Doctor Who: Terminator, Day of the Daleks and time travel

The classic Doctor Who story Day of the Daleks, and the Terminator franchise. What do these two share in common? Let’s take a look.

After getting some comics cheap in a sale, I’ve recently been in the mood for some really great Terminator stories. There’s just something so appealing about that universe. Not just the action, or the look of the machines themselves.

But also how it addressed time travel. Particularly how it dealt with the philosophical implications of never knowing just how important we are. For better or for worse.

The reason I bring this up is that, as with many things in life, I was suddenly reminded of Doctor Who. In this case, a very specific Doctor Who story: Day of the Daleks.

This story covers a lot of themes that were looked at in various Terminator stories, but perhaps most strongly in the first two movies. Now, for those of you who have never watched either of these movies, (and if you’re old enough to watch R rated movies, then all I can ask is: why not?), the plot can be summed up as follows.

Terminator 1 and 2

In the first movie, Sarah Connor, an ordinary young woman, is targeted by a machine sent from the future, known as a Terminator. Sent back in time to protect her is Kyle Reese, who explains why she’s been targeted.

The future both the Terminator and Kyle come from is one where so much of the world has been destroyed by nuclear war. After the destruction, the machines take over, controlled by the artificial intelligence known as Skynet.

But humanity fights back, inspired by the actions of one man: John Connor, Sarah’s son. Who, in the first film, hasn’t even been born yet. Reese is one of the soldiers who fights in the resistance. The Terminator has been sent back in time to prevent John from even being born.

The second film, broadly speaking, has a similar plotline. Set over ten years later, it’s John himself as a boy who’s targeted by a Terminator. Once again, someone else is sent back in time to protect him, this time another Terminator, and the plot leads into one of the greatest action movies of all time.

Time travel is a key feature in Day of the Daleks, and the idea is explored in great detail.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Day of the Daleks

For Day of the Daleks, the general plot is in some ways your classic Third Doctor and UNIT story. The story involves several soldiers going back in time to kill a diplomat, Sir Reginald Styles.

They believe he will be responsible for an explosion that will not only wipe out many politicians from different countries, but lead to the start of World War Three. After so much of the world’s population is wiped out, the Daleks arrive and take over.

Sound familiar?

Don’t worry, I’m not saying that James Cameron, the creator of the Terminator franchise, ripped off Doctor Who. If the controversy regarding the first Terminator film is anything to go by, it seems that The Outer Limits episode Soldier, written by Harlan Ellison, is a more likely influence.

Interesting questions

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Regardless, both share interesting themes and ideas when it comes to time travel. How important could your life be to the future of everything? How important would your death become? What would you be willing to do to prevent the worst future from happening? And why are post-apocalyptic futures filled with evil cyborgs so awesome?

I’d recommend any fan of good time-travel based science-fiction to check out Day of the Daleks. It’s both a strong Doctor Who story and one of the stronger Dalek stories from Jon Pertwee’s era. It’s not on BritBox, unfortunately, but if you can find it on DVD, it’s worth tracking down.

Particularly for the special edition. Not only do they add more effects, but they make the Dalek voices much, much better. (Seriously, the original Dalek voices in that story were…not good.)

Oh, and track down the first two Terminator films, if you haven’t watched them already. Seriously, two classic sci-fi movies that are worth watching by anyone.

What’s your favorite time travel story? Have you seen Day of the Daleks, and is it one of your favorites? Are there other Doctor Who stories that remind you of classic films? Let us know in the comments below.