Davros’ new look in Children in Need minisode divides Doctor Who fanbase | indy100

Russell T Davies explains change to iconic Doctor Who character

BBC

While Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies recently said the villainous Daleks “need a good pause” in terms of their appearances on the beloved BBC series, fans were treated to a new story involving their creator Davros as part of Friday’s Children in Need – and it’s ended up dividing opinion amongst fans.

That’s because the minisode, which stars David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and comedian Mawaan Rizwan as Kaled officer Mr Castavillian, sees the evil mastermind (a return for actor Julian Bleach) without his black support unit which has defined his appearance in the long-running franchise for decades.

Speaking on the first episode of Unleashed (essentially the new version of Doctor Who: Confidential), Davies explained: “Time and society and culture and taste has moved on, and there’s a problem with Davros of old in that he’s a wheelchair user who is evil, and I had problems with that … of associating disability with evil.

“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.’”

The showrunner, who returned to helm the series he brought back following the departure of writer Chris Chibnall, went on to add it was a decision which the production team are “absolutely standing by”, and one which was “absolutely vital” to make for Children in Need.

“It’s a night where issues of disability or otherness or being excluded from society, it’s come right to the front of the conversation,” he said.

Davies defended his decision again when writing back to one fan criticising the move on Instagram, responding simply with: "Tough".

The change to the iconic character’s appearance has also left Whovians divided on Twitter/X.

Evil comes in all forms, all races, all genders, all abilities, and all disabilities.\nWe cannot stand by and allow the cancellation of something for fear of offence that actually doesn't exist.\nI know very few of you made it this far into my rant, but I'm nearly done.
— (@)

Speaking out as a disabled man in a wheelchair, I am highly offended by Russell T. Davies' claim to change Davros to no longer be in a wheelchair, for fear of offending people like me. What the hell comes next. Changing a Dalek for fear of offending a salt shaker. World gone mad.
— (@)

Russell T Davies reasoning for changing Davros is genuinely so stupid. I never saw him as "evil man in a wheelchair", I essentially saw him as half man half Dalek because that's how he's always been presented. People who thought RTD was going to save #DoctorWho are in for a shock
— (@)

A rare Davies L\n\nI know he has the best of intentions to be progressive, bless him, but I'm fairly certain nobody at any point has ever considered Davros as showing people in wheelchairs in a bad light until he put that thought in their heads
— (@)

I suppose if Russell T. Davies is going to ruin Davros on account that he's unfairly in a wheelchair...\n\nthen he would probably get rid of Darth Vader's breathing on account that it's unfair to asthmatics!!\n\nDavies is destroying a very classic bad guy.\n\n#doctorwho #davros
— (@)

This is by far the funniest thing I've seen in relation to all the Davros stuff
— (@)

I've been a wheelchair user all my life and a #DoctorWho fan since the 1993 Genesis of the Daleks repeat. I don't find #Davros offensive - he's a great character. What's offensive is treating all disabled people as the same, assuming we all automatically identify with one another
— (@)

While others – including, most importantly, many disabled fans - have welcomed the move:

I\u2019m autistic. I know what it feels like to be isolated and excluded. To be looked down upon.\nSo if only one person who\u2019s disabled feels like that, and Davies\u2019 change to Davros makes them feel part of something, I welcome the change. Don\u2019t want people feeling how I do.
— (@)

RE: #DoctorWho RTD/Davros. I don\u2019t wanna bang on, but\u2026\n\nThis kid is me aged 5. I had Perthes\u2019 disease, was registered disabled and often used a wheelchair. Some kids were kind, some stared at me.\n\nRTD is thinking of this kid and kids like him. As a grown man, that means a lot.
— (@)

so the reason why davros was no longer scarred and in his support unit was to make a deliberate move away from the trope of villains being disfigured/disabled and having that part of their evilness. acc a really great move from RTD!!
— (@)

If this is the last appearance of Davros, then I\u2019m glad it was done on a night of looking out for and supporting people with disabilities. Recognising the harm that the \u201cthey\u2019re evil because they\u2019re disabled and/or disfigured\u201d trope can do.\n\nAlways listen to disabled voices.
— (@)

Seeing disabled fans talk about how the change and Russell's reasoning meant a lot to them is enough for me to be OK with the change. My nerd brain will get the fuck over it as soon as new Davros shows up and is just as evil and genocidal as he's always been.
— (@)

RTD addressing how Davros has played into that tired old trope of visibly disabled people being \u201cevil\u201d is nothing less than I\u2019d expect. \n\nPlease listen to disabled people on this. It IS an issue and always has been.
— (@)

Whether or not Davros remains this way moving forward is an interesting debate.\n\nBut having a pre-accident, able-bodied Davros appear during Children In Need (a night where multiple disabled children are represented) shows an incredible amount of thought and consideration.
— (@)

The amount of abled-bodied people speaking over the disabled community on the Davros thing is expected but still irritating.\n\n& even if you\u2019re disabled & \u201cdon\u2019t get it\u201d, many disabled people are happy to be heard so maybe everyone can just respect that? Maybe? Just a little?
— (@)

It was also noted that Chibnall’s predecessor, Steven Moffat, depicted Davros being thrown out of his chair, which some have suggested didn’t help matters:

Remember when Moffat chucked Davros out of his chair?
— (@)

I\u2019m not qualified to say whether Davros no longer being disabled and disfigured is patronising or offensive.\n\nI *will* say the jokes at his expense in the Moffat era were gross. \n\nKnocking him out of his chair and stealing it - \ud83e\udd22. It\u2019s not okay \u201cbecause he\u2019s evil.\u201d
— (@)

@DamnCoffee007 I am gonna say this was the moment RTD decided not to represent him this way in the future. This bit made my skin crawl at the time and it was utterly revolting
— (@)

@DamnCoffee007 I imagine this is probably what made Davies rethink Davros, and with good reason
— (@)

The plot of the minisode – which comes ahead of three 60th anniversary specials airing in November and December - revolves around the Doctor gatecrashing the genesis of the Daleks with his Tardis, ripping off a Dalek’s claw arm (to later replace it with the iconic plunger) and accidentally giving the monsters their name as a flustered Mr Castavillian takes notes to share with Davros.

In Doctor Who lore, Davros starts using a wheelchair after his laboratory is bombed by the Kaleds’ arch nemeses, the Thals, leaving him injured.

Though it’s not the first time we’ve seen Davros without his black chair (which is essentially the lower half of a Dalek), as “The Magician’s Apprentice” during Peter Capaldi’s time as the Doctor introduced the scientist as a child, trapped in a field with deadly “hand mines”.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.