TV Series

10 most devious Dalek moments from the last 55 years

By Paul Lang

The Daleks are coming to Twitch, with a new marathon of classic episodes running all this week. That means loads more opportunities to catch up with their most deadly and devious deeds – including some of these!


Legging it

The Daleks (1963-64)

The Doctor was left under no illusions about how ruthless the Daleks could be, right from their very first encounter. When he and his friends found themselves surrounded by a gang of Daleks in their city on Skaro, Ian tried to do a runner. Big mistake! The metal meanies turned their weapons on his legs, leaving him temporarily paralysed! He had a lucky escape - they usually exterminate first and ask questions later.

Streaming on Twitch: 17th February at 6pm GMT / 10am PDT


They're behind you!

The Parting of the Ways (2005)

When plucky Lynda-with-a-Y found herself trapped in a space station crawling with Daleks, she panicked when one started melting the door to her observation deck, wondering how long it would take it to burn through. She never found out – another unit had crept up on the other side of the observation window, and the last thing she saw was a Dalek's lights silently flashing three times. Heartbreaking!


Out of action

Death to the Daleks (1974)

Most Daleks are equipped with a prominent weapon, but don’t assume that you’re going to be safe just because it’s been incapacitated in some way. When the Doctor and Sarah were stranded on Exxilon with a load of power-drained Daleks, the cunning creatures just bolted some old-school firearms on top to retain the upper hand. Rotten sneaks.

Streaming on Twitch: 20th February at 6pm GMT / 10am PDT

the third doctor (jon petwee), jill tarrant (joy harrison), bellal (arnold yarrow) and sarah jane smith (elisabeth sladen) are surrounded by daleks which have replacement guns that can fire bullets.
The third Doctor (Jon Petwee), Jill Tarrant (Joy Harrison), Bellal (Arnold Yarrow) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) are surrounded by Daleks which have replacement guns that can fire bullets.

Unhappy reunion

The Stolen Earth (2008)

Picture the scene: the Doctor and Rose were finally about to be reunited after being stranded in different universes. They ran towards each other, all smiles – then a Dalek glided out of a side-street and shot the Doctor down. Romance is dead!


Suckered!

Dalek (2005)

Daleks can get quite creative in a tight spot when they need to do a bit of exterminating. One that had fallen to Earth and been chained up and incapacitated in the private collection of billionaire Henry Van Statten was sick of being poked, prodded and tortured by his captor’s flunkeys. Sneering scientist Simmons carried on teasing the captive creature, not realising that its power had been restored. “What are you gonna do?" he mocked. "Sucker me to death?” And do you know what? That’s exactly what it did.

simmons, just moments away from being suckered.
Simmons, just moments away from being suckered.

Ungrateful offspring

Genesis of the Daleks (1975)

Poor old Davros. He went to all the trouble of actually inventing the Daleks, instilling in them the strong belief that they were the supreme beings of the universe, but were they grateful? No, they were not. He realised, too late, that his creations were a bit too cocky, and wouldn’t even take orders from him. So, even though he was technically their dad, they exterminated him. Charming!

Steaming on Twitch: 20th February at 7:40pm GMT / 11:40am PDT

peter miles as nyder and michael wisher as davros with the daleks.
Peter Miles as Nyder and Michael Wisher as Davros with the Daleks.

No mercy

The Stolen Earth (2008)

The Daleks had nicked the Earth and dragged it across the galaxy, descending onto its surface and ordering the people to leave their homes – on pain of extermination. One brave family clearly thought they were just bluffing and headed back into the safety of their own four walls. Big mistake! A trio of Daleks adopted attack formation seven and blew the house – plus mum, dad and son – to smithereens. Ouch.

the daleks hold civillians on earth hostage.
The Daleks hold civillians on Earth hostage.

Human helper

Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)

Daleks aren't above using the abilities of other species when it suits them. When two rival factions were knocking the bumps off each other in 1960s London, one lot had kitted themselves out with a battle computer. They realised that their single-minded attitude to conquest and killing might actually have been holding them back, so decided to wire in bit of human creativity – in the form of a local schoolgirl. All very horrific and exploitative – although they did give her the ability to shoot electricity out of her fingers, which is undeniably cool.

Steaming on Twitch: 22nd February at 9pm GMT / 1pm PDT

 

A good Dalek?

Into the Dalek (2014)

A wonky Dalek the Doctor nicknamed "Rusty" had a radiation leak that left him with a subverted version of the normal Dalek desire to kill – he thought the Daleks were the ones who should be destroyed! Fixing the radiation leak restored his programming to factory settings and he immediately went on a massive killing spree. Typical! The Doctor tried to restore the "damage", and was partially successful: Rusty still had a strong and violent urge to exterminate, but was only interested in killing other Daleks.


Digit dilemma

Resolution (2019)

If a Dalek ever needs something from you, don't be fooled into thinking it actually needs you to be, y'know, still breathing or anything. One unfortunate worker at an alien artefact storage facility learned this the hard way when a Dalek mutant turned up at his workplace one day. The Dalek needed to bypass the fingerprint entry system, and the worker claimed to have the "most secure digits in Yorkshire". So how was he persuaded to open the door? You guessed it – the Dalek just killed him and used his cold, dead digit. Harsh!


Don’t forget to tune in every day from 17th to 22nd February at 10am PT / 6pm GMT to catch the Daleks in classic Doctor Who episodes on Twitch!

You can find a full episode listing with US and UK screening times in our Watch section.

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