The Daleks (, ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race who appear in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. They first appeared in the 1963 Doctor Who serial The Daleks. The Daleks are a highly xenophobic militant race who seek to destroy all non-Dalek life in the universe. They serve as the archenemies of the series' protagonist, the Doctor, who often comes into conflict with the Daleks throughout the show.
The Daleks were created by Terry Nation, who, between jobs, wrote their debut serial. Drawing on the cultural memory of the Nazi Party in Britain, Nation based the Daleks on them. He wished for a completely inhuman design, which would end up being designed by Raymond Cusick. Doctor Who, initially an educational show, only ran Nation's serial due to lacking any other options for production. However, the Daleks were a massive success with viewers and greatly boosted series viewership, kicking off a period referred to as Dalekmania, during which the Daleks and their battle armour became highly popular among the British public. The Daleks subsequently became major recurring antagonists in the programme, and would be brought back in a variety of fashions across the show's more than 60-year history.
The Daleks are the series' most popular and famous villains and their returns to television over the decades have often gained media attention. They are regarded as an icon of British popular culture, and their usage of the phrase "Exterminate" has become well-known even to those otherwise unfamiliar with the series. The Daleks' use of Nazi allegories and their relationship and dynamic with the Doctor have additionally been the subject of analysis among critics.
History and appearances Overview Doctor Who is a long-running British science-fiction television series that began in 1963. It stars its protagonist, the Doctor, an alien who travels through time and space in a ship known as the TARDIS, as well as their travelling companions. When the Doctor dies, they are able to undergo a process known as "regeneration", completely changing the Doctor's appearance and personality. Throughout their travels, the Doctor often comes into conflict with various alien species and antagonists. Of these enemies, the Daleks have often been described as the Doctor's archenemies and greatest foes.
Daleks are highly xenophobic violent, merciless and pitiless cyborg aliens who hail from the irradiated planet Skaro. They lack any emotion other than hate, and demand total conformity to the will of the Dalek with the highest authority. They are bent on the conquest of the universe and the extermination of any other forms of life, including other "impure" Daleks which are deemed inferior for being different to them. The Daleks are a militant race, with little in the way of culture. They wish only to destroy any other beings they come across, and see hatred as beautiful. The Daleks are cyborgs, with the creature inside of the casing greatly resembling a one-eyed, gelatinous squid-like creature. The Dalek armour is virtually indestructible. The Dalek casing uses a plunger-like manipulator arm, though the arm has been replaced by other appendages, such as a claw-like design and a blowtorch, throughout the series. In-universe, the arm uses an intense vacuum of focused energy to manipulate objects, and Daleks are capable of crushing a human's skull with it. They also have a whisk-like gunstick weapon which can fire lasers at their enemies.
Classic Era The Daleks first appeared in the 1963 serial The Daleks, where they are depicted as the inhabitants of a city on the planet Skaro. In the past, they had engaged in a nuclear war with the Thals, the other native species of Skaro, which forced the Daleks into their city, which they are unable to leave due to a dependency on static electricity. The First Doctor's (William Hartnell) companion and granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) attempts to negotiate peace between them and the Thals, but the Daleks seek to kill the Thals. The Doctor stages an uprising, with the Thals seemingly killing the Daleks as their static electricity power supply is knocked out.
The Daleks re-appeared in the 1964 serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth, where the Daleks invaded Earth following the planet's devastation in the far future from a meteor storm and plague. They attempted to drill to the planet's core and pilot the Earth through space, but were stopped by the Doctor. After a brief cameo in 1965's The Space Museum, they again re-appeared in 1965's The Chase, where the Daleks have developed time travel technology and attempt to kill the Doctor, but are defeated once again. 1965-1966's The Daleks' Master Plan depicted them attempting to use a device to destroy time. The Doctor and his allies are able to thwart the Daleks' plans, but at the cost of the death of the Doctor's companions Katarina (Adrienne Hill) and Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh).
The Daleks later re-appeared in the 1966 serial The Power of the Daleks, where they infiltrated a human colony on the planet Vulcan, pretending to be servant robots. The newly regenerated Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) was able to halt their plans and destroy them, saving the colony. The Daleks later appeared in the 1967 serial The Evil of the Daleks, which depicted the Daleks attempting to create a "perfect" Dalek by utilising a "human factor" to determine what has caused them to fail thus far, which would allow them to create a "Dalek factor" to counteract it. The Doctor was able to implant some of the Daleks with the human factor, causing an all-out civil war.
1972 serial Day of the Daleks depicted a group of Daleks who conquered Earth in the future using time travel to ensure their success in the past, but they are defeated by the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee). The Third Doctor subsequently encounters them in the 1973 serial Frontier in Space, where they are revealed to secretly be behind the story's events. The Doctor pursues them, leading to the events of the 1973 serial Planet of the Daleks, where he allies with the Thals to destroy a Dalek army kept frozen on the planet Spiridon. The 1974 serial Death to the Daleks depicted their power systems as being drained due to the effects of the Exxilon city on the planet Exxilon, leading to them using low tech weapons in order to accomplish their goal of obtaining a highly plentiful deposit of a rare mineral found on the planet. The Daleks are destroyed at the serial's culmination.
The Daleks re-appeared in the 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks, which depicts the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) going back in time to destroy the Daleks at their creation per the request of his people, the Time Lords, who seek to have the Daleks destroyed before they grow too powerful to stop. During the war between the Thals and a race known as the Kaleds, the Kaled scientist Davros wishes to create "travel machines" in order to ensure the survival of his species. These travel machines, and the creatures that would inhabit them, would later become the Daleks, with Davros genetically engineering the creatures inhabiting the machines to be hateful beings. The Doctor is able to delay the Daleks' evolution by ensuring they are trapped in a bunker, with Davros being presumed killed.
The Daleks later realise that Davros, their creator, was not a pure Dalek, leading to a split in Dalek society: one loyal to Davros, and one where the Daleks ruled themselves. The 1979 serial Destiny of the Daleks saw the Daleks attempting to have Davros aid them in a war with the humanoid Movellans. The following Dalek serial, 1984's Resurrection of the Daleks, depicted the beginnings of a civil war between the two Dalek factions: The Imperials, which were loyal to Davros, and the Renegades, which were the self-ruled Daleks. Though this ended quickly, Davros escaped, and as depicted in the 1985 serial Revelation of the Daleks, Davros began using human bodies to try and recreate his own army of Imperial Daleks. The 1988 serial Remembrance of the Daleks saw the Renegades and Imperials fighting in 1960s London, with both sides, as well as the Dalek homeworld of Skaro, destroyed by the Seventh Doctor's (Sylvester McCoy) usage of a mystical artifact known as the Hand of Omega.
The Daleks made a brief cameo in the opening of the 1996 TV film Doctor Who, where they appear off-screen. The Daleks kill the Master in the movie's opening, with the Doctor returning to take back the Master's remains.
Revived Era Sometime following the events of the 1996 film, the Daleks fought in a war against the Time Lords, which was pre-meditated by the Time Lords' interference in the Daleks' creation. The Daleks and Time Lords fought for an undisclosed amount of time in a devastating war known as the Last Great Time War. An incarnation of the Doctor who fought in the War, the War Doctor (John Hurt), used a weapon known as The Moment, which destroyed both sides of the conflict and ended the war. The Daleks were thought destroyed by the wider universe.
The Daleks first appeared in the revival in the 2005 episode "Dalek". In the episode, a sole survivor of the war crash landed on Earth. After being captured by an alien collector, it attempted to escape, though eventually committed suicide after a restoration process gave it human emotions. The Daleks appeared again in the 2005 two-part story, "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways", where the Daleks' Emperor was revealed to have survived. The Emperor managed to rebuild the Dalek empire, but both he and his empire were destroyed after the Doctor's companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) absorbed the power of the time vortex, removing them from existence.
The Daleks made a re-appearance in the 2006 two-part story "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday." A group of Daleks known as the Cult of Skaro were able to escape the Time War by travelling to the void between dimensions. The Cult escaped as the Cybermen from a parallel world invaded Earth, leading to a battle between the two species. The Tenth Doctor's (David Tennant) companion Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) accidentally comes into contact with a "Genesis Ark" that the Daleks have in their possession, allowing the Cult to open it and unleash vast swarms of Daleks from within. The Daleks from the Ark are later sent back to the void by the Doctor and Rose, though the Cult escapes via time travel. They re-appear in the subsequent series in the two part episode "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks", which depicts the species' leader, Sec, fusing with a human to attempt to evolve the Dalek species and allow them to survive. Sec begins to gain concepts such as morality and empathy, leading to the other Cult members rebelling against him and creating an army of Dalek-human hybrids that are pure Dalek in nature. Sec sacrifices himself to save the Doctor, and two other Cult members, Thay and Jast, are destroyed. Caan, the last member, commits genocide on the hybrids and escapes through time travel.
The Daleks re-appear in 2008 two-part story "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End". The story reveals that Caan was able to time travel into the Time War, where he rescued Davros moments before his death. This drove Caan insane, but allowed Davros to begin recreating the Daleks. The Daleks, rebuilt, kidnapped planets from throughout the universe, attempting to create a "reality bomb" to destroy all non-Dalek life in the universe. One of the planets kidnapped is the Earth, resulting in many allies of the Doctor working together to stop the Daleks' plan. Due to Time Lord DNA being mixed into companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) after Davros electrocuted her, she is imbued with a Time Lord-level intellect, allowing her and a copy of the Tenth Doctor to destroy the Daleks' fleets and return the kidnapped planets home.