Dalek variants
There are several variant models of the Daleks, a fictional alien race in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Although the general appearance of the Daleks has remained the same, the colours and some details of the model have evolved over time. The following entries make mention of both television and non-television portrayals of the Daleks. It should be noted that the canonicity of these non-television portrayals is uncertain.
General design
Externally, Daleks resemble man-sized salt or pepper shakers, with a single mechanical eyestalk in a rotating dome, a gunstalk containing a directed energy weapon (or "death ray"), and a telescoping robot arm. Usually, the arm is fitted with a device for manipulation that, to the amusement of generations of viewers, resembles a plunger, but various episodes have shown Daleks whose arms end in a tray, a mechanical claw, or other specialised equipment like flamethrowers and blowtorches.
The casings are made of a bonded polycarbide material that was called "dalekanium". The casings are vulnerable to "bastic"-headed bullets, and when breached, tend to explode spectacularly. The lower shell is covered with many hemispherical protrusions, or "Dalek bumps". These have been described as being part of a sensor array in The Doctor Who Technical Manual by Mark Harris (which is of uncertain canonicity). However, in Dalek (2005) they are part of a self-destruct system.
The creatures inside their "travel machines" are depicted as soft and repulsive in appearance, but still vicious even without their mechanical armour.
Standard Dalek
When they first appear in the 1963 serial, The Daleks, the standard Dalek models sport a silver band along their chest areas, but their mobility is limited to metal walkways in the Dalek City on Skaro, being powered by static electricity. A popular myth is that a "glass Dalek" also appears in Terry Nation's original story for The Daleks, but due to budgetary considerations does not appear in the serial. The concept of a "glass Dalek" actually first appears in David Whitaker's novelisation, and is eventually seen in Revelation of the Daleks (1985).
In 1964's The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the size of the base of the Dalek is expanded, and radio dishes are mounted on their backs. These Daleks are more mobile, but still rely on external transmitted power, and are disabled when those transmitters are destroyed. In The Chase (1965), the Daleks are further modified by including what is termed a solar panel array, consisting of wiring and metal slats.
The Daleks of the 1960s serials are mainly silver coloured with blue Dalek "bumps". In The Evil of the Daleks (1967), certain Daleks have black domes (also seen in The Parting of the Ways, 2005). Also, the dishes on their backs have vanished, so presumably they now have independent motive power systems. In the movies based on the first two Dalek serials, Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, the Daleks have larger bases as well as larger, jam-jar shaped ear-bulbs, and are painted in a variety of bright colours.
When the Daleks return to the series in 1972's Day of the Daleks, they adopt a grey colour scheme, with the Dalek commander being painted gold. By the time of Death to the Daleks (1974), the Daleks return to a silver colour scheme with black bumps, but once again revert to greys in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). In Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) the standard grey-black Daleks are part of the Renegade Dalek faction, with the dominant Imperial Daleks sporting a white-gold colour scheme.
Contrary to popular belief, Daleks can fly, although this ability has not been exhibited in every appearance. As noted, the first Daleks are limited to the metal walkways of their city, and in Destiny of the Daleks (1979) the Doctor, escaping into a ceiling duct, taunts a Dalek for its inability to climb after him. In the 1960s Dalek comic strips, Daleks fly using flying platforms called solar discs.
Remembrance of the Daleks shows that Daleks can hover using a sort of limited antigravity — first implied in earlier serials such as The Chase (1965) and Revelation of the Daleks — but their awkward forms still limit their mobility in tight quarters. Despite this, the Daleks' supposed inability to climb stairs is still frequently referred to for humorous effect by journalists covering the series and most press covering the new series in 2005 still said that the new series "finally showed Daleks climbing stairs". The new series has featured flying or hovering Daleks in all their appearances to date.
The Daleks returned to the series in Dalek, with a lone Dalek that has somehow survived the Time War which had resulted in the mutual annihilation of both the Daleks and the Time Lords. There were no major alterations to the general Dalek design, except for an expanded base and an overall heavier, more solid look. The Dalek also had an all over metallic brass finish, similar to the gold Dalek commander of Day of the Daleks. The ear-bulbs also resembled the movie versions, and the eye stalk glowed blue.
This Dalek design exhibits abilities not seen before, including a swivelling mid-section that allows the Dalek a 360-degree field of fire, and a force field that disintegrates bullets before they strike it. In addition to the ability to fly, it is also able to regenerate itself by means of absorbing electrical power and the DNA of a time-traveller (later described in Doomsday, 2006, as background radiation picked up during time travel). The "plunger" manipulator arm is also able to crush a man's skull in addition to the technology interfacing abilities shown by earlier models. In Doomsday, a combination of three "plungers" is used to extract information from a person's mind, with lethal results.
There were unconfirmed rumours of a more radical redesign for the Daleks that might have appeared in a later story, but when an army of Daleks appear in The Parting of the Ways, they feature no changes in design from the one seen in Dalek. It is possible that this rumour was referring to the new Dalek Emperor design.
Dalek agents
Despite their penchant for racial purity, the Daleks are not averse to using other species in subordinate roles, or as ostensible allies, although they are usually exterminated once they have served their usefulness (like Mavic Chen in the 1965 serial The Daleks' Master Plan).
They routinely enslave planetary populations, putting them in labour camps and using them as operatives, willing or otherwise. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth they convert selected humans into Robomen overseers, using oversized mind-control helmets. However, these Robomen are mentally unstable and eventually go insane, then turn suicidal. By the time of Remembrance of the Daleks, the control device has been refined and reduced to the size of a microchip implanted behind the subject's ear which can also shut the agent down when they are in danger of being compromised. More advanced versions of the Robomen based on this technology appear in the Dalek Empire series of Big Finish audios. In the alternate future of Day of the Daleks humans who willingly served the Daleks supervise slave labour.
The Daleks also use mercenaries. In Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space (1973), the Daleks use Ogrons to police their slaves and as foot soldiers. In 1984's Resurrection of the Daleks, the Daleks use human mercenaries as Dalek troopers (who wear helmets resembling the domed head and eye-stalk of a Dalek) as well as human duplicates known as Dalek Agents.
Dalek battle computers are mentioned in 1979's Destiny of the Daleks. It is their completely logical nature that causes the centuries-long stalemate in the war with the android Movellans. As a result, the Daleks decide to harness human creativity by using them as part of their battle computers, as seen in Remembrance of the Daleks. In that serial, the battle computer is a brainwashed human child sitting in a Dalek-styled chair and wearing a helmet similar to that of the Dalek troopers. The child is also capable of attacking with bolts of energy emanating from her hands, although Dalek control over her (and presumably, her offensive capabilities) ends when the Dalek Supreme on Earth is destroyed.
The recognition of their overreliance on logic and machinery can also be seen in the creation of the Cult of Skaro.
Dalek Emperor
Four different incarnations of the Emperor Dalek are known, three seen on the television series, and one in the TV Century 21 comic strip (a squat, golden Dalek with an enormous head-section). It is unclear whether any of these are the same Dalek, or up to four different Daleks.
The Dalek Emperor is first introduced in the TV 21 comic strip The Daleks, reproduced in collective format as the Dalek Chronicles . According to this comic strip version of events, the Emperor was originally a standard Dalek, one of the war machines created by the blue-skinned humanoid Dalek scientist Yarvelling. After the nuclear war that devastated Skaro, the mutants survive in the casings. The only humanoid Dalek survivors of the war, Yavelling and the warlord Zolfian, encounter a Dalek that persuades them to build more Dalek casings for their mutated descendants. Before the last two humanoid Daleks die, a special casing is built for the Emperor to reflect its new rank. It is slightly shorter than the other Daleks, with a disproportionately large spheroid head section and in gold rather than grey. This origin story is completely different from that portrayed on television in Genesis of the Daleks. The description of the Dalek Prime in John Peel's novel War of the Daleks matches the TV 21 Emperor closely.
The Emperor first appears on television in The Evil of the Daleks (by David Whitaker, who also wrote most of the comic strips) where it is an enormous immobile conical shell plugged into a corner of the control room in the Dalek City on Skaro. The novelisation of Evil (adapted 26 years later from Whitaker's scripts by John Peel) states that this Emperor had originally been the Dalek who had apparently exterminated their creator Davros at the end of Genesis of the Daleks (although Davros was later revealed to have survived). The book also states that the Emperor had previously been the Dalek Prime, who appeared in earlier novelisations by Peel. The Emperor is apparently destroyed as a civil war breaks out amongst the Daleks, although a light is seen still blinking on its casing at the end of the serial, indicating some kind of activity.
The next time a Dalek Emperor appears is in Remembrance of the Daleks. The Emperor of the Imperial Dalek faction is actually Davros, greatly deteriorated physically and reduced to a head and partial torso in a customised Dalek casing similar to the TV 21 comic version of the Emperor. He is last seen heading for an escape pod just before his ship is destroyed in the wake of the supernova that consumes Skaro.
Another Dalek Emperor features in the finale of the 2005 series, The Parting of the Ways, its ship having barely survived the Time War. After its ship falls through time, it goes into seclusion and goes on to rebuild a new race of Daleks. This Emperor is a Dalek mutant floating in a transparent tank of liquid, topped by a giant-sized Dalek dome, complete with eyestalk and flanked by panels of armour dotted by Dalek "bumps". Attached to the bottom of the tank are two mechanical arms and the armour panels are connected to the central Dalek structure with articulated joints. Because this Emperor has recreated the Dalek race, it sees itself as a god, and has transformed its Daleks from fascists to religious fanatics centred around them worshipping it. This Emperor is apparently destroyed with the rest of the Daleks by Rose Tyler after she absorbs the energies of the time vortex.
A Dalek Emperor also appears in the Dalek Empire series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions. In the Eighth Doctor audio adventure Terror Firma, taking place after Remembrance of the Daleks, Davros's increasingly unstable mind is obliterated by a totally Dalek personality, that of the Emperor. This new Emperor then takes command of Davros's Daleks and departs. Whether this is the Emperor seen in the rest of the Big Finish Dalek audios is unclear.
A Dalek Emperor, described similarly to the Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks, appears in the Telos novella The Dalek Factor by Simon Clark. It is referred to as "an" Emperor, implying there is more than one at that time.
Dalek Supreme
Also sometimes referred to as the Supreme Dalek, the type of Dalek originally simply designated as a Black Dalek and later identified with the Dalek Supreme serves in the role of an elite or commander Dalek. It first appears in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, where a Black Dalek (called a Supreme Controller) is seen directing the Bedfordshire operation. It has a terrifying pet called the Slyther which it allows to roam free around the mines at night killing those it finds. A black and silver coloured Dalek referred to as the Saucer Commander is also seen in this serial. A Dalek Supreme also leads the Daleks in The Daleks' Master Plan, as well as dispatching the Dalek execution squad at the beginning of The Chase.
The Black Dalek is replaced by the Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks, which uses black-domed Daleks as lieutenants. During the Third Doctor's era, the Black Dalek appears to have been replaced by a Gold Dalek (in Day of the Daleks), but the field commander-type Dalek returns and is now positively identified as the Dalek Supreme in Planet of the Daleks (1973). In that serial, a movie-style Dalek in black and gold trim is used to represent a member of the Supreme Council of Daleks (which has apparently supplanted the need for an Emperor), with an eye-stalk that lights up when it is speaking. In Destiny of the Daleks, the Dalek Supreme is briefly mentioned as the supreme commander of the Daleks. A Dalek lieutenant, a Dalek of a darker shade of grey than the rest, is also seen as an intermediate rank in that serial.
The Dalek Supreme, as a Black Dalek, makes further appearances as the leader of the Daleks in Resurrection of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks, as well as being mentioned in Revelation of the Daleks. In Resurrection of the Daleks, the Supreme Dalek is a fully black Dalek, with white bumps instead of the usual grey ones, and the voice a lot more hollow. In the former, a schism develops between the Daleks led by the Dalek Supreme and those still loyal to their creator Davros. In the latter serial, it is the leader of the Renegade Daleks that opposes the Imperial Daleks commanded by Davros, now calling himself the Dalek Emperor. The Dalek Supreme ends up as the last surviving Dalek on Earth and destroys itself.
Command-level Daleks appear in the Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing as "Dr. Who". In Dr. Who and the Daleks it is a Black Dalek with gold trimming and alternating black and gold bumps. In Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, a dark gold Dalek with silver trimmings and black globes leads the invasion force.
In the TV 21 comic strips the Black Dalek acts as overall second-in-command of the Daleks, ranking below only the Dalek Emperor. John Peel's BBC Books Doctor Who novel War of the Daleks the Daleks are led by the "Dalek Prime", whose description matches that of the TV 21 Dalek Emperor. In the novel, the Dalek Prime is the judge at Davros's trial on Skaro and is stated to be the last survivor of the original Daleks created by Davros. As this was how Peel referred to the Dalek Emperor in his novelisation of The Evil of the Daleks, this suggests that they are the same Dalek at different points in its history. The novel also mentions Black Daleks as being high in the Dalek chain-of-command and being in charge of all lower ranks, being subordinate only to Gold Daleks and the Dalek Prime. The Dalek Prime is also mentioned in Peel's Eighth Doctor Adventures novel Legacy of the Daleks.
In the Big Finish Productions series of Dalek Empire audio plays, the rank of Supreme Dalek is equivalent to an Army General, subordinate to the Emperor Dalek on Skaro, and eventually rises to command the Daleks in the Emperor's absence, with a different Dalek Supreme taking over in the third series.
Four black-domed Daleks appear briefly in The Parting of the Ways, flanking the Dalek Emperor. These are very similar to the black-domed Emperor's guards seen in The Evil of the Daleks. Certain Dalek guards were also distinguished by an extra gunstick in place of their sucker arms.
In Army of Ghosts (2006), a completely black Dalek appears from within a void ship, leading three other bronze Daleks. This black Dalek was part of the Cult of Skaro, and was named Dalek Sec (Doomsday).
Imperial Dalek
The Imperial Daleks are a faction of Daleks loyal to their creator, Davros, rather than the Dalek Supreme. They first appeared in Revelation of the Daleks. The Imperial Daleks have white livery with gold bumps, and high-pitched voices. These Daleks are not descended from the original Kaled mutants, being instead made from the modified heads of human corpses infused with the Dalek factor. They are destroyed along with Davros's laboratory in the Tranquil Repose funeral home on Necros by the original Daleks. The glass Dalek also finally makes an appearance in Revelation — a prototype Dalek with a transparent casing that reveals the mutated head inside.
In Remembrance Of The Daleks, Davros has somehow escaped whatever fate the Daleks had in store for him and has gained control of Skaro, becoming the Emperor. He recreates the Imperial Daleks by grafting bionic appendages onto the bodies of Kaled mutants. Their casings now have golden eye-stalks and a lozenge shape on the front of their casings, and their gold plungers are slotted to fit into machinery. Imperial Daleks can also hover up a flight of stairs.
A civil war, ostensibly over racial purity, breaks out between the original, now Renegade Daleks, and the Imperial Daleks. Although their firepower is weak, Imperial Daleks augment their battle tactics with the Special Weapons Dalek. It is not clear if any Imperial Daleks survive the conclusion of the serial, as both Skaro and the main Imperial Dalek warfleet are apparently destroyed by the Hand of Omega.
In the Big Finish Productions audio play Terror Firma, Davros survives the destruction of Skaro and creates a new army of Imperial Daleks from Earth's population by releasing a virus that turned humans into Dalek mutants. Davros's mind is eventually taken over by a completely Dalek personality, and this new Emperor assumes control of the Imperial Dalek army. It is not stated if the Imperial faction or the Renegade faction is dominant at this point or after.
Special Weapons Dalek
The Special Weapons Dalek is a heavily-armoured Imperial Dalek first seen in Remembrance. Unlike a conventional Dalek, the Special Weapons Dalek has no manipulator arm or eye-stalk. Instead, it has an enormous energy cannon mounted on the front of the armoured casing in place of the usual small gunstalk and several red squares around the dome in place of the usual eyestalk. Special Weapons Daleks do not appear to be able to speak, but do have massive firepower, said in the BBC Dalek Survival Guide to be up to 50 times more powerful than a blast from a regular Dalek gun.
In Remembrance the Special Weapons Dalek's firepower is so great that one shot completely vaporises two conventional Renegade Daleks, leaving only a pair of burn marks, and the armour is sufficient to deflect conventional Dalek energy weapons without suffering any apparent damage. Like the other Imperial Daleks, its livery is white with gold bumps, but with sections of metallic grey armour covering most of the upper portion with much battle scoring. The Special Weapons Dalek is also mentioned in the novel War of the Daleks, and the Big Finish audio The Genocide Machine.
In Ben Aaronovitch's novelisation of Remembrance it is stated that the enormous power source required for its weapon results in high levels of radiation being released and altering the structure of the Dalek's brain, resulting in insanity. The Special Weapons Dalek is only used in extreme situations and is unofficially known among the Daleks as the "Abomination."
Special Weapons Daleks would have been featured in the aborted 30th anniversary film The Dark Dimension. According to the BBC Dalek Survival Guide, Special Weapons Daleks also come in both Marine and Airborne forms.
Cult of Skaro
Introduced in Doomsday, the Cult of Skaro are an elite order of Daleks (described by the Doctor as above even the Emperor, although they were enraged when told of the Emperor's demise) who are assigned to think as their enemies think and find new ways of killing them. This even extends to them developing imaginations and taking on individual names. Four of these Daleks (Dalek Thay, Dalek Caan, Dalek Jast, and a black Dalek named Dalek Sec) escape the end of the Time War in a void ship along with a captured Time Lord prison ship containing millions of Daleks, which they call the Genesis Ark. The Doctor causes these Daleks to be sucked back into the Void, but Dalek Sec manages to initiate an emergency temporal shift to an unknown time and place. It is not clear whether the other members of the Cult of Skaro are sucked into the Void or transported with Sec.
Non-television Daleks
The following Daleks have never featured in any television appearances:
Spider Dalek
Spider Daleks were a proposed design by John Leekey for an early version of the Doctor Who television movie to be produced by Amblin Entertainment in 1994. The script was rejected and it was the Matthew Jacobs-scripted television movie that saw production in 1996. The Spider Daleks ultimately appear in John Peel's novel War of the Daleks, depicted as creations of Davros. Spider Daleks are slightly larger than normal, but with eight legs. They are more manoeuvrable than standard Daleks, but more vulnerable at their joints. In the novel, the Thals believe that this design has been abandoned for centuries. Giant-sized versions, known as Striders, are ten times larger than the standard Spider Dalek.
In the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip story Fire and Brimstone (DWM #251-#255), a faction of Daleks from a parallel universe resemble Spider Daleks, and are viewed as abominations by the Daleks of the "main" universe. The comic strip Spider Daleks have a square font in their speech-bubbles, rather than the regular angular Dalek font.
Marsh Dalek
Only featured in the 1964 Dalek annual written by Terry Nation and David Whittaker, these are large, bipedal Daleks that are used to control the Horrokon Monsters on the Planet Gurnian. They appear to be a forerunner of the Striders referred to in John Peel's books.
Marine Dalek
Marine Daleks, also introduced in War of the Daleks, are torpedo-shaped with their eyes at the front, and have their gunstalk and a grappling arm parallel to their bodies. They are also larger than the standard Daleks.
Scout Dalek
In Ben Aaronovitch's novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks the Imperial Dalek faction uses a type of scout Dalek which is more streamlined than standard Daleks, with overpowered motors.
See also
External links
- Project Dalek - build your own Dalek
- Dalek 6388 - about the various Dalek props built for the series
- The Dalek Song - a spoof of the Llama song