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?

Suck it, James Cameron

See, there's this movie. A quite popular movie, actually. You might even say that a lot of people went ape-shit over it. And years from now, historians and Wikipedia-surfers alike will wonder what the hell was going on when the 2009 Golden Globe for Best Picture was awarded to this film. I think it's safe to say that none of these future wonderers will, although they should, turn to their companion(s) and say: "But why, companion(s), was Avatar showered in so much praise, when 1963-4 Doctor Who serial The Daleks (1.2) was clearly so much better?"

Yes, lots of things are better than Avatar - brushing one's teeth, Attack of the Cybermen (22.1), this - but the reason I compare it to The Daleks is that, in a way, they're similar. (And I just watched The Daleks.) Our protagonist(s) travel to a distant planet, where concerns over resources are forcing the encounter between somewhat peaceful, scantily clad people who live in a jungle teeming with dangerous alien life, and xenophobic, militaristic technocrats who hide in their city. There are other things too. The protagonist(s) meeting the city people first, and being told that the jungle people are terrifying and horrible, and finding them instead to be sexy. The baddies' need to destroy lots of things in order to get what they need. And, of course, a big battle between sticks on one side and "travel machines" on the other.

Narratively, here's why The Daleks is better. As should be obvious, The Daleks is about nuclear war, and (this may come as a shock to you, but)