The return of the Daleks for the ‘Doctor Who’ New Year special episode, ‘Resolution,’ took the Doctor and her friends on a terrifying journey. However, it seems like the monster was given a less intimidating name during filming: Kevin.
To keep fans from guessing Skaro’s return, showrunner Chris Chibnall referred to the Dalek as Kevin in the script. Actor Nikesh Patel, who played Mitch in the episode, had a little trouble understanding the significance of Kevin while he was reading the pages. In an interview with ‘Doctor Who’ magazine, Patel said:
“I got a call from my agent saying they’d love you to be in the ‘Doctor Who’ Special. I asked them to send me through a script and it was a cracking read, but also a confusing read.”
He continued, saying:
“It was a really tense horror thriller, but this buried, ancient tentacled evil was only referred to by a codename! As someone who’s not a die-hard ‘Who’ fan, I thought, ‘That’s a step too far, surely?’”
Patel revealed that the show’s star was in on the fun, saying:
“In the read-through, Jodie [Whittaker] stuck with the codename. Although with hindsight she did it with a wry smile.”
Charlotte Ritchie, who played Lin in ‘Resolution,’ confirmed that Kevin was the Dalek’s codename on Twitter, and explained that the name took the fright out of the monster.
Exclusive: it was Kevin. Which took away a lot of the drama. No disrespect to the name. https://t.co/xZXA9BPRvb
— Charlotte Ritchie (@Charitchie) February 7, 2019
‘Doctor Who’ is on hiatus, and will return to the BBC in 2020!