The Daleks are an iconic British baddie. If you’ve never seen them before, where should you start with their TV adventures?
Genesis of the Daleks
The Daleks are mutants from the planet Skaro, their once-humanoid bodies changed beyond recognition in the fall-out of a devastating war with their sworn enemies the Thals.
But their mutated form was foreseen by a demented scientist known as Davros, also a native of the planet Skaro. He genetically engineered the creatures that the Daleks would ultimately mutate into, and designed a casing that would fit around their new bodies. This casing (complete with a ray gun and a sucker-shaped appendage) is the one we all recognise today as the classic Dalek shape.
And so, if you’re thinking of beginning your Dalek TV journey, then the 1975 adventure ‘Genesis of the Daleks‘ would be a good place to start. It tells the story of how Davros originally conceived of the Daleks, with the Doctor having been sent back in time on a secret mission to try and stop their creation. But does he succeed? And does he have the right?
‘Genesis of the Daleks’ is widely regarded as one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time, and would be a great place to start your Doctor Who marathon.
The Daleks
Of course, you could always begin with the very first televised Dalek story from 1963. This classic adventure propelled Doctor Who to instant fame, helped in large part by the overwhelming popularity of the arrival of the metal mutants. Originally titled ‘The Mutants,’ this seven-part story was only the second adventure in the series’ history, and saw the Doctor and his band of (mostly) unwilling companions stumbling across the Dalek and Thal survivors on a petrified Skaro. The eponymous villains were plotting to wipe out the Thals once and for all, and it was up to the Time Lord and his friends to stop them.
Interestingly, there are now many different ways to enjoy this adventure. It was adapted into a feature-length movie in 1965 starring Peter Cushing, and even though it obviously deviates from the Doctor Who canon in many ways, it does tell the same story.
And then there is the truncated, colourised version from 2023, complete with fast-paced editing and a newly-composed soundtrack. But if you have the time, you should certainly check out the original; it’s one of the most important stories in Doctor Who history.
Dalek
When Doctor Who returned in 2005, there was a whole generation of viewers who had grown up without the Daleks. The new series, therefore, had to reintroduce them for a new audience, and ‘Dalek’ – the sixth episode – did just that.
In the story, the Ninth Doctor and Rose found themselves in a secret underground bunker in the near future, where an obsessed, billionaire collector was keeping a stash of alien artefacts. One of these artefacts was a Dalek survivor, seemingly the last of its kind. Determined to survive, the Dalek absorbed the DNA of the Doctor’s companion and went on a killing spree – until something altogether more dramatic happened.
Arguably, ‘Dalek’ is one of the most important stories of the modern Doctor Who era and, like ‘The Daleks’ before it, helped to ensure the series’ ongoing popularity. But it also demonstrated that the Daleks could still work in a new age of visual effects and CGI. The design remained largely unaltered, although one of the Daleks’ key weaknesses (the inability to climb up stairs) was categorically dealt with in this adventure.
Victory of the Daleks
Doctor Who has had many ‘beginnings’ in its 60 year history, and Series Five is one of these. There was a new Doctor in the shape of Matt Smith, and a new showrunner in the shape of Steven Moffat. Moreover, the show had a key slot on BBC America, meaning that there were huge swathes of American viewers who were about to discover Doctor Who for the first time.
‘Victory of the Daleks’ is the third adventure from this series, marking the first time the Eleventh Doctor had encountered the Daleks, and indeed the first time many Americans had encountered them, too. It may not be the greatest Dalek story ever written (and it is surprisingly continuity-heavy) but it’s an enjoyable romp, set against the backdrop of the Second World War.
Controversially, this adventure saw the Daleks‘ first major redesign with the arrival of the Paradigm Daleks. These were larger, chunkier versions of the classic Daleks with reshaped casings and deeper voices. They also came in a range of dazzling colours, inspired by the versions that had been seen in the Peter Cushing movies of the 1960s.
They weren’t to everyone’s taste, and interestingly the Paradigm Daleks never appeared again after Series Five, aside from brief cameos. Nonetheless, if you’re thinking of making ‘Victory of the Daleks’ your jumping-on point, it shouldn’t be too tricky to pick up what’s happening.
Resolution
The last of our ‘new beginnings’ on this list is 2021’s ‘Resolution,’ which marked Jodie Whittaker’s first encounter with the metal mutants. Interestingly, her first series didn’t feature any returning baddies at all, and was tailor-made for new Doctor Who fans. ‘Resolution’ was the new year’s special which came hot on the heels of this season, and saw the Doctor trying to deal with a Dalek mutant that had lost its shell, and was desperately trying to assemble a new casing for itself.
Again, it’s not widely regarded as one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever written, but ‘Resolution’ does give a great insight into who the Daleks actually are, and it doesn’t require any knowledge of past stories. It also features an inventive new design for the Dalek shell, made up of pieces of scrap metal that the creature has recovered from a local junk yard. This design would later be adapted for another Dalek story ‘Revolution of the Daleks’ the following year.
So tell us: where are you going to begin your Dalek journey? And which story would you recommend to someone who has never experienced the Daleks before? Let us know in the comments below.
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