The History of the History of "The Daleks" (in Graphs)

Early 1980s. At this point, of course, Ian Levine is barely-known beyond a very exclusive circle of fandom. Yet Peter Haining's Doctor Who: A Celebration tells us that "The Daleks" is still in the archive, unlike "The Time Meddler" or "Tomb of the Cybermen" or bits of "The Invasion". Whoever saved it from being deleted, hooray! We love you.

Late 1980s. Typical '80s grimness sets in as "The Daleks" is released on video, and those who'd read about it in Doctor Who Weekly discover that it's not necessarily a retro-rollercoaster just because it's where the Daleks came from. At the same time, Ian Levine pushes John Nathan-Turner towards "Attack of the Cybermen" and the series towards self-destruction. But...!

Early 1990s. ...the reputation of "The Daleks" is redeemed, as '70s kids who grew up with Doctor Who come of age and realise that despite the script, it's a brilliant piece of '60s design and experimental television. Its environments and radiophonics are justly praised. Sadly, the same '70s kids also see Ian Levine on TV for the first time and wonder if this weirdly aggressive, distinctly un-Doctorish man is really representing them properly. None of which is helped by rumours that he had "The Time Meddler", "Tomb of the Cybermen", and the missing bits of "The Invasion" all along.

Late 1990s. Admiration for "The Daleks" grows, despite gits who want all sci-fi on television to be like Babylon-5 and/or Neil Gaiman comics. The internet is invented, giving Ian Levine increasing opportunities to be "frank" with people. The true horror of the twenty-first century should've been obvious at about this point.

2000s. Faith's argument in the now-popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("I've saved lives, so I can be an absolute cow-bag and do anything I want") strikes a terrible chord with those still trying to defend Ian Levine because of "The Daleks". The new series throws fandom into a confusion that distracts from both Serial B itself (despite a well-deserved screening on BBC4) and the increasing public vileness of the man responsible for its survival (this graph amended to remove the subject's severe but arguably one-off vileness to its compiler, although really).

Modern era. Irony strikes, like that final wafer-thin mint with its razor-sharp edge. Ian Levine, a man now seen as so utterly monstrous that even Gary Barlow can't be nice about him, supports the series on the grounds that (a) some adolescents think it's cool, (b) the writer of "Love & Monsters" has gone away, and (c) it's full of old stuff buffed up a bit and taken out of context. You know, sort of like "Attack of the Cybermen", only with more personal schtick that girls might go for. The parallel facts, that the new chief writer (a) claimed to hate all science-fiction before 2005, (b) has stated only two Doctor Who stories to be any good before his own arrival, and (c) called Ian Levine "that c***", are overlooked by many. Including Ian Levine, amusingly. Meanwhile, "The Daleks" becomes irrelevant, as anything that doesn't look like a CGI action-movie is officially designated saa-aad. Ian Levine himself is too busy screaming at people on newsgroups to note the horrible sense of tragedy, occasionally even libelling them by claiming they're hoarding "lost" episodes, ironic given that he's so often been accused of keeping back the missing bits of "The Invasion".

If someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you, and told you that child would grow up totally horrid... to be a joyless monomaniac who'd bully, cajole, and spoil the experiences of everyone who loved the same thing he claimed to love, despite his humourless contempt for all its most basic principles... to stereotype you and most of your friends as the kind of violently obsessive, bloody-minded eejit that society always feared you were, to the extent of appearing on national telly and threatening to personally murder whoever lied about having episode four of "The Tenth Planet"... would you then do anything possible to prevent that child becoming like Ian Levine? Yes. Yes, I agree, I would too. Even if it meant making sure he never saw Doctor Who, ever.

And as the blue bar finally ticks over the yellow, even at the cost of "The Daleks". Nobody should ever feel compelled to be that grateful.