Returning villain confirmed for Series 7 (spoilers below!)

[DW934]

The episode looks to be an awesome opener, and it's been said so far that ALL the Daleks are gonna be in it
Not all as in all the iPod generation colours, but EVERY SINGLE DALEK EVER SEEN, according to exec prod Claire skinner, this ought to be good

[TomH1138]

I realize that there's already a thread about this by someone else, but since it gives away the secret in the thread title, and Ian just had to post "DON'T POST SPOILERS IN THREAD TITLES!" and I don't know what's going to happen to that thread at this point . . . (And if the mods prefer, they can just move my thread under that one, or vice versa.)

Matt Smith just tweeted a photo from the set of the show that confirms what's been hinted at in a few other news stories: The Daleks are returning.

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/04/doctor-whos-day-roundup-guess-whos-back/

I'm not sure what's meant by "Which Daleks? ALL OF THEM!" The Daleks are, by their nature, identical. So who can tell one Dalek apart from another? What do they mean, "Which Daleks?" The question itself makes no sense to me.

(Again, I'm still learning about the classic series, so maybe there are different Dalek factions that I'm not aware of.)

Yes, in "Victory of the Daleks," they got candy-coated different colors. But they're still essentially the same Daleks as before. (I have a feeling that the different colors were to help directors when calling out actions to the actors on the set. "OK, I need that Dalek to move.  . . . No, not you, the other one.  . . . The one on the right.  . . . No, the OTHER right!" Now they can say, "Blue Dalek, over here. Red Dalek, over there!")

Now, to get into even more spoilery material. There are a lot of logical deductions that can be made at this point, based on this photo and others, and what cast members have said in other interviews. Granted, this is just my speculation, but there are a lot of really strong clues, so read further only if you don't mind the possibility of being spoiled.
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What we know:

Matt Smith just tweeted this pic from the set, so it's an episode after Jenna-Louise Coleman joins the cast. Thus, it will likely either be the Christmas episode, or the first episode after the new year, which means that the Daleks would potentially help us ring in the anniversary year in 2013.

Moffat has said that someone would die in the next appearance of the Weeping Angels. Amy is in this photo. Rory is not.

I thought that, if Rory died, a heartbroken Amy would stop traveling around the universe with the Doctor. But if the episode is being shot now, and Amy is in the photo, then she's apparently still around when Coleman's character joins the cast, at least at first.

Lest you think I'm reading too much out of a simple photo, I would also add that in Coleman's first video interview after being announced as the new Companion, she said, "It's been great fun to work with Matt and Karen."

Matt and Karen. Arthur is not mentioned at all. So either she meant to imply that she hates working with him (which would be an odd way to try to make yourself welcome to Who fans), or she simply hasn't worked with him.

Of course, it could have been a slip of the tongue, but her comments combined with Moffat's, and now this photo, make a pretty strong case against Rory surviving past episode 5.

Naturally, there are still mysteries. We don't know how Rory dies, and we don't know Amy would want to continue traveling with the Doctor after that (since she's shown on more than one occasion - "Amy's Choice" and "The Girl Who Waited" - that she can be made to hate the Doctor). Maybe the Silence inadvertently causes patches in her memory about Rory?

And, at any rate, I for one would be thrilled if it turned out that Moffat was deliberately leading us down a wild-goose trail to simply make us think that Rory was dead, and it turns out that he's just fine. What if Rule #1 is actually "Moffat lies"? 

[Ian]

I've merged the two threads, and used your title as being less spoilery. Although to be honest I don't think this news really constitutes a spoiler as such. It's been so widely reported that no one who goes on the internet will be able to avoid it for the next six months!

[Henry Gordon Jago]

I'm not sure what's meant by "Which Daleks? ALL OF THEM!" The Daleks are, by their nature, identical. So who can tell one Dalek apart from another? What do they mean, "Which Daleks?" The question itself makes no sense to me.

Though the Daleks never went through radical redesigns from story to story in the classic series the way the Cybermen did, there is a definite evolution of their design over time (in such details as skirt, midsection, and indicator lights, not to mention colour scheme).  So for classic series die-hards, it's relatively easy to tell at a glance whether a given Dalek hails from the '60s, '70s, or '80s, and in some cases which particular story.  The design as seen in the linked photo would hail from 1965-67, anywhere from The Chase through Evil of the Daleks.  Earlier Daleks lack the vertical slats on the midsection immediately above the gun and sucker, and later Daleks feature a thicker bumper around the bottom, as well as a radically different colour scheme.

Good God, I really am a nerd, aren't I?

[TomH1138]

I've merged the two threads, and used your title as being less spoilery. Although to be honest I don't think this news really constitutes a spoiler as such. It's been so widely reported that no one who goes on the internet will be able to avoid it for the next six months!

Sounds good. I figured better safe than sorry!

[TomH1138]

Though the Daleks never went through radical redesigns from story to story in the classic series the way the Cybermen did, there is a definite evolution of their design over time (in such details as skirt, midsection, and indicator lights, not to mention colour scheme).  So for classic series die-hards, it's relatively easy to tell at a glance whether a given Dalek hails from the '60s, '70s, or '80s, and in some cases which particular story.  The design as seen in the linked photo would hail from 1965-67, anywhere from The Chase through Evil of the Daleks.  Earlier Daleks lack the vertical slats on the midsection immediately above the gun and sucker, and later Daleks feature a thicker bumper around the bottom, as well as a radically different colour scheme.

Good God, I really am a nerd, aren't I?

Wow, that's very interesting to know. Thanks, Jago!

Yeah, the Cybermen designs are a bit more easy to observe the differences. I highly doubt, though, that we'll ever some of those early designs for those again on the show.

I wouldn't have thought that all the previous Dalek designs had been kept around. That's very cool that there are at least some of them so that they can be used for the upcoming episode(s).

I wonder if the colored Daleks used in the Peter Cushing movies were the same ones from the black-and-white episodes of that era, or if they were built specifically for that movie? And if the latter, will they be included as well?

And, yes, you are a nerd, but we love you for it.

[Ian]

Yeah, the Cybermen designs are a bit more easy to observe the differences. I highly doubt, though, that we'll ever some of those early designs for those again on the show.

We've already seen an Invasion (or maybe Revenge) era Cyberman in the show. Van Staten had a head in his museum. So they exist in this universe in canon, no reason they couldn't come back again...

[Trev (DWP)]

Yeah, the Cybermen designs are a bit more easy to observe the differences. I highly doubt, though, that we'll ever some of those early designs for those again on the show.

We've already seen an Invasion (or maybe Revenge) era Cyberman in the show. Van Staten had a head in his museum. So they exist in this universe in canon, no reason they couldn't come back again...

for the record - definately a revenge head.  Which makes it even more difficult, as Revenge is set a considerable amount of years after when the story Dalek is set.  Perhaps it is a sly dig at the same problem the Davison story Earthshock had - when the Cybermen viewed their records of the Doctor, a clip from Revenge was seen - patently impossible as Earthshock is set again a long time before Revenge is.

Trev.

[James (DWP)]

Just cos we recognise the Cyberhead from Revenge doesn't mean it was *from* Revenge.  This cast of cybermen could have been around for millennia - we just saw them first in Revenge.  The Earthshock conundrum is harder to explain away - I have a feeling that the Cyberleader in Eathshock refers directly to the events in Revenge. Sure someone can come up with a plausible retcon though!

[TomH1138]

We've already seen an Invasion (or maybe Revenge) era Cyberman in the show. Van Staten had a head in his museum. So they exist in this universe in canon, no reason they couldn't come back again...

Right, but I meant a full appearance, not just the head.

Anyway, maybe the show runners could get away with that particular costume. But I think this one would spark off howls of unintended laughter in a modern audience:

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y285/tomh1138/?action=view&current=Silly_Cybermen.jpg

Of course, we'd probably still think it's kind of cool because we would know what's being referenced. But I don't think it would work for most current viewers. 

The Daleks, on the other hand, are similar enough in design that Moff can get away with it.

So, not knowing enough about classic Who, I have to ask: Why is the look of the "Revenge"/"Earthshock" Cybermen a problem, but the look of the "Attack"/"Silver Nemesis" Cybermen isn't an issue? I'm looking at the TARDIS Wiki and at Wikipedia, and I can't really see a difference in the designs between any of those episodes.

[Henry Gordon Jago]

I wonder if the colored Daleks used in the Peter Cushing movies were the same ones from the black-and-white episodes of that era, or if they were built specifically for that movie? And if the latter, will they be included as well?

The movie Daleks were indeed distinctive from the television Daleks of the period.  The film models were quite a bit larger, with much larger indicator lights (akin to modern television Daleks), a thicker bumper at the base, and a pincer mechanism in place of the sucker.  One of these did make a television appearance in Planet of the Daleks (1973), with an electric torch (or flashlight) retrofitted into the eyestalk.

[TomH1138]

Nice! I hope that the movie Daleks make an appearance, if any still exist.