Dalek

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 The Dalek casing uses a plunger-like manipulator arm, though the arm has been replaced by other appendages, such as a claw-like design and a blowtorch, throughout the series.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.

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.

Other appearances

Following the first two Dalek serials, many different books and comic strips based on the Daleks were released. These spin-off materials greatly expanded the Dalek lore, which was used in the hopes of expanding the Daleks' popularity and creating new opportunities for their usage. These stories predominantly focused on the Daleks' conflicts with humans in the far future, though depicted many other events as well, such as documenting the creation and history of the Daleks, or by showing Dalek interference in events throughout history. This early media introduced several ideas that would recur in later media include the concept of a Dalek Emperor, as well as the idea of Daleks flying, though featured several differences from the Daleks personality wise from later media. Film adaptations of the first two Dalek serials, Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., were produced, following largely similar plots to the originals, though with slight differences in the plot.

Having previously featured in comics in TV Comic, the Doctor Who comic shifted to Countdown for TV Action!. Shortly after the Daleks' re-appearance in Day of the Daleks, they appeared in several comics in Countdown. Following the absorption of TV Action into TV Comic in 1973, the Daleks appeared in that comic in a strip made to tie in with Death to the Daleks. TV Comic would continue producing strips for the next three years featuring the Daleks, though these appearances primarily relied on reprints of older Dalek strips. The Daleks were featured in the 1974 stage play Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday, where they attempted to regain control of seven components of an all-powerful crystal.

Due to the increasing popularity of the show under the tenure of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker as the leads, new waves of tie-in merchandise were produced, with much of it featuring the Daleks. This included toys, games, and other miscellaneous merchandise, such as tea-drinkers. By 1979, TV Comic ceased production of the Doctor Who comic strips, with strips shifting to Doctor Who Magazine, which would feature the Daleks in various capacities following the shift, including in a back-up strip where they faced off against Abslom Daak, a "Dalek killer" who sought to kill as many Daleks as possible. After Baker's departure from the series, the Daleks would not be seen in the comics again for another decade. Novelisations, tie-in books, and audio productions of the Daleks' stories were released throughout the 70s.

Another stage play, titled The Ultimate Adventure, was produced, releasing in 1989, which again featured the Daleks. The Daleks began to re-appear in comic adaptations, and would go on to re-appear in strips throughout the 90s and early 2000s. This included a new adaptation of the original 1960s TV Comic Dalek strips. The Daleks additionally appeared in various computer games, such as Dalek Attack and Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors. Books produced by BBC Books were produced from 1997 onward, depicting various Dalek adventures, including War of the Daleks, which attempted to result continuity errors within the Daleks' canon, and Legacy of the Daleks, which acted as a sequel to The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The Daleks would appear in the charity spoof The Curse of Fatal Death. The Daleks would also appear in audio productions made by Big Finish Productions starting from 1999 onwards. They appeared in a large variety of stories, including a spin-off titled Dalek Empire and a spin-off focusing on their creator, I, Davros. One of these audio dramas, 2003's Jubilee, would serve as inspiration for the episode "Dalek". The Daleks also appeared in a novella titled The Dalek Factor in 2004.

Conception and design

Creation and The Daleks

Writer Terry Nation, between jobs, wrote the 1963 serial The Daleks for the series. The Head of Drama at the BBC, Sydney Newman, initially disliked the idea of the Daleks, believing that Doctor Who should have no aliens or monsters; Newman felt that a programme should have a "balance between action and realism" in order to draw people's attention, and felt that alien creatures would detract from that. The production team, however, had no other stories ready to be made, which resulted in the Daleks' debut serial, The Daleks, being produced. As the series was meant to be educational, the serial's inclusion in the series was justified as being used to educate about nuclear war and its consequences to children.

Nation's design inspiration for the Daleks came from watching a dance troupe on television, as their long skirts gave the impression that they glided across the stage. Wishing to create an alien creature that did not look like a "man in a suit", Terry Nation stated in his script for the first Dalek serial that they should have no legs. Though initial plans had the Daleks uniting with another race to combat a larger threat, Nation drew on the cultural memory of the Nazi Party and World War II for the Daleks' design, and the Daleks quickly evolved to become villains. Aspects of the Daleks' personality, such as their extreme xenophobia, staccato voices, and goals of "genetic purity", were adapted from or based on Nazi ideologies and motivations. David Whitaker, the script editor, also enforced the Daleks' genocidal nature by removing ambiguity in the original serials' script of who was an aggressor in the war, making the Daleks appear to more directly be evil creatures. Nation understood that the Daleks' status as pure evil beings would make them undesirable for American companies as he wished to branch out the Daleks' appearances, and thus made the Daleks entirely driven by domination in order to give the species greater depth. He emphasised their evil to show how it could only be overcome when people are working together to stop it, idealised by the Thals in the Daleks' debut serial. The Daleks thus symbolised "the dangers of prejudice and singlemindedness".

The Daleks' physical designs were created by the BBC designer Raymond Cusick. Ridley Scott, at the time working for the BBC, was originally slated to design the Daleks, but he left to work for another company before production began. As a result, Cusick took over in Scott's stead. Cusick, believing that the Daleks had evolved into creatures that were no more than brains, sought to create a design that made sure that viewers never saw how the Dalek moved. Originally, more of the mutant inside of the Dalek casing was planned to be shown, but this was scrapped for both pricing issues and concerns the mutant would be too terrifying. In the final serial, the mutant was only seen briefly as a jelly-like substance.

Further 1960s productions

The Daleks had proved unexpectedly popular for the BBC; they sought to capitalise on the Daleks as soon as possible, with a sequel serial being commissioned for 1964. A scenario, "Daleks threaten Earth", was selected out of a desire to make a serial that was a greater spectacle for viewers than the first Dalek serial. Nation would return to write this serial, which would become The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The Dalek casings were re-used from the prior serial and re-furbished, with new eyestalks being added. Due to the Daleks being unable to leave their cities in their debut serial, a dish was added on to the back of the props, done to explain in-universe how the Daleks were now able to leave their cities. A larger base was added to the bottom of the Dalek to allow for easier movement on location. Though Terry Nation initially conceived the Daleks as being connected through a hivemind of brains, the need for a "Supreme" Dalek became necessary as a form of leadership. Nation introduced an in-universe hierarchy for the Daleks in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, with the Daleks now being led by an all-black Supreme Dalek.

Nation tried branching the Daleks out in order to capitalise on their popularity. Nation sold the film rights of the Daleks to writer Milton Subotsky. Subotsky worked with Amicus Productions for the films. Subotsky and Amicus produced, Dr. Who and the Daleks, an adaptation of the Daleks' debut serial. This was followed by the development of a sequel, Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.. For the film adaptations of both of these serials, the Daleks were given a standard blue colour, with a red colour to indicate a second in command and a black and gold colour scheme for the Daleks' leader. The Daleks themselves were redesigned, gaining a bulkier design with a claw-like extension replacing the plunger-like arm. Fire extinguishers were used to simulate the Daleks' guns firing. The designs and props of the versions from the films would later be re-used for the television series.

Following a brief cameo by the Daleks in the 1965 serial The Space Museum, they appeared again in the subsequent serial, The Chase. This serial was commissioned as a result of the Daleks' continued popularity, with the serial being more expensive than others being produced at the time. Cusick's return as a designer for The Chase saw a change to the design introduced in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, with the Daleks' base being returned to their previous size, while the back dish was removed. He created the concept of "solar paneled slats" which would remain on the "shoulder" area of the Daleks. Several Daleks from the Amicus films were loaned to the BBC for usage in these serials, though were largely kept to the background to swell the Daleks' numbers.

1970s

After years of discussion, negotiations for the Dalek spin-off series eventually fell through. Producers Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, in April 1972, began to consider bringing the Daleks back due to continued demand from viewers, as well as from the BBC's managing director Huw Wheldon. Though they did not like bringing back old enemies and had held the Daleks in reserve as the pair assessed the Daleks' popularity, the pair decided to bring them back in 1972's Day of the Daleks. Though Nation was busy writing television series in the United States, he approved their return so long as he received fees for the Daleks' usage in the serial. As the 1972 series had no unique "gimmick" that started it off, the pair decided to shift the Daleks to the front of the season, inserting them into writer Louis Marks's original plan for the serial. Only three Dalek props that remained in storage were deemed usable for the serial. Two were painted grey for their appearance, while the third was painted gold and served as the Dalek leader. The Dalek props were also overall refurbished for the serials after years of disuse.

As part of later plans for the series' tenth anniversary, one twelve part serial was planned, akin to The Daleks' Master Plan. This was scrapped, however, when Dicks and Letts felt that audiences would not follow along with a plot for that long. Thus, the serial was split into two serials with independent production teams: Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks, with both serials airing in 1973. The Daleks would cameo at the end of Frontier in Space, leading directly into the subsequent Dalek story. Nation would return to write Planet of the Daleks for the first time since the mid-1960s. Planet pays homage to many past Dalek stories, utilising several past plot elements, most notably bringing back the Thals after their debut appearance. For the first time since 1964, new props were constructed for the Daleks, though these were of lower quality than the 60s props and largely kept to the background. The three props that featured in Day of the Daleks featured most prominently in the episode. Several Dalek toys and models were used for group shots and scenes were Daleks were destroyed. Another Dalek Supreme appeared in the serial, utilising an altered prop from the 1960s Dalek films. It sported a gold and black colour scheme.

Letts sought to schedule further Dalek serials in the middle of the show's seasons, as they provided a large ratings boost whenever they returned. The show's 1974 season featured the Daleks in the serial Death to the Daleks. The serial featured a gimmick in which the Daleks could not use their usual technology, resulting in an explanation that Daleks moved their casings using psychic powers. Instead of their usual blaster, their weapons were swapped out for manual machine gun-esque weapons which fired rounds of ammunition. The Dalek casings were repainted a silver colour to harken back to the Daleks' original 1960s colour scheme. The same three main Dalek props were re-used from the prior serial, as were the lower quality Dalek models that were used in order to boost the number of Daleks on-screen. A pellet-firing gun was constructed and installed into the props to simulate the manual weapons the Daleks used in the serial.

1980s and 1990s

1984's Resurrection of the Daleks aired towards the end of Doctor Who's twentieth anniversary season. Producer John Nathan-Turner felt it would be a good idea to close the season with an encounter between the Doctor and the Daleks, especially since he felt it would garner high ratings. Nation was initially protective of the Daleks' rights, holding negative feelings over the Daleks' role in Destiny of the Daleks. Nation and Turner were able to reach an agreement, and Eric Saward was assigned to work on the script. Saward elected to bring back Davros, feeling as though Davros was more entertaining to write than the Daleks and provided better dialogue. The serial was written to follow on from Destiny's events. Throughout the writing process, Nation supervised production and advised Saward and the team directly; he specified directly that Davros could not be killed and the Dalek Emperor, initially in the script, could not be included. Saward would write the following Dalek serial, 1985's Revelation of the Daleks, which Saward wrote while amending specific disdains he had for the prior story, feeling Revelation better handled aspects such as the tone and humor. Saward also sought to write the script to rely less on pre-existing Dalek continuity, additionally seeking to incorporate a series of unique characters as a result. Saward also included Davros once more for the same reasons he included him in Resurrection. 1985's Revelation of the Daleks introduced a new white and gold-colored Dalek casing, using new moulds for the Dalek props. These Daleks were a breakaway faction who fought in a civil war with the gun-metal Daleks present in serials in the 1970s.

Turner and script editor Andrew Cartmel, while working on developing serials for the 1988 season of the show, decided to incorporate the Daleks into the first serial of the season; Cartmel felt there needed to be a "gimmick" to highlight the start of the season, as it was the year of the show's 25th anniversary. The serial would be named Remembrance of the Daleks, and would be written by Ben Aaronovitch. Aaronovitch reviewed prior scripts and felt Dalek stories had become boring due to a lack of differentiable dialogue between members of the species. As a result, he elected to focus the serial on a newly created Dalek civil war. Aaronovitch also included Davros, with his scenes allowing for more "versatility" and emotion in the serial's closing scenes, though he made sure to limit Davros's role in the story so he did not overshadow the Daleks.

The grey Renegade Daleks had two of their props re-used from the prior serial, with two others being re-used from earlier in the show's run. A new prop was constructed for the serial, with part of it later being re-used for the serial's Emperor Dalek. Four white and gold Imperial Dalek props would be constructed for the serial. Various props and dummies were used for action scenes where Daleks were needed to be destroyed. The Emperor Dalek had a large, rounded head akin to Emperor Daleks portrayed in prior spin-off material. This head could open and contained inside Davros's head. An alternate design, dubbed the Special Weapons Dalek, is introduced in this serial. The Special Weapons Dalek is a bulkier design, depicting a flatter dome and a larger bazooka-like weapon. Originally designed as a floating weapons platform for the serial, it was redesigned in order to meet the serial's budget quota. The Special Weapons Dalek would later go on to make cameo appearances in future Dalek episodes, such as 2012's "Asylum of the Daleks" and 2015's "The Witch's Familiar".

2005 revival

For the show's revival in 2005, showrunner Russell T Davies designed the sixth episode as a midway "jumping on point" for viewers, and aimed to incorporate the Daleks midway through. Davies was impressed by the 2003 audio drama story Jubilee, which depicted a lone surviving Dalek trapped and being tortured; Davies found the concept of the Doctor dealing with a sole Dalek intriguing. Davies sought to incorporate a lone Dalek into the narrative in a tight drama that would act as a prelude to the finale of the revival's first season, which would also feature the Daleks. Davies wished for the episode to reinvent the Daleks, bringing back menace to the species and dropping concepts that had "made them daft". This included addressing the public conception of Daleks being unable to traverse stairs by making them fly.

Davies wished for the episode, titled "Dalek", to be written by Jubilee's writer, Robert Shearman. Shearman sought to bring the Daleks back to a level of menace he felt hadn't been seen since prior to Davros's introduction, as he felt Davros turned the Daleks into his "lackeys" rather than letting the Daleks be an independent force of their own. Shearman sought to characterise the Daleks as emotional creatures, emphasising the fact there was a mutant creature inside the casing. Shearman gave the Daleks the ability to rotate segments of their body independently of each other, the ability to fly, and the ability to stop bullets using a forcefield surrounding their casing.

For the show's revival in 2005, the Daleks' casings were redesigned, sporting a bronze colour with an angular skirted design, an industrial look, and an "armored sturdiness". The redesign was headed by production designer Edward Thomas and the BBC Wales art department, with concept art made by artist Matt Savage. The team wished to preserve the Dalek's classic silhouette, but also wished to bulk up the design, referencing the Mini Cooper, which had been bulked up in a recent 2000 relaunch. Showrunner Russell T Davies requested the Daleks have a bronze colour scheme, with the lights on the Daleks' head being requested to resemble those used on the Daleks in the 1960s Dalek films. The new design utilised a mix of practical models and computer-generated graphics, with the physical models being primarily handled via a mix of remote control and physical actors. The design team wished to make the Daleks frightening for a new generation, with miniature effects supervisor Mike Tucker stating that "We have taken all the perceived weaknesses of the Dalek and made them deadly". Three props were constructed for the episode: one damaged prop for use in scenes featuring the damaged Dalek, a pristine prop for use in scenes featuring the repaired Dalek, and one open prop used for when the Dalek opens its casing to reveal the mutant inside.

2010s and redesigns

In 2010, showrunner Steven Moffat wished to bring back the Daleks, as they were popular among children and had become "one of the regulars". Moffat had writer Mark Gatiss write an episode about "Churchill versus the Daleks", which became "Victory of the Daleks". The Daleks would be redesigned again for the episode. This introduced the "New Dalek Paradigm", a brightly colored group of six Daleks with different roles: "Drone", "Strategist", "Scientist", "Supreme", and "Eternal". A green, sixth Dalek was planned, but scrapped. Steven Moffat wished for the Daleks to be redesigned, in accordance with the brand-wide revamp that would accompany his introduction as series showrunner. Taking into account criticism by Cusick about the 2005 design having visible screws, nuts, and bolts in the design, Moffat aimed for the new Dalek design to have smoother lines than the previous design.

These New Paradigm Daleks were intended to call back to the Daleks from the 1960s films, primarily in their colors, which Moffat requested have a candy-like colour palette, in contrast to concept artist Peter McKinstry's desire for a more metallic appearance. The New Paradigm Daleks were significantly larger, with different proportions and silhouette, an organic eyeball on their eyestalk and an increased bulk at the shoulder section creating a "hump" in the Daleks' back; this hump was where a hatch on their back was placed, which would be used to store weapons. Episode writer Mark Gatiss wanted them to be larger in order to make the designs more intimidating. Though the designs were intended to replace the previous Dalek design, showrunner Steven Moffat stated that the old design would co-exist with the New Paradigm. Due to the unpopularity of the New Paradigm designs among fans, the Paradigm were slowly phased out of the series, only being used for exhibitions and live events. Moffat later admitted the designs were a mistake.

In 2011, Moffat announced that the Daleks were being put on hiatus for a period, believing that the Daleks' frequent appearances made them the "most reliably defeatable enemies in the universe" and that their legacy as British icons had made them "cuddly" over the years. 2012's "Asylum of the Daleks" was intended to bring a level of malice back into the Daleks. The production team elected to include a variety of Dalek designs into the episode's narrative, with designs from 1963 to 2010 featuring throughout the story. The story also gave the Daleks the ability to use small robotic creatures to convert other lifeforms into "Dalek Puppets", which act as servants to the Daleks. They are used for subterfuge, disguising their identity by maintaining their original outward appearance.

Other subjects

The Daleks' voice originated with sound designer Brian Hodgson at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Hodgson had previously helped with making a robot voice for the radio show Sword From The Stars. Due to little discussion on how the Daleks' voice would sound, Hodgson re-used the technique from the radio show for the Daleks, with Hodgson experimenting with a ring modulator device, which distorted the voices of actors speaking into it. Actor Peter Hawkins was brought on board to voice the Daleks. The Daleks' signature staccato voice was made by Hawkins as a result of technical issues with the modulator; the modulator would only affect vowels, and Hawkins would elongate the vowels at Hodgson's request in order to ensure the voice's audibility. According to crew member Sue Webb, she also aided with further research for how the voice should sound, going to the Post Office to get their advice on distorting the audio. The 1985 episode Revelation of the Daleks, at the request of director Graeme Harper, would remove more modulation from the Daleks' voice.

Early Dalek actors would speak their lines in a booth off-screen, with Dalek actors having to make sure they moved in sync with the dialogue. Other actors would portray the Daleks throughout the classic series alongside Hawkins, including David Graham, who portrayed the role from 1963 onwards, Royce Mills, who portrayed the Daleks between 1984 and 1988, and Roy Skelton, who portrayed the Daleks from 1967 until 1988, with a later reprisal in Comic Relief special The Curse of Fatal Death.

Actor Nicholas Briggs voiced the Daleks in Big Finish Productions' licensed audio dramas following the series' cancellation in 1988. Briggs adopted the same usage of the ring modulator, but added a more hateful staccato inspired by the Nazis to make the Daleks sound more intimidating. When Doctor Who was revived in 2005, showrunner Russell T Davies asked for Briggs to come back to voice the Daleks, being impressed with Briggs's performance, as well as his technical expertise with the equipment needed to voice the Daleks. Briggs attempts to give each Dalek he voices a unique personality, adding small details to differentiate each performance. Briggs attends script read-throughs with his voice modulator, and also attends filming. At filming, Briggs rehearses alongside Dalek prop actors Barnaby Edwards and Nicholas Pegg. Briggs's Dalek voice is transmitted to the Dalek's headlights, allowing cast to see which Dalek is speaking at a given moment, while Briggs's voice is transmitted through a speaker on set.

For the Emperor Dalek in "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways", Briggs portrayed the Emperor with a much deeper, booming voice. The Cult of Skaro would also have different, unique voices for the four individual Daleks, with Caan in particular having a unique voice for his subsequent appearance in "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End", which featured a large amount of insane giggling. For the episode "Resolution", Briggs used a different performance in order to hide the fact that the episode's monster was a Dalek from the audience. As the episode progressed, his voice slowly reverted to his standard Dalek voice. Briggs made the episode's Recon Dalek sound more arrogant and hateful than the standard Dalek, wanting to reflect the Recon Dalek's hatred for its many years in isolation.

Reception and analysis

Dalekmania

Doctor Who was initially under threat of being axed. The first serial of the programme underperformed, and many believed it would not survive its allotted 52-week run. The Daleks was incredibly successful, and large rushes of fan mail arrived at the BBC asking about the Daleks and their return. The Daleks were especially popular with children, who frequently imitated the Daleks. The popularity resulted in the Daleks having a sequel episode commissioned almost as soon as their debut finished airing, with the BBC strongly interested in seeing how to further utilize the Daleks' popularity. The success of the Daleks changed the trajectory of Doctor Who's focus, shifting it away from educational adventures in the past to space-based alien adventures in the future, guaranteeing the success of the show and allowing it to avoid cancellation. Merchandise followed, such as The Dalek Book. The book was the first attempt to create a dedicated mythology for the creatures beyond the programme, and was incredibly successful, with high predicted sales.

The airing of the second Dalek story led to the official outbreak of what was dubbed "Dalekmania". The Daleks were used in promotion across the country throughout the year of 1964. Competitor channel ITV put highly popular band The Beatles on at the same time as Dalek episodes were airing, but the Daleks were still earning a higher viewing share. The BBC were not prepared for this level of success, as no other programme before had yielded such a popular response. This resulted in no merchandise being prepared, though the BBC quickly expanded. The following year saw an expansion of Dalek merchandise, including toys, clothes, wallpaper, and sweets. A "Dalek playsuit" product was so successful that the manufacturer sold out, though the playsuits were later redesigned for safety concerns, such as a lack of visibility from inside and fears children could get stuck in the suit. Other products released around the time included the novelty record "I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas with a Dalek" by The Go-Go's and a stage play created by Nation titled The Curse of the Daleks. The subsequent Dalek serial, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, proved to be even more popular, breaking into the weekly top ten in viewing figures. Film adaptations of two of the Dalek serials were produced by Amicus Productions, though these received mixed responses.

Dalekmania came to a close by 1966, following the release of the second Dalek film. The success of Dalekmania made Nation extremely rich. Cusick, despite his hand in the Daleks' design, did not receive anything from the success, causing him to quit the show in 1966. Due to the Daleks' success, several attempts at recreating this popularity were attempted with subsequent monsters, such as the Voord and Mechonoids, though they were largely less successful than the Daleks.

Reception

The Daleks have been consistently identified as one of the most well-known, popular, and iconic monsters to hail from the series. They have been stated by BBC News to have become a part of British heritage. They also attributed the Daleks to the success of the series, citing their contrast with the Doctor as antagonists as being a large part of the series' longevity. Their usage of the phrase "Exterminate!" has become known even to those who have never seen the series. A 2008 survey by National Trust found that nine in ten children could identify a Dalek, while readers of the magazine SFX identified the Daleks as the most terrifying monster in all of fiction, beating out other iconic characters like Gollum and Godzilla. The word Dalek was also added as a word to the Oxford English Dictionary.

A 1966 piece by The Guardian identified the Daleks as being popular due to the simplicity of their character, with audiences knowing exactly what to expect of how they would act. The Daleks were also easy to replicate, with children being able to mimic their mannerisms easily. The book Doctor Who: A History stated that the Daleks were popular with adults due to the science fiction take on the Nazis, while children enjoyed them due to their inhuman nature. Children were also fascinated by the Daleks due to seeing themselves in the Daleks, relating to the Daleks frequent "temper tantrums" on screen. The book The American Villain: Encyclopedia of Bad Guys in Comics, Film, and Television stated that the Daleks are defined by their hatred of other life forms, being an unstoppable force that opposes the strength of the individual. The US Catholic stated that the Daleks were a representation of racial hatred within the show, and their frequent returns symbolised how there must always be a good force like the Doctor willing to oppose them. Andrew Blair, writing for Den of Geek, stated that the Daleks' ruthlessness and tendency to cause heavy amounts of destruction allows for them to become stronger and more effective antagonists, with episodes lacking in those qualities resulting in the Daleks being less well-received as antagonists.

The Daleks' frequent re-appearances, and whether they should have "breaks" from the program, have been the subject of commentary. J.R Southall, writing for Starburst, stated that the Daleks were an antagonist that set the stage for all future antagonists to come in the series, and that their appearances heightened the episodes they were in. He believed it was an incredibly exciting moment for children to see them, and that the Daleks being put on a pause would hinder the show's overall success. Blair, in another article for Den of Geek, stated that the Daleks, despite objections of their over-familiarity, had a large number of potential concepts for stories, with past concepts that were considered "hypocritical" to the Daleks' lore being emphasised as only expanding on the Daleks' own in-universe character. Blair felt the Daleks should be re-invented without needing to feel bound to the constraints of their lore, which he considered a better alternative than shelving the Daleks. Radio Times, in their podcast, cited similar sentiments, believing that the Daleks had a large amount of potential for future stories despite their frequent appearances.

Analysis

Charlie Jane Anders, writing for Gizmodo, analysed the Doctor's dynamic with the Daleks, stating that the Doctor's hatred for them leads to him being defined as a character in opposition to the Daleks, and highlighted how "Into the Dalek" emphasised and expanded on the dynamic between the Doctor and the Daleks. Marc DiPaolo, in the book Fire and Snow: Climate Fiction from the Inklings to Game of Thrones, contrasted the Daleks' fascist tendencies with the ideology of the Doctor, stating that the Daleks' pure evil and opposition to the Doctor posed questions of the Doctor's morality and pacifism, and whether or not the Doctor had a right to adopt similarly evil and cruel tactics, such as committing genocide against the Daleks, in order to stop them. It stated that this contrast posed the question of how much opposition could be given to fascism before the opposition would become fascist themselves. Bronwen Calvert, in the book Being Bionic: The World of TV Cyborgs, analysed this dynamic present in the episode "Dalek", pointing out the episode's emphasis on the similarities between the Doctor and the Dalek, which showed how the Doctor was becoming more Dalek-like in his actions while the Dalek became better able to showcase its individuality and suffering. The dichotomy between the Doctor and the Daleks is stated to be further emphasised in subsequent episodes in the series, which are stated to redefine the Doctor's beliefs of "good" and "bad" by portraying neither the Doctor nor the Daleks as explicitly either.

Kristine Larsen, in the book Doctor Who in Time and Space: Essays on Themes, Characters, History and Fandom, 1963-2012 analysed the recurring theme of what makes a "pure" Dalek within their appearances in the show's revival. It stated that the Daleks' belief in their own superiority caused them to warp their own agendas and ideals in order to survive and maintain it, which eventually led to not only innumerable atrocities, but also their own self-destruction. Richard A. Hall, writing in The American Villain: Encyclopedia of Bad Guys in Comics, Film, and Television, questioned the Daleks' nature in the series, stating that since the Daleks are defined by how a non-Dalek society is perceived as evil, it is unclear whether the Daleks are themselves evil or if they would be able to change without turning them into something they are not. It cited how this reflected how the series reflected the interpretation of the individual versus the interpretation of a collective.

Hall later states that the Daleks reflected a fear of a weapon created by humans growing out of humanity's control. Patrick Stokes, writing in Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside, analysed the usage of Nazi allegories in the Daleks' design. It stated that despite the inhumanity and cruelty of the Daleks, they served as an example of what humanity could become. It stated that the Daleks' reflection of humanity symbolised what humans could become: creatures that lack individuality and cause destruction and cruelty for survival, or creatures that could resist and fight against that threat. Kevin S. Decker, writing in Who is Who?: The Philosophy of Doctor Who, identified the Daleks as being characterised as an "Other" psychologically, and that the fear that came with that feeling dwindled as more about the Daleks became known. It stated that the show's revival and the upgrades that came with the Daleks helped reinvent the species for a modern audience, allowing the threat that came with them to be credibly shown on screen, while also providing further depth to the character of the species. Danny Nicol, in the book Doctor Who: A British Alien?, similarly characterised the Daleks' first appearance in The Daleks as relying on viewers to see them as an "Other", and that, as a result, and that it characterises the Doctor comparatively as someone unwilling to compromise with someone unfamiliar to them.