Charles Dickens and Dalek: Difference between pages

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The '''Daleks''' are a race of [[cyborg]]s from the [[British]] [[television]] series [[Doctor Who]]. They are the mutated remains of the Kaled people of the planet Skaro, who travel around in robotic bodies which bear a suspicious resemblance to overgrown pepper shakers. Their catchphrase was "EXTERMINATE!"
'''Charles Dickens''' ([[February 7]] [[1812]]-[[June 9]] [[1870]]), English writer of the Victorian age. Astonishingly popular in his day, his books have remained in print ever since.


The Daleks were first introduced in December [[1963]] in an episode of Doctor Who called variously, "The Daleks", "The Dead Planet" or "The Mutants". They immediately became a hit, and were featured in many subsequent episodes. Two movies spun off from Doctor Who featured them as the main villians, including "Doctor Who and the Daleks", and "Dalek Invasion of Earth". In addition to this, their popularity has extended to books and stage shows.
Dickens was born into poverty. His father was imprisoned for debt, and Charles spent time working in a boot-blacking factory in [[London]] when he was twelve. Resentment of his situation and the conditions people lived under was a major theme of his works.


Over the twenty-six seasons of the series, the Daleks underwent a number of revisions and elaborations. In the definitive episode "Genesis of the Daleks," aired in [[1975]], the creator of the Daleks was revealed to be the Kaled chief scientist [[Davros]]. Although Davros appeared to have been killed by his own creations at the end of the episode, he survived their attack in suspended animation and was later recovered from the ruins of Skaro by the Daleks seeking his help to enhance their design. Davros' continuing influence eventually led to a schism among the Daleks, with one faction following Davros' leadership (the "Renegade" Daleks) and another faction rejecting their creator to instead follow the Supreme Dalek (the "Imperial" Daleks).
Dickens became a journalist, reporting parliamentary debate and travelling [[United Kingdom|Britain]] by stagecoach to report election campaigns. His journalism informed his first collection of pieces ''[[Sketches by Boz]]''. Most of his novels first appeared in serialized form. He made his name with ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]''.


Davros made his last appearance in the Doctor Who TV serial "''Remembrance of the Daleks''" simply as a head.
Among his best known works are ''[[Great Expectations]]'', ''[[David Copperfield]]'', ''[[Oliver Twist]]'', ''[[Nicholas Nickleby]]'' and ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''. ''David Copperfield'' may be his best novel; it is certainly his most autobiographical.


Dickens' novels were, among other things, works of social commentary. He was a fierce critic of the poverty and social stratification of Victorian society.


They were created by Doctor Who author [[Terry Nation]].
Dickens was fascinated by the theatre as an escape from the world, and theaters and theatrical people appear in ''Nicholas Nickleby''.

Dickens loved to perform readings from his works and travelled widely in Britain and America.

Dickens' writing style is florid and poetic, with a strong comic touch. His satires of British aristocratic snobbery -- he calls one character the "Noble Refrigerator" -- are wickedly funny. Some of his characters are grotesques; he loved the style of 18th century gothic romance though it had already become a bit of joke (see [[Jane Austen]]'s ''Northanger Abbey'' for example).

Like several of his contemporaries, some of his works are marred by vehement [[Anti-semitism]]. For example, the character Fagin in Oliver Twist is an egregiously stereotypical Jew, with whole passages describing his hooked nose and greedy eyes.

Much of Dickens's writing seems sentimental today, like the death of Little Nell in ''[[The Old Curiosity Shop]]''.

But throughout his works, Dickens retained an empathy for the common man.

Dickens died in 1870, and was buried in the Poet's Corner of [[Westminster Abbey]]. The inscription on his tomb reads: "He was a sympathiser to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world."

Revision as of 06:19, 29 January 2002

The Daleks are a race of cyborgs from the British television series Doctor Who. They are the mutated remains of the Kaled people of the planet Skaro, who travel around in robotic bodies which bear a suspicious resemblance to overgrown pepper shakers. Their catchphrase was "EXTERMINATE!"

The Daleks were first introduced in December 1963 in an episode of Doctor Who called variously, "The Daleks", "The Dead Planet" or "The Mutants". They immediately became a hit, and were featured in many subsequent episodes. Two movies spun off from Doctor Who featured them as the main villians, including "Doctor Who and the Daleks", and "Dalek Invasion of Earth". In addition to this, their popularity has extended to books and stage shows.

Over the twenty-six seasons of the series, the Daleks underwent a number of revisions and elaborations. In the definitive episode "Genesis of the Daleks," aired in 1975, the creator of the Daleks was revealed to be the Kaled chief scientist Davros. Although Davros appeared to have been killed by his own creations at the end of the episode, he survived their attack in suspended animation and was later recovered from the ruins of Skaro by the Daleks seeking his help to enhance their design. Davros' continuing influence eventually led to a schism among the Daleks, with one faction following Davros' leadership (the "Renegade" Daleks) and another faction rejecting their creator to instead follow the Supreme Dalek (the "Imperial" Daleks).

Davros made his last appearance in the Doctor Who TV serial "Remembrance of the Daleks" simply as a head.


They were created by Doctor Who author Terry Nation.