On Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer

My friend Todd “Scavenger” Kogutt keeps telling me about the Doctor Who spin-off he’d love to see: Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer, starring Bruce Campbell. The first time he told me this I must confess that I snarfed coffee on my monitor–I just didn’t see it. But after the recent Dalek two-parter Todd brought the idea up again, and I considered it.

Abslom Daak. For those unfamiliar with the character and his origins, WHOniverse offers a Discontinuity Guide-style entry on his first appearance, the New Zealand fanzine TSV has a detailed article on Daak’s history and appearances, and Wikipedia has a good summary of the character:

Convicted of “23 charges of murder, pillage, piracy, massacre and other crimes too horrible to bring to the public attention” in the mid-26th Century, when the galaxy was embroiled in the Dalek Wars, [Daak] was given the choice between being vapourized or entering into exile and becoming a Dalek Killer. Transported to the planet Mazam which was under attack by the Daleks, he destroyed a Dalek task force single-handedly and rescued the Princess Taiyan, with whom he fell in love. Tragically, however, she was killed by a Dalek survivor that Daak had overlooked, leaving Daak grief-stricken and vowing to exterminate every Dalek in the galaxy.

Daak pursued this vendetta in subsequent installments of his comic strip, taking on a crew called the Star Tigers and slicing a destructive swathe through the Dalek armies, often armed only with an energy pistol and his personal chainsword. He remained a tough-talking ruffian, almost psychotically eager for battle. The Daleks considered him the greatest enemy they had, together with the Doctor.

Todd’s idea is this. We’ve had two Doctor Who spin-offs thus far–Torchwood and the forthcoming Sarah Jane Adventures (though the pilot for this has already been broadcast). But what about a Doctor Who spin-off for a different market, co-produced by the Sci-Fi Channel? Doctor Who has been a success for Sci-Fi, so perhaps Sci-Fi might want a Doctor Who spin-off tailored for their viewership.

A chainsaw-wielding Dalek killer would be ideal for a one-off film. 🙂

And who could play a psychotic, chainsaw-wielding Dalek killer better than Bruce Campbell?

I keep thinking about this, and the more I think about it the more I like the idea. It’s a win-win on multiple levels. The Terry Nation estate would get their Doctor-less Dalek spin-off. The Sci-Fi Channel would get Doctor Who product that might appeal to a different audience.

What kind of story, though? A story of Daak’s first mission, the one where he vowed vengeance on the Daleks forevermore? Or perhaps a mission much later in Daak’s career? Perhaps Daak gets involved in events related to the Last Great Time War.

Or…

Six episode series. The two hour pilot could guest-star Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor (though probably without the wig–maybe later in his life the eighth Doctor kept a much trimmer haircut), and then four more episodes of solo Daak adventures. Lots of Daleks. Lots of blowing things up.

Now that I’ve thought about it I can see it. Completely. Sci-Fi needs to do this, though I realize that the rights–between the BBC, the Nation estate, and the creators of Abslom Daak–would be a mess. It would be a completely different Doctor Who spin-off. That’s not a bad thing. 😉