The newest season of Doctor Who had me thinking about Daleks. I’ve felt for awhile that we’re seeing too many Daleks lately and that their overuse is really robbing the characters of their power. I also believe that shows writters aren’t getting enough time to come up with good Dalek stories. Daleks in Manhattan and Victory of the Daleks may not be quite as bad as the absolute nadir that was Planet of the Daleks but they’re still pretty bad. Last season’s finale had Daleks that could have been replaced by absolutely anything at all to no detriment to the story. So, in what just may have been the nerdiest moment of my life, I did and Excel spreadsheet of Doctor Who Dalek episodes by season and by Doctor. I took on account all the full-length specials so far including The Five Doctors, which I counted as 4 Fifth Doctor Dalek episodes. I did not count the movie, so there’s not Eighth Doctor, nor the current season as it’s not over yet .
Doctors 9 and 11 had the greatest average number of Dalek stories at 2 each for an average of 20% and both totaled an average of 23.1% Dalek episodes. The Tenth Doctor had a below average proportion of Dalek stories with 3 for 8.3%, but a slightly above average 13% number of Dalek episodes (as Dalek stories tend to be 2-parters in NuWho.) The First Doctor had the greatest average number of Dalek episodes with 20.5% (for a total of 26 episodes in 3 different stories). This because of the epic and wonderful The Daleks’ Masterplan which alone accounts for 13 episodes, including the only Who episode I know of which doesn’t feature the Doctor nor anybody else on the main cast. The Third Doctor tied him and 10 with actual number of stories (3) for the greatest single average of 12.5% Dalek stories, though they made up for only 11% of his episodes (14 out of 128).
On average OldWho had 8.6% Dalek stories (14 out of 158 stories counted) and 11% Dalek episodes (79 out of 697 episodes counted) and NuWho 13.15% (7 out of 52) stories with 17.2% of the episodes (12 out of 68). If we further breakdown OldWho in before and after Tom Baker we arrive at 10.9% stories and 14.1% episodes for the first 3 Doctors and 8% stories and 9.8% episodes for Doctors 4 through 7. Also noteworthy is the fact that in *OldWho *only the Second Doctor had more than a single Dalek story in one season (The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks, both in season 4), but that marked the first time in which the Daleks were destroyed. After that we had 4 Dalek free seasons before they reappeared in season 9. Daleks were also absent in season 13 to 16 before season 17’s Destiny of the Daleks. The Second Doctor had 2 Dalek stories while Doctors 4 and 5 had 2 Dalek stories each (considering The Five Doctors only as a Fifth Doctor story) and 6 and 7 had 1 each.
As far as I can remember the Daleks have been completely destroyed in The Mutants (or The Daleks, their very first story), The Evil of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks, between OldWho and NuWho, Dalek, The Parting of the Ways and The Stolen Earth, with an honorable mention to Genesis of the Daleks. So that’s 7 times while they’ve been featured in 21 stories.
I never watched the old Who, I got sucked in by Christopher Eccelston and then stayed, and the idea that these used to be an actually frightening, serious villain is completely lost on me. The first Dalek episode I saw, the one with 9, was fantastic, and they’ve become a joke from there.
I’d be perfectly happy if they retired both the Daleks and Cybermen permanently… they just aren’t interesting or fun (for me). But Who fans on the whole still absolutely love them, so that’s unlikely to happen. I could do with less “save the whole world/universe” plotlines as well, but while I never liked Daleks or Cybermen that much, when I was a kid the “save the universe” stories (like Logopolis) really got me excited, so that’s just a result of me watching the show for too long : )
We do need a break from them (actually, I thought their last appearance was a good acknowledgement of Dalek overload – I bet everyone thought they’d be the central villain). They’re good as an opponent, but the new series needs to develop more monsters that have no connection to the original one.
My problem with Daleks in the new series is a matter of overkill. I don’t mean that that they use them too much, but they kill them too much. Up until the previous season, every time the Daleks show up, the Doctor manages to completely destroy them. Then next season, there’s suddenly a new Dalek threat. I don’t mind them showing up so often, but if they want to use them as recurring villains, I wish they’d stop getting beaten so utterly and completely. That’s what I liked about “Victory of the Daleks” - the episode established that there are Daleks running around the universe who are an active and persistent threat to the Doctor. Plus, they actually defeated the Doctor for once - as his most dangerous foe, the Doctor ought to, at best, have more pyrrhic victories against them, if not outright defeats.
Yeah, they’re a little too overused. IMO they aren’t an effective villain since they’re so easily defeated, time after time. The Doctor can defeat a fleet of twenty hojillion daleks just as easily as one. Sure, some side characters may be in peril, maybe even the companion for a few moments, but the Doctor isn’t in any real danger. I do recall that the first season did a good job of building them up as a credible threat, and they were only defeated in the final episode. Not so much in the more recent episodes.
Come to think of it, this might be due to the change in direction. Davies was better at building up big mythical space opera plots, but they got a bit overwrought in his later seasons. I do quite like Moffat’s writing and creepy concepts, but his Dalek episodes were particularly week.
I agree with Miller, but, on the whole, I don’t think they are being overused. But the whole annihilate them all only to have more come back is wearing thin. Unless that’s a signature characteristic of what you want them to be, lay off of that. And, yes, make them have more wins or at least draws. I’m hoping that’s what the new Daleks are supposed to be able to do.
I also think the new Daleks, while okay in colors, need a bit of a design overhaul.
They’re iconic, of course, and even though they look a little silly they’re still pretty cool and one of the best, deadliest villians in science fiction. Unfortunately, when there are too many of them then it makes it seem too easy to kill them when the Doctor and his companions do that.
Dalek in Series 1 was great but then they overran everything in Bad Wolf and Parting of the Ways, yet they were defeated. Same with Army of Ghosts and Doomsday all the way up to the Stolen Eath and Journey’s End. So many Daleks, so quickly defeated.
IMHO, it’s not that the Daleks are so easily defeated, it’s that the Doctor is immediately mentally and morally prepared to do whatever it takes to defeat them. In NuWho (I never watched the original), the Doctor is willing to kill or use deadly force* only when he’s quite certain it’s necessary and proper, either because the enemy presents an immediate threat or he’s given them a chance to withdraw. But he doesn’t need to waste a moment weighing moral pros and cons when he sees a Dalek. Ironically, his instinct is to EXTERMINATE, or, to use his words, “blow every stinkin’ [spittle] Da-lek out of the sky!”
*But only with “peaceful” devices cobbled together into weapons, never ever with a device built to be a weapon. Guns and missiles hell no, even for someone else to use unless they insist ;), but using an atmospheric converter to ignite a ship’s air, yep. :rolleyes:
I’m not sure I would count The Five Doctors as a Dalek story. There’s only the one, and it’s only used for a few minutes as a way to get The First Doctor and Susan together. Once they’re together, they shove it into a mirrored room, it blows itself up, and they head off to get to the plot.
This is what annoys me about how they’ve been using the Daleks. And the Cybermen. And the Master. They’ll arise, present a danger, threaten the Universe (or at least Earth). Then the Doctor will defeat the threat and save the day, saying “NOW they’re gone FOREVER and THIS time I REALLY MEAN IT.” Next season, there they are again. It’s tiresome. “Victory of the Daleks” was a step in one of the two possible right directions (the other being give them a friggin’ rest already), acknowledging that they can win and/or escape. If they really want to impress me, the next time the Doctor beats them they’ll have the Daleks escape by some means other than using their “emergency temporal shift” as their base/ship/plans come crashing down in fire due to the Doctor’s efforts.
I’d like to see a whole season without any classic villains showing up. But I’d rather see Daleks than the Slitheen. I’m not big on the walking fart jokes.