Exterminate!

The Daleks will be returning to the new Doctor Who, thanks to an agreement reached between the BBC and the Terry Nation estate, with “the BBC accept[ing] the arrangement that had been in place for the last 40 years.”

While it’s possible the oversized pepper-pots will grace television screens everywhere in the new series’ first year–filming on the first episode began a few weeks ago in Cardiff–I think a second season debut would be more likely, as the writing assignments for the series were announced months ago.

Still, it’s the Daleks. They’ll be back, instilling fear in children everywhere.

Another returning villain, instilling fear in adults everywhere, is the Bush Administration’s latest terrorism alert.

Thomas Greene, computer security expert, wrote a fascinating article for the The Register, a UK-based IT news journal, on the political implications of the recent terror alert. Greene writes, “[L]ast week sucked for the Bush Administration. It’s no wonder, then, that a multi-city security rain dance should be choreographed – no wonder that police in paramilitary jumpsuits and helmets and boots should appear on the streets and in the subways with fully automatic weapons.”

It’s difficult to separate a possible political motivation from the terror alert–why would Tom Ridge state that the alert would run through Election Day, not Christmas, not the end of the year, but Election Day, unless the goal was to keep the electorate frightened and off-balance? I hate to seem cynical, but this is one instance where avoiding cynicism isn’t easy.