- For the 1963 serial, see The Daleks, For the 2005 episode, see Dalek (TV story)
EX-TER-MINATE!
The Daleks are a race descended from mutant Kaleds from the planet Skaro and encased in mobile shells. The Daleks fought the Last Great Time War with the Time Lords and regarded the Doctor as their greatest single enemy. They are hated and feared throughout time and space, and widely considered the most dangerous and evil creatures in the universe.
Physical characteristics
Battle Armour
The metal is just battle armour. The real Dalek creature is inside.
The creatures inside their "travel machines" were most frequently Kaled mutants, which the Doctor once described as "little green blobs in bonded polycarbide armour" (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks), although mutated members of other species, mainly Humans, also occupied the casings on occasion.
- In the original story, The Daleks, the mutated creatures are called Dals.
The interdependence of biological and mechanical components arguably made the Daleks a type of cyborg. The Imperial Daleks created by Davros during the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War were inarguably true cyborgs, surgically connected to their shells. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)
Externally, Daleks resembled human-sized peppershakers, with a single mechanical eyestalk in a rotating dome, a gunstick and a manipulator arm. The casings were made of bonded polycarbide armour (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks, Doomsday), a material that was also called dalekanium. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
The lower shell was covered with many hemispherical protrusions, seen as a self-destruct system (DW: Dalek).
The voice of a Dalek was electronic, the Dalek creature having no vocal apparatus as such. Their most infamous statement was "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!", with each syllable individually screeched in a frantic electronic scream. Other common utterances included "I (or WE) OBEY!" to any command given by a superior. Daleks also had a radio communicator built into their shells, and emitted an alarm to summon other nearby Daleks if the casing was opened from outside.
The Dalek's eyepiece was its most vulnerable spot, and impairing its vision often led to its main weapon being fired indiscriminately. The Dalek casing also functioned as a fully-sealed environment suit, allowing travel through the vacuum of space or underwater without the need for additional life-support equipment. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Parting of the Ways)
A Dalek is connected to its casing through a positronic link while the mutant itself accesses nutrient feeders and control mechanisms inside its internal chamber. (BFA: The Time of the Daleks)
Due to their gliding motion, some models of Dalek were notoriously unable to tackle stairs, which made them easy to overcome under the right circumstances. For example, at one time the Doctor and his companions escaped from Dalek pursuers by climbing into a ceiling duct. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks) Some models appeared to be able to hover, or even travel under their own power like small spacecraft (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth,The Chase, Revelation of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks, Dalek, The Parting of the Ways, Doomsday, Daleks in Manhattan).
The armour of Dalek Sec and Dalek Caan had temporal shift capacity, possibly unique to those units and the others of the Cult of Skaro. (DW: Doomsday, Daleks in Manhattan)
The power source of the Dalek casing appears to have varied at different points in their history. During his first encounter with them on Skaro, the Doctor learned that the casing was externally powered by static electricity transmitted through the metal floors of the Dalek City. Isolating a Dalek from the floor using a non-conductive material shut down the casing, although it was not immediately fatal to the occupant. This weakness was not seen on any other occasion. (DW: The Daleks)
By the beginning of the Last Great Time War the Daleks had adapted their technology to use a form of energy apparently inextricably linked to the process of time travel (possibly Artron energy). On more than one occasion Daleks and their devices were seen to leech this energy from time-travelers to power themselves. (DW: Dalek, Doomsday)
Whatever the power source was that the Daleks used in the interim, it was (apparently uniquely) immune to being drained by the City of the Exxilons. Strangely, the Daleks retained motive power and the ability to speak even though their weaponry was shut down (strongly suggesting the weapon systems had a separate power supply). The Doctor indicated that this was because the Daleks were psychokinetic, the City being unable to absorb psychic energy. Other references to the Daleks having any kind of psychic potential are rather scarce, but on the planet Kyrol the Doctor later discovered an enclave of humanized Daleks who had, through years of meditation, developed their psychokinesis to a remarkable degree. (DW: Death to the Daleks, DWM: Children of the Revolution)
The casing was also booby-trapped making even dead Daleks a dangerous foe. They were frequently equipped with virus transmitters which worked automatically. (NSA: I am a Dalek) Furthermore, the armour contains an automated distress beacon which activates if disturbed. (DW: Planet of the Daleks)
Mutant
A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate.
The interior mutant was, as Ace described it, a green or pinkish "blob." (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks) It is the brain of the Dalek and the true creature that hates everything that is not a Dalek. The "blobs" are most often genetically-mutated Kaleds or, at times, other species captured by the Daleks and are depicted as having multiple tentacle-like protrusions and a normal sized right eye with the left eye much reduced in size so as to be easily missed. Despite their apparent lack of any motive capability they are shown to be capable of defending themselves, as demonstrated when a Dalek attacked and killed a soldier. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)
While typically the Daleks are small mutants, at least one member of the species, Dalek Sec, had extremely large tentacles and was pale green; he could even produce a sac-like membrane that appeared to come from his mouth. It was this membrane that he used to absorb Mr. Diagoras and transform into a Human-Dalek. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks)
History
We are entombed but we live on. This is only the beginning. We will prepare. We will grow stronger. When the time is right, we will emerge and take our rightful place as the supreme power of the universe!
The Daleks were the product of a generations-long war between the Kaled and Thal races.
- Main article: Creation of the Daleks
Over the course of their history, the Daleks developed time travel (DW: The Chase), an interstellar (and later intergalactic) Dalek Empire (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan) and factory ships for conquest (DW: The Power of the Daleks). The radio dishes which had originally been required to allow them to travel on surfaces without a static charge (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) also vanished, enabling Daleks to move under their own power.
- Main article: History of the Daleks
Origin of the name
"Dalek" had been the ancient Dal word for god. Davros, the creator of the Daleks, appropriated the name, supposing the Daleks to approximate gods in evolutionary terms. (I, Davros) Obviously, however, that Dalek is an anagram of Kaled, the race from which the Daleks were genetically engineered. A scientist under the command of Davros mentioned that the word "Dalek" had never been heard before the Doctor, and then hours later, Davros himself, uttered it. (DW: Genesis of the Daleks)
It was later implied that Dalek was an extension of Dal. In this story, the Dals, and not the Kaleds, were the genetic precursors of the Daleks. (DW: The Daleks)
Culture
All inferior creatures are to be considered the enemy of the Daleks, and destroyed!
General
Daleks had little to no individual personality and a strict hierarchy. They were conditioned to obey a superior's orders without question. Ultimately, the most fundamental feature of Dalek culture and psychology was an unquestioned belief in the superiority of the Daleks. Other species were either to be exterminated immediately, or enslaved and then exterminated later once they were no longer necessary. The default directive of a Dalek was to destroy all non-Dalek lifeforms.
This belief is thought to be the reason why Daleks never significantly modified their mechanical shell's designs to overcome its obvious physical limitations; any such modification would deviate from the Dalek ideal, and therefore must be inferior and deserving of extermination. The schism between the Renegade and Imperial Daleks was a prime example of this, with each faction considering the other to be a perversion despite the relatively minor differences between them. This belief also meant that Daleks were intolerant of such "contamination" even within themselves. (DW: Dalek, Evolution of the Daleks, BFA: The Mutant Phase)
Another offshoot of this superiority complex was their complete ruthlessness, although this is also due to genetic modifications made to the original Kaled mutants by Davros. It was because of this that it was nearly impossible to negotiate or reason with a Dalek and it was this single-mindedness that made them so dangerous and not to be underestimated. However, their reliance on logic and machinery was also a weakness, albeit one that they recognized in themselves. As a result, they also made use of non-Dalek species to compensate for these shortcomings.
As noted above, the Daleks that were created through the manipulation and mutation of human genetic material by the Dalek Emperor were religious fanatics that worshiped the Emperor as their god. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
Although the Daleks were well known for their disregard for due process and Galactic Law, there were at least two occasions on which they took enemies back to Skaro for a "trial" rather than killing them on the spot; the first was their creator Davros (DW: Revelation of the Daleks), and the second was the renegade Time Lord known as the Master (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie). It is not clear what was actually involved. The Master's trial presumably took place before the destruction of Skaro. The reasons for the Master's trial have never been made clear.
- It has been suggested that the Daleks' retrieval of Davros was not for a 'trial' in the criminal sense but rather a test to see if he was in fact worthy of becoming the supreme leader of the race. (BFD: I, Davros)
The Daleks were known to write poetry (NA: The Also People), and some of the more elaborate Dalek battlecries had an almost poetic quality about them (for example, "Advance and Attack! Attack and Destroy! Destroy and Rejoice!" (DW: The Chase)) In an alternate reality, the Daleks showed a fondness for the works of Shakespeare. (BFA: The Time of the Daleks)
Due to their frequent defeats by the Doctor, he became a legendary figure in Dalek culture and mythology. They had standing orders to capture or exterminate the Doctor on sight, and were occasionally able to identify him despite his regenerations. This was not an innate ability, but probably the result of good record keeping. The Daleks knew the Doctor as the Ka Faraq Gatri, (meaning "The Bringer of Darkness" or "Destroyer of Worlds") (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)). The Doctor claimed that the Daleks also called him "The Oncoming Storm" (DW: The Parting of the Ways). This name was also used by the Draconians to refer to the Doctor. (NA: Love and War), though for a different reason.
The Doctor, in turn, grew to be almost monomaniacal in his belief that the Daleks were completely evil and unworthy of trust or compassion. This contrasts with some of his earlier dealings with the Daleks; for example the Doctor attempted to instill a "human factor" in Daleks (DW: The Evil of the Daleks) and he hesitated when presented with the opportunity to destroy the Daleks at the point of their creation (DW: Genesis of the Daleks). His conviction of the irredeemable nature of the Daleks motivated a venomous outburst by the Doctor leading the mutant to observe that the Doctor "would make a good Dalek." (DW: Dalek) This bias has apparently changed as of Evolution of the Daleks, where the Doctor becomes eager to help Sec create a new race of Daleks, even calling him "a great man". Later, The Doctor risked being killed by Caan to approach and reason with him, even after both Sec and the new Dalek hybrids were killed in front of him.
Dalek Hierarchy
- See Dalek Hierarchy.
Dalek writing
See Dalek writing.
Behind the Scenes
Other appearances
Two Doctor Who movies starring Peter Cushing featured the Daleks as the main villains: Dr. Who and the Daleks, and Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, based on the television serials The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth, respectively. However, the movies were not straight remakes. Cushing's Doctor is not an alien, but a human inventor, and is literally named "Doctor Who." The movies used brand new Dalek props, based closely on the original design but with a wider range of colours. Originally, the movie Daleks were supposed to shoot jets of flame, but this was thought to be too graphic for children, so their weapons emitted jets of deadly vapour instead.
Marvel UK was publishing Doctor Who Magazine at the time, which included comic strip stories in its pages. Aside from meeting up with the Doctor in them, the DWM strips also introduced a new nemesis for the Daleks; the Dalek Killer named Abslom Daak. Daak was a convicted criminal in the 26th century who was given the choice between execution and being sent on a suicide mission against the Daleks. He chose the latter and, when the woman he loved was killed by the Daleks, made it his life's purpose to kill every Dalek he came across.
The Daleks have also appeared in the Dalek Empire series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.
Story titles
Beginning with the 1965 stage play The Curse of the Daleks, the best-known title format for stories featuring the Daleks has been "... of the Daleks". This was first used on television in the 1966 serial The Power of the Daleks and was used most recently on TV in 2007's Evolution of the Daleks. In fact, if comic strips, audios and novels are included, more stories exist that do not use this title format, but "... of the Daleks" is considered ubiquitous enough that the spoof film Myth Runner includes a joking reference to an apparent future Who story entitled Deuteronomy of the Daleks.
The word Dalek has been titular to more Doctor Who televised story titles than any other noun, although Planet and Death are more ubiquitous if Hartnell-era adventures — which originally did not have story titles as such — are identified only by their episodic titles. Indeed, in the whole of the Hartnell era, Dalek was used exactly once as an onscreen title — for episode two of the adventure later re-christened as The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
See also
External links
- Dalek Links - the Web's most comprehensive listing of Dalek Web sites
- Project Dalek - build your own Dalek - The best plans on the net and the liveliest Dalek Building Forums - 5 star recommended on DalekLinks.com!
- Dalek City - Dalek Building guides
- Dalek 6388 - about the various Dalek props built for the series - an invaluable guide.
- Doctor Who Collectibles: An Annotated Bibliography
- The Last Dalek - Flash game by New Media Collective, on the BBC website
- Rassilon Omega and that Other Guy - Culture, Tech, and Timeline
External Sources
- Howe, David J & Walker, Stephen James (2003). The Television Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to DOCTOR WHO (2nd ed.) Surrey, UK: Telos Publishing, ISBN 1-903389051-0.
- Haining, Peter, (1988) "Doctor Who and the Merchandisers", Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years London, UK: W.H. Allen, ISBN 0-31837661-X.
- Davies, Kevin (director) (1993). More than 30 Years in the TARDIS London, UK: BBC Video.
- Howe, David J & Walker, Stephen James (1994). The First Doctor Handbook London, UK: Virgin Publishing, ISBN 0-426-2-430-1.
- Finklestone, Peter (producer) (2003). "Talking Daleks" featurette, The Dalek Invasion of Earth London, UK: BBC Video.
- Seaborne, Gilliane (director) (2005). "Dalek", Doctor Who Confidential BBC Wales.
- Nation, Terry (ed.) (1979). Terry Nation's Dalek Special, Target Books, bottom.