50 Facts About Daleks

1.

Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who.

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2.

Daleks then integrated them with tank-like robotic shells equipped with advanced technology based on the same life-support system he himself used since being burned and blinded by a nuclear attack.

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3.

Daleks's creations became intent on dominating the universe by enslaving or purging all "inferior" non-Dalek life.

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4.

Daleks are the show's most popular and famous villains and their returns to the series over the decades have often gained media attention.

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5.

Contrary to popular belief, the Daleks are not contractually required to appear in every season.

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6.

Daleks were created by Terry Nation and designed by the BBC designer Raymond Cusick.

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7.

Daleks have been known to use their plungers to interface with technology, crush a man's skull by suction, measure the intelligence of a subject, and extract information from a man's mind.

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8.

Daleks have a very limited visual field, with no peripheral sight at all, and are relatively easy to hide from in fairly exposed places.

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9.

The first-ever glimpse of a Dalek mutant, in The Daleks, was a claw peeking out from under a Thal cloak after it had been removed from its casing.

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10.

Daleks' voices are electronic; when out of its casing the mutant is able only to squeak.

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11.

Many years it was assumed that, due to their design and gliding motion, Daleks were unable to climb stairs, and that this provided a simple way of escaping them.

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12.

Daleks were actually controlled from inside by short operators, who had to manipulate their eyestalks, domes and arms, as well as flashing the lights on their heads in sync with the actors supplying their voices.

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13.

Early versions of the Daleks rolled on nylon castors, propelled by the operator's feet.

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14.

In scenes where many Daleks had to appear, some of them would be represented by wooden replicas or life-size photographic enlargements in the early black-and-white episodes.

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15.

Judicious editing techniques gave the impression that there were more Daleks than were actually available, such as using a split screen in "The Parting of the Ways".

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16.

BBC's own Dalek props were reused many times, with components of the original Shawcraft "Mk I Daleks" surviving right through to their final classic series appearance in 1988.

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17.

Daleks was inspired by a performance by the Georgian National Ballet, in which dancers in long skirts appeared to glide across the stage.

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18.

For many of the shows the Daleks were operated by retired ballet dancers wearing black socks while sitting inside the Dalek.

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19.

Daleks later admitted that this book and the associated origin of the Dalek name were completely fictitious, and that anyone bothering to check out his story would have found him out.

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20.

Daleks consciously based the Daleks on the Nazis, conceiving the species as faceless, authoritarian figures dedicated to conquest, racial purity and complete conformity.

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21.

Instant appeal of the Daleks caught the BBC off-guard, and transformed Doctor Who into a national phenomenon.

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22.

The concept for these "Spider Daleks" was abandoned, but it was picked up again in several Doctor Who spin-offs.

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23.

Daleks placed his new Dalek creations in tank-like "travel machines" of advanced technology whose design was based on his own life-support chair.

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24.

Genesis of the Daleks marked a new era for the depiction of the species, with most of their previous history either forgotten or barely referred to again.

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25.

Future stories in the original Doctor Who series, which followed a rough story arc, would focus more on Davros, much to the dissatisfaction of some fans who felt that the Daleks should take centre stage rather than merely becoming minions of their creator.

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26.

Davros made his last televised appearance for 20 years in Remembrance of the Daleks, which depicted a civil war between two factions of Daleks.

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27.

One faction, the "Imperial Daleks", were loyal to Davros, who had become their Emperor, whilst the other, the "Renegade Daleks", followed a black Supreme Dalek.

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28.

However, Davros escapes and based on the fact that Daleks possess time travel and were spread throughout the universe, there was still a possibility that many had survived these events.

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29.

The audio play The Time of the Daleks featured the Daleks without Davros and nearly removing William Shakespeare from history.

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30.

The audio dramas The Apocalypse Element and Dalek Empire depicted the alien villains invading Gallifrey and then creating their own version of the Time Lord power source known as the Eye of Harmony, allowing the Daleks to rebuild an empire and become a greater threat against the Time Lords and other races that possess time travel.

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31.

The new Daleks are organised into different roles, which are identifiable with colour-coded armour instead of the identification plates under the eyestalk used by their predecessors.

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32.

Daleks then appear in the 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", where they are seen being defeated in the Time War.

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33.

In "The Time of the Doctor", the Daleks are one of the races that besieges Trenzalore in an attempt to stop the Doctor from releasing the Time Lords from imprisonment.

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34.

Twelfth Doctor's first encounter with the Daleks is in his second full episode, "Into the Dalek", where he encounters a damaged Dalek he names 'Rusty.

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35.

Daleks have little, if any, individual personality, ostensibly no emotions other than hatred and anger, and a strict command structure in which they are conditioned to obey superiors' orders without question.

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36.

Unlike the stereotypical emotionless robots often found in science fiction, Daleks are often angry; author Kim Newman has described the Daleks as behaving "like toddlers in perpetual hissy fits", gloating when in power and flying into a rage when thwarted.

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37.

Daleks are extremely aggressive, and seem driven by an instinct to attack.

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38.

In later fiction, the Daleks know the Doctor as "Ka Faraq Gatri", and "The Oncoming Storm".

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39.

Daleks have made cameo appearances in television programmes and films unrelated to Doctor Who from the 1960s to the present day.

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40.

Daleks have been referred to or associated in many musical compositions.

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41.

Daleks appeared in minor roles or as thinly disguised versions in other, minor games throughout the 80s, but did not feature as central adversaries in a licensed game until 1992, when Admiral Software published Dalek Attack.

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42.

Unauthorized games featuring Daleks has appeared through the 1990s and 2000s, including Dalek-based modifications of Dark Forces, Quake, and Half-Life, and even more recently, a mod of Halo: Combat Evolved; many of these can be found online, including an Adobe Flash game, Dalek:Dissolution Earth.

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43.

Several Daleks appear in the iOS game The Mazes of Time as rare enemies the player faces, appearing only in the first and final levels.

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44.

Daleks appear in Lego Dimensions where they ally themselves with Lord Vortech and possess the size-altering scale keystone.

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45.

Daleks appear in Doctor Who: The Edge of Time, a Virtual Reality Game for the PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, and Vive Cosmos, which is set to be released in September 2019.

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46.

Daleks have appeared on magazine covers promoting Doctor Who since the "Dalekmania" fad of the 1960s.

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47.

Daleks have been the subject of many parodies, including Spike Milligan's "Pakistani Dalek" sketch in his comedy series Q, and Victor Lewis-Smith's "Gay Daleks".

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48.

Comedian Eddie Izzard has an extended stand-up routine about Daleks, which was included in his 1993 stand-up show "Live at the Ambassadors".

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49.

The Daleks made two brief appearances in a pantomime version of Aladdin at the Birmingham Hippodrome which starred Torchwood star John Barrowman in the lead role.

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50.

Pair of Lego based Daleks were included in the Lego Ideas Doctor Who set, and another appeared in the Lego Dimensions Cyberman Fun-Pack.

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