Mechanus Attack Dalek

"Mechanus Attack Dalek" is a title based upon conjecture.

Check the behind the scenes section, the revision history and discussion page for additional comments on this article's title.

The Daleks within their time machine. (TV: The Chase)

A variant of Daleks supported the silver Pursuer-Daleks who pursued the First Doctor through time in their own Dalek time machine. (TV: The Chase)

Characteristics

These Daleks were distinguished from the silver Pursuer-Daleks in that they did not sport slats on their weapons platforms, instead appearing as a variant of the earlier Dalek War Machines. They were further distinguished by their dark domes. (TV: The Chase)

History

According to the Dalek Survival Guide, the crew of the time machine were actually criminals forced to chronicle Dalek history as punishment. These prisoner Daleks noticed the Doctor using a Time-Space Visualiser before being pursued by a squad of Daleks they recognised as their future selves. They knew the Visualiser was scientifically impossible, but in order to ensure their future freedom, they built what would serve as an apparent Time-Space Visualiser that actually displayed recordings of the Daleks' human slaves performing reenactments of the events they knew the Doctor and his companions would view.

The criminal Daleks smuggled themselves out of prison, but were allowed to continue their plan by the Dalek Supreme, who knew they were incompetent and broadcast their attempt for the amusement of other Dalek chroniclers. The criminal Daleks left their fake visualiser on the Xeron Space Museum for the Doctor to find. One of the Daleks was killed by a Morok curator due to not paying admission and became an exhibit, while the rest were indeed those that chased the TARDIS crew through time. (PROSE: Dalek Survival Guide)

Behind the scenes

Appearance

The "Mechanus Attack Daleks" were blue Dalek drones originally created by Shawcraft Models for Dr. Who and the Daleks. Although the plan had been to refurbish them to resemble the television Daleks, this proved to be impractical, and the three hired Daleks were used only in the background of shots, with their enlarged Dalek fenders from the movie removed and their cone shaped head lamps swapped for TV-style bulbs. As The Chase was broadcast before the movie was released, this marks the first appearance of the movie Daleks as well as an early instance of Daleks distinguished by their domes preceding the introduction of the black-domed Imperial Guard Daleks in The Evil of the Daleks.

Merchandise

Mechanus Attack Dalek.

• Accurate to its televised depiction, Character Options released a figure of this variant under the name "Guard Dalek".
• A figurine of this Dalek variant was released with the seventh "Rare Dalek" issue of Doctor Who: Figurine Collection, which named it the "Mechanus Attack Dalek". This figurine erroneously sported the enlarged head lamps and Dalek fender which was removed for The Chase.
• Two of these Daleks were released as a set by Character Options entitled The Jungles of Mechanus. These action figures also sported the enlarged head lamps and fenders.