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Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek stories
Stephen Bray
Can kids really be scared of an army that can be destroyed and brought back at will?
Sometimes Doctor Who's deadliest foes really aren't worth a trip behind the sofa…
1. Doctor Who (1996)
In which the Daleks are voiced by that man who did the voices to the Chipmunks. Seems to be based entirely around a thread from the 20 year-old Frontier in Space , wherein the Daleks end up putting the Master on trial. And then get in touch with the Doctor to collect the remains. Confusing and overly-wallowing in mythology, this is the only example that most Americans have of the Daleks. Saddening for that fact alone.
2. The Five Doctors (1983)
Rubbish appearance by lone Dalek as part of Terrance Dicks' attempt to shoehorn every Doctor Who cliché into a 90-minute long shoe. Result: shoe too small and Fake Hartnell and an unrecognisably aged Susan defeat Dalek far too easily. As a note, imagine if RTD had dealt with the Doctor meeting Susan again after all these years? In retrospect, it is breathtakingly poor writing that Dicks didn't try to make more of the emotion that should be involved in this.
3. Day of the Daleks (1972)
In which the Daleks rely on monkeys to help them conduct some sort of master plan that left a watching audience confused and bored. Poor attempt to drag the Daleks into the 70s.
4. Planet of the Daleks (1973)
Slightly confused "Can I have my paycheck please?" rewrite of 'The Daleks' by the writer of the same, Terry Nation. Reuses most of the plot elements of the original in a lazy rehash that totally fails to redeem the Skaro residents in a way that was required after the previous year’s effort. Still, he did redeem himself vastly with 'Genesis'.
5. The Chase (1965)
Daleks shouldn't be used twice in a season, no matter how popular they are. After the excellent Dalek Invasion of Earth, this time they're reduced to terrorising Dracula, the Marie Celeste and Peter Purves in a manner of disguises. Featuring a guest appearance from the Beatles. One is amazed that the Daleks didn't end up in a silent comedy battling the Keystone Cops or the cast of Carry On.
6. The Daleks' Master Plan (1965)
In which the Doctor briefly escapes the Daleks and ends up battling the Keystone Cops. And a member of the Carry On cast. Epic adventure that works well in theory (and in John Peel's hefty - for the time - novelisation), but feels overly padded on screen. The Daleks are, admittedly, very good and genuinely threatening in places, but it all just feels a little bit too much like overkill by this stage.
7. Destiny of the Daleks (1979)
Battered and bashed looking Daleks fight it out with Boney M in a quarry. After the wonderful Genesis, this was a serious let-down. First mention of "Oh look, they can't climb stairs!" too. Davros brought back to life for little reason at all except to try to, in turn, drag life into this sorry tale.
8. Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways (2005)
In which we finally see the massed millions of Daleks that we’d always dreamed of. And then see them blasted into atoms because a tow-truck is able to lift up part of the TARDIS console. Dodgy plot device that manages to make the Daleks look pretty damn feeble. All of the good work of ‘Dalek’ undone in a stroke. Fans hoped that the next time, the Daleks would be more impressive.
9. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday (2006)
In which the massed Dalek army is turned into cannon fodder. Again. In these two episodes, we see more Daleks than we've ever seen before. Well, since 'Bad Wolf', anyway. See them blast the Cybermen to bits in a CGI frenzy, and then see Deus ex-Machina in action as they then disappear into a parallel universe. Once again, RTD manages to make the Daleks less threatening and more vulnerable to the Godlike Doctor than ever before.
10. The Stolen Earth/Journey's End (2008)
Again, massed millions of Daleks with a ridiculously complicated plan get blasted into smithereens by another somewhat ropey plot device. Huge and epic it tried to be, but failed miserably. Please RTD, leave the Daleks alone! Can kids really be scared of an army that can be destroyed and brought back at will?
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Users Comments
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesThe Daleks were not blasted into a parallel universe. They were sucked into the Void - which is the space between the universes where nothingness exists. Your 'tow-truck plot device' statement is weak. And whilst choosing the 3 decent-to-good Dalek stories from NuWho, you have ignored the Daleks in Manhattan episodes - rated as the worst of the new series. Shame on you! | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesSurely "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks" is more deserving of a spot on that list than "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday", or possibly even "Stolen Earth/Journey's End"? | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesLooking over the list, I scared myself that I had, in fact, forgotten 'Daleks in Manhattan', but then I realised that I had considered it, but remembered that, whilst I thought the first episode was pretty weak, I think it redeemed itself rather with the second wherein it attempted to do Something New with the Daleks. And didn't just have Lots of Armies Being Wiped Out. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesDaleks In Manhattan was quite awful - only that Peter Kay episode saves it from being the worst of the new run. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesWooohooo !!! I'm Getting To Comment On Every Single Thread Posted Here ! Hey Yeah The Problem I Had With Daleks In Manhatten Was It Ruin Potential Of New Who Villain That Played Out Right Could Of Been Very, Very, Cool ! I Can't Believe They Crap Out On Us With That Shit ! Bastards :-( | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesMaybe it's because the first half of 'Manhattan' was so awful that the slight improvement I registered in the second half made me think that I'd actually seen something half decent.
I'd still put it above Doomsday though and, whilst I love Bad Wolf, the way in which the Daleks are treated in the denouemont really does go a long way to destroying all of their menace. "And with a wave of my hand...Hey Presto!" | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesNow, let me tell ya somethin'. I just want to say this: "Daleks In Manhattan"/"Evolution Of The Daleks" is much, Much, MUCH worse than "Army/Doomsday" and "Stolen/Journey's". (And "Journey's End" was AWFUL.) "Bad Wolf/Parting" may see the Daleks fading from battle, but I have to give those episodes credit for being the first to show the viewer what the Daleks could really look like in all-out war. I also don't think that the 1996 movie can be used as good measure as an introduction of the Daleks to American viewers. Perhaps the movie reached the most viewers in one sitting (something like 5.8 million) compared to the many PBS outlets which ran the show for a decade or two, but those who weren't already DW fans wouldn't have taken notice of the presence of the Daleks in the movie at all. They were passed over much too quickly. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek stories'Day Of The Daleks' should not be on your list. Its one of my favourite Pertwees. The McGann movie was hardly a Dalek story, was it? Ditto 'Five Doctors'. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesevolution of the daleks/ daleks in manhattan are 1000 times worse than doomsday or stolen earth! | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesWhat a strange list. You aren't seriously telling me that "Stolen Earth" was better than Masterplan? Although the comments about Russell's Dalek stories are fairly accurate IMHO.
My choice would be...
1) Stolen Earth/Journey's End - cram as many actors as possible into a tiny plot and give Rose a huge unexplained gun and Donna a deus-ex-machina.
2) Army of Ghosts/Doomsday - Russell throws in a million CGI Daleks and STILL can't make them scary.
3) Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution - was OK until half way, then collapsed in a heap. Baaad idea.
4) Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways - gameshows bit far too long, Daleks fail to exterminate Rose (damn!), Daleks get religion, Doctor saved by Rose AGAIN...
5) Resurrection of the Daleks - confused multi-plots, Doctor sidelined...
6) Destiny of the Daleks - Do not deviate! Do not hesitate! Do not repeat! Eek!
7) Planet of the Daleks - not exactly a rewrite but close, has a few fun bits like the hot air balloon escape.
8) The Chase - quite fun actually, but rather silly in places.
9) Revelation of the Daleks - Um, rock'n'roll gun?! Plus Doctor sidelined again...
10) Day of the Daleks - treating time travel seriously, can't be all bad! But Daleks almost irrelevant.
I'm not including cameos like the 5 Doctors or the Space Museum, and not including the TV movie 'cos I haven't seen it. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storieshow can you not include Daleks In Manhattan? As an american, its the tale i had been dreaming of. Daleks storming New York should've had the same resonance as when they first hit England way back in Dalek Invasion of Earth. Instead we are treated to loads of cliches, gun molls, bad accents and Pig Men.
Pig Men. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesHow about a top 10 as well?
I'd say...
1) The Daleks, still good despite being designed to watch over 7 weeks. Sets, music, claustrophobia
2) Power - idea is so good it was reused in Dalek
3) Invasion of Earth - what if the Nazis, er Daleks, had won?
4) Genesis, despite its faults
5) Evil - story is nuts, so bad they reused it in Daleks in Manhatten (sort of) but well written and fun
6) Masterplan - OK, it is too long, but even so - Kevin Stoney is brilliant, Daleks are still uber-scary
7) Remembrance - just a good story, despite the "dark" Doctor being a bum note
8) Dalek - good idea, shame about the awful DNA business
9) Death to the Daleks - I like this one for some unaccountable reason
10) Day of the Daleks - not as bad as some have painted it (but doesn't really need Daleks in it!) | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesDaleks are my best ever dr who monsters but i agree, there have been a lot of rubbish Dalek stories.
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Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesDaleks in manhatten/Evelotion of the Daleks should replace The stolen Earth/Journeys end, shouldn't it?
:P B) | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesI have to agree with the majority of folks here. Daleks in Manhattan/Journeys End is unquestionably the worst of the new series' Dalek stories. 'Dalek' from the first season being the best. One lone dalek destroying everything in it's sight and even frightening the Doctor; that made for some great suspense that unfortunately was lost in later Dalek stories. After that, each subsequent story has just added more and more daleks and had to come up with more outlandish ways to dispatch them. The Daleks should either be drastically re-tooled or left alone for a couple years so they don't completely lose their edge with the viewers. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesI have to agree with the majority of folks here. Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of The Daleks is unquestionably the worst of the new series' Dalek stories. 'Dalek' from the first season being the best. One lone dalek destroying everything in it's sight and even frightening the Doctor; that made for some great suspense that unfortunately was lost in later Dalek stories. After that, each subsequent story has just added more and more daleks and had to come up with more outlandish ways to dispatch them. The Daleks should either be drastically re-tooled or left alone for a couple years so they don't completely lose their edge with the viewers. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesActually I think Day of the Daleks would be in my top 10, not the bottom 3! I actually liked Daleks in Manhattan, but I did not like the second half, Evolution of the Daleks,of the story, and would rate the second half at the bottom of my list. Bad Wolf was pure bliss, and fun. Parting of Ways was fun too so they would not be in my bottom 10. And I must admit in Army of ghosts the Daleks make a very impressive entrance, but then they do not seem to make a dent in the earth by the time Domsday comes around. It seems to me that the first part of their two part stories are always far better than the second part. I suppose if the most evil and menacing entity in the universe was to show up it would be difficult to come up with ways to rid the galaxy of them. Still, the Daleks are classic no matter what story you put them in, and they are not meant to be taken so seriously! Dalek, Revelation of the Daleks and Dalek Invasion of Earth are my favorite 3 although Genesis and The Daleks have to be near the top as well. | |
Re: Doctor Who: the 10 worst Dalek storiesThanks for sharing
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