Now they can tell each other apart

Why does everything designed for children's series these days have to look like it can go in the bath? The best example I can think of is Jonathan Frakes' 2004 live-action Thunderbirds movie, in which, rather than looking wonderfully advanced like it's supposed to, all the technology looks colourful, waterproof, and fun to play with. The new TARDIS interior looks like it was designed specifically with slip-'n'-slide fun in mind. And the redesigned Daleks look like they squirt water if you push their lids down, and they come in a range of exciting colours. The reason for all this should be obvious, partly because it's the reason the Daleks got so popular in the first place: merchandising.

This reminds me of the Sontarans' return two years ago. As I wrote last week, the resulting two-parter (N4.4/N4.5) proved that the Sontarans aren't actually that interesting unless they're there to tell a good story (which their new series return very much wasn't). And while Davros' return that season was used as a surprise, the Sontarans were major marketing tools for Season 4. This gives me some hope for the Silurians' return later this year. While everyone knows they're returning, we haven't been seeing pictures of their redesign since late last year. In late 2007 (six months before they would actually appear), Lawrence Miles commented on the publicity pictures, pointing out that "the 'controversial' new Sontaran outfit makes it look like a five-foot-tall action-figure." Sound familiar?
He went on:

"Can we believe that it's been deliberately designed with an eye to the merchandising? No, not really. But can we believe that because of the merchandising, a brightly-clad, fully-jointed, clearly-moulded monster is what the designers think a "typical" Doctor Who baddie should look like these days…? Actually, that seems a lot more feasible."

Honestly, when it comes to Daleks, they really might have been designed (and written) with merchandising in mind. Why else would they come in a range of colours like Power Rangers or (as Sarah pointed out) iPods? In that case, they really should have done a green Dalek, a pink Dalek, and a limited-edition U2 Dalek, but they had to save something for future adventures.
For all my teasing, this isn't a terrible thing. Action figures, in addition to running around pretending to be the Doctor/companion/monsters, are how children engage with their favourite shows, particularly sci-fi. Certain genres of films get bogged down in studio demands for the inclusion of characters/creatures with merchandising potential, but Doctor Who has never had trouble coming up with things that make awesome toys (with the possible exception of the Voord), nor has it noticeably interfered with storytelling (I own a Sontaran action figure...the old style). A continuing problem with CGI monsters (or ships) is that, despite advances since the days of Star Trek: Voyager's Species 8472, they still don't look like you could touch them...or play with them. I'll bet kids will want the new Daleks, Silurians, and even Weeping Angels figures more than they'll want one of Prisoner Zero. I used to love the cheaply-made props of Doctor Who, particularly '70s-era, because they looked like things I could make with materials from around the house. I don't think the new TARDIS interior is much of an improvement, but then again I'm no longer the kid who ran around the washing-machine section of David Jones, turning all the dials and pushing all the buttons as if I was Sylvester McCoy at the beginning of the TV movie (I may or may not have hummed the dramatic incidental music as I did it). The new TARDIS console is full of household objects like phones and typewriters (I'm not sure about the anal bead time rotor, but it's behind glass), is surrounded by ramps to run up and play around, and there's a minimum of sharp corners on which to hit one's head. If it doesn't look fun to be in, it's not doing its job.

But especially when it comes to creatures there needs to be some balance between stuff you can play with and stuff you can't (or probably shouldn't). I may have moved on to more adult ways of engaging with Doctor Who, but I still remember the excitement of action figures, which comes from how well the toy simulates what's on-screen, not how much things on-screen look like toys. In 1963, Daleks invaded imaginations and toy stores alike because they were nothing like everyday sights, not because they looked like they held pens or squirted water. Giving the Daleks, whose look has been basically unchanged since 1963, a redesign is a bold (and bold is good) and not unwarranted move. They often look a bit silly to anyone who hasn't grown up with them or seen "Dalek" (N1.6, which did a nice job of establishing the deadly power of just one Dalek), although by all accounts they still freak out anyone who happens to come across one in real life. It just would have been nice if the redesign attempted to capture for today's audience the startlingly modern, almost-incomprehensibly alien way they looked to viewers in 1963.