Strange to Tell... According to the Daleks (feature)
From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Strange to Tell... According to the Daleks was a feature original to The Dalek World, a Dalek annual released in October 1965. It was unusual for giving a wealth of new information about the Daleks in a form aping realistic "Did You Know?" features in magazine, presenting a series of "fun facts" in a falsely kid-friendly format.
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Because Dalekenium is so light, a Dalek weighs only two-and-a-half Earth pounds. Dalekenium is also the most valuable metal in the universe, one ounce of it being worth one hundred thousand pounds sterling.
- In the year 2000 B.C., a Dalek spacecraft crashed on Earth in Egypt. The locals were so awed by the sight that they decided to erect a monument to mark the spot: the Great Pyramid of Giza.
- The Yeti, or Abominable Snowmen, are actually Daleks, who crashed in the Himalayas in the year 141, and found that although their casings were damaged, the rarefied atmosphere and sub-zero temperatures allowed them to survive out of them.
- Daleks never sleep because they have "several minds", one of which is awake at all times even as the others rest.
- The Dalek War Machine can move at over two thousand miles an hour; it could cover the distance between Birmingham and London on the M1 Motorway in under two minutes.
- The disease measles originated on Skaro before being accidentally transmitted to Earth via a Dalek space probe.
- The generators built into a single Dalek casing produce enough power to supply the whole of London.
- Daleks make humanoid robot duplicates which only a close medical examination can tell apart from real humans, and use them as spies.
- As the colour red does not naturally exist on Skaro, was not included in the perception range of the colour-corrected electronic Dalek eye. This makes red objects invisible to Daleks.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Two years after this story's release, the Doctor Who TV serial The Abominable Snowmen would likewise identify the yeti of legend with a Doctor Who monster. However, rather than Dalek mutants, the televised Yeti were large robots controlled by the will of the eldritch Great Intelligence.
- The claim that Daleks cannot see the colour red is more than a little peculiar, given that Red Daleks are a prominent Dalek variant. The intent may be that the Red Daleks' red casing, by making them functionally invisible to their subordinates, is one of their privileges, granting them an edge against rebellious soldiers. This fact was, at any rate, echoed in the short story What To Do If A Dalek Attacks You!, printed alongside this comic in The Dalek World.
