The Daleks Celebrate their 50th Anniversary!
The Doctor Who Team
Today we celebrate 50 years of the Doctor’s ultimate enemies: the Daleks. The Time Lord – along with the audience at home - only saw them ‘properly’ for the first time on 28 December, 1963, but half a century ago today, the first Dalek adventure began…
On 21 December, 1963, the Doctor and his companions stepped from the TARDIS to explore the first alien world featured on Doctor Who. The planet was Skaro, home of the Daleks and at the close of that evening’s episode we got our very first glimpse of the Doctor’s future foes as one approached schoolteacher Barbara Wright (see the image above). She screamed and that scary moment is said to have sent children scurrying behind the sofa… Half a century later the malevolent mutants remain scary but celebrated – still menacing innocent humans and locked in a series of bitter battles with the Doctor. They continue to be his perfect nemesis and despite our familiarity with the Daleks, they thankfully retain the power to send us looking for refuge behind the sofa!
The Daleks were an instant success, triggering what was dubbed ‘Dalekmania’ when they first appeared in 1963. They returned again and again throughout the First Doctor’s era, first invading Earth in the near future before discovering the power of time travel and spreading terror throughout history. Their technology meant Daleks could feature in a broad variety of stories, turning up on the Mary Celeste in 1872 or collaborating with the Master on distant worlds in the 26th century. We encountered them in their all-conquering pomp and then later, when they were losing a war to the Movellans and forced to search for their creator…
When Doctor Who returned in 2005 the Daleks became an even more significant part of the Doctor’s story. It transpired they had fought a war with the Doctor’s own people and apparently, he had been forced to wipe out Time Lords and Daleks in a bid to end the conflict. It soon emerged the Daleks had survived and their feud with the ‘Predator of the Daleks’ continues, with battle recommencing on Christmas Day when the Doctor faces them once more in The Time of the Doctor…
To help celebrate 50 years of Daleks, we’ve released two new videos with Doctor Who’s lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat looking back on two of their most memorable early adventures – Genesis of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks.
You can watch clips from their debut or check out scenes from classic stories like Planet of the Daleks, Death to the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks and Resurrection of the Daleks.
If you want to find out more about the Daleks’ real-life origins, you can start with the fascinating story of their creator, Terry Nation, or discover how they developed their distinctive look which was designed by Raymond Cusick.
Get right up to date with The Time of the Doctor and if you want to battle the Daleks yourself simply visit the City of the Daleks or try other games like Dalek Break Out or Daleks v Cybermen.
And although we would never wish to appear disloyal to the Doctor, after 50 years of frights, delights and brilliant adventures, we do want say one thing: Happy birthday, Daleks!
