“This
is how we see Davros now,” showrunner Russell T Davies explained when Julian Bleach portrayed the character with two arms and two legs in 2023’s Children in Need mini-episode Destination: Skaro. Speaking on the BBC’s behind-the-scenes show Doctor Who Unleashed, he added that “The world changes, and when the world changes Doctor Who has to change as well… He looks like this now.”
This decision – to move on from portraying the character as a scarred and wounded victim of the horrors of war – means that the performances of those who played the character in his former guise constitute a complete body of work. A select group of just four actors, their experiences of bringing life to one of the best-known of Doctor Who villains were similar, yet subtly different.
The first was Michael Wisher, who originated the part in 1975’s Genesis of the Daleks. An actor since the late 1950s, Wisher had already appeared in several Doctor Who roles, some of which had involved being hidden behind assorted beards and make-up jobs. But Davros took things to another level, relying heavily on the power of his voice.