not one really.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 1/18/2024, 11:36 PM
@Apophis71 - I think the citing of young davros thing assumes that they like that. There is also a difference in him being a child and him doing basically nothing Dalek or Davros like and no threat that that could be made into the status quo.

For the record I fairly much like that child Davros thing because I think it, and the whole episodes that's in (even old disfigured Davros), does a solid job to give humanity to Davros but still keep him as a monster, not ignoring what he's done. I also like to think the reason Davros built the laser for his Dalek was based on his childhood fear and that weapon rescuing him in that moment. I still think that the Doctor and child Davros walking hand in hand as Davros holds the screwdriver and Doctor holds the laser is a beautiful powerful moment to me.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/19/2024, 7:16 AM
@dagenspear - Oh the story with the child was great in many ways but just generaly think it felt like the last throw of the what if dice doing all of the do you kill baby Hitler stuff and showing even at that young age the signs of what he would become was already there by being willing to commit genocide. Most cases of Davros however he was more a puppet of the Daleks always one step away from them killing him if the actions of the hero's didn't and that just got old for me after the DALEK's had become far more clever, tactical and inventive than they initialy were.

Yes, all the DALEK Puppets and the hybrids were lame in comparison to the killer pepper pots, the scientist was well done however. The whole thing where you start out thinking a good intentioned human created a new type of DALEK in a what if? WWII Oppenheimer type story but turns out he was built by the real DALEK's in space above Earth but prorammed to not know he was one generaly worked well if a bit cheesy at certain points. Just when folk troll back the do able bodied DALEK's fun to point out they have done that too many times in various ways.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 1/18/2024, 6:15 AM
@TheVisionary25 - Yup and can at any time have an episode where as a result of his evil deads end up increasingly disabled at the end of the day. Get both sides of this entirely and kids ending up irrationaly scared of wheelchairs has been a thing due to the over association of disability and being evil in fiction. That and the other extreme of the genius association such as with Rainman for autism. A period of having recurring good guys in chairs etc will allow enough ballance that if later Davros does end up in one the issues will be reduced either way.
Origame
Origame - 1/18/2024, 5:50 AM
Based on this logic, that means he's now saying all able bodied people are evil.

Only way we can portray evil is if they're just blobs.

Also, isn't it a good thing to let people know they can become evil? You know, watch out for your actions and all that?

Nah, gotta stick to those safe spaces.
ComicBandit
ComicBandit - 1/18/2024, 8:35 AM
@Origame - And I really used to like RTD. :(
Origame
Origame - 1/18/2024, 8:40 AM
@ComicBandit - he went full woke

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Ginley
Ginley - 1/18/2024, 5:51 AM
Middle-aged white man apologises for being a middle-aged white man by stressing how enlightened he is in every aspect of his life.

You can both increase visibility of disabled actors by casting them in prominent roles and have a bad guy who's "disabled."

If you're worried about the impact of Davros' disability, do more work in creating more positive disabled characters to exist alongside him.

This change is well-intentioned but ultimately shallow and performative.

I mean, Davros isn't even human. He's a Kaled.
Se4M4NSt4ine
Se4M4NSt4ine - 1/18/2024, 5:53 AM
Oh shut up.

It’s amazing that RTD single handily created new WHO’s success - but also is on the brink of destroying it with this woke bullshit.

I’m sure I’m capable of distinguishing people with disabilities aren’t evil like fictional characters, just as I’m capable of distinguishing people who are bald aren’t all [frick]ing Lex Luthor.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 1/18/2024, 6:20 AM
@Se4M4NSt4ine - I’m sure people like you can but there are ignorant people in the world that go by stigmas that can’t so this change is for them.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 1/18/2024, 9:15 AM
@Se4M4NSt4ine - Wokeness is irrelevant here. I think this just isn't strong writing.
SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 1/18/2024, 6:47 PM
@Se4M4NSt4ine - Shut up Semen. 😐
SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 1/18/2024, 5:57 AM
"...a lot of us on the production team had problems with that, of associating disability with evil."

Gotta' admit, whenever I see anyone in a wheelchair, I immediately associate them with science-fiction, evil, cybernetic, 3-eyed alien despots. THANK GOD someone finally found reason! Russell T Davies (and heroes like him) are making us a better society! 😄
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