I think they’re definitely overused. They don’t seem nearly as formidable as we’re told they are if they get the smack laid down on them so often.
I only started watching with the new series, not the original, so I’m not coming from a place of “1-9 only fought them x times each” or any of that, though it was an interesting analysis to read. It’s just they’ve gone from “hey, the Doctor looked like he’s gonna shit himself when he saw that thing, must be serious business” to “oh, those guys again”
I guess I’ll be the lone voice of dissent - I love the Daleks and want more, they make excellent comic relief. “This is not War. This is PEST CONTROL” indeed.
In my mind, comic relief == less threatening villain. I don’t see anyone who is ready to replace them as the iconic bad guys. I don’t need a Shredder, I need the Shredder.
Eccleston’s first Dalek episode was amazing. Those new to Who really got the fear he felt seeing that thing. Then they make you feel sympathy for the Dalek. It was a fantastic episode. It almost feels wrong to bring them back again and again after that, because they end up being a letdown.
Now I want to go back and watch that episode again.
I second this.
OK, so what other classic Who monsters/villains should turn up instead of the Daleks? We’ve seen the Autons, the Macra, Sillurians, and Sontarians, and all were treated pretty well I think.
I never realized that the crab monsters from the episode with all the cars was a call back to an original Who monster. Neat!
Pity that episode was such utter crap, otherwise.
Well, you could be describing the Sontarans (all the cars), the cat people (all the cars), or Cassandra’s bots (crab monsters) and probably a couple others that I can’t think of off the top of my head…
-Joe
Heh - sorry. I was referring to the third season episode “Gridlock,” the one with a society of people living in floating Winnebagos stuck in an eternal traffic jam. The bottom of the motorway is covered with giant crab monsters that live off the exhaust fumes and anyone foolish enough to try to take the express lane. The crab creatures, it turns out, were called the Macra.
Ah. That episode didn’t do much for me so I’m not sure I even remembered the crabs. All I remembered was it was the forever traffic jam and possibly the final death of Captain Jack.
-Joe
God, that was a bad episode. I don’t know if it’s the worst of NuWho, but it’s pretty damned bad.
Hee hee hee hee! I love it! I can’t wait for the fashion daleks to turn up again now so I can steal your joke. My husband will think I’m so clever.
DECORATE! DECORATE!
Stealing that joke is the only reason I ever want to see daleks again.
I just stole it for my wife and she gave me one of those pitying smiles… 
So far the vote’s been going more or less as I expected. I agree with all the users who said that if the show keeps using them it has to at least stop destroying or utterly defeating them every time. It could help if the Daleks killed a companion or were responsible for a regeneration. It’s been decades since they’ve killed a companion.
I counted it for completeness and fairness’ sake. As long as I was counting Army of Ghosts and The Pandorica Opens I couldn’t leave it out. Their only appearance I didn’t count was the last scene of Frontier of Space, because that was just a preview of Planet of the Daleks.
I could do without any classic villains other than Daleks and the Master (whom I also wouldn’t like to see again very soon). Other than those two other Doctor Who recurring villains haven’t done so well IMO. Also, it makes me a bit sad to read someone referring to the Slitheen as classic villains.
Thank you. Just to clarify, the point of my post wasn’t to say “look, they’re doing stuff differently so it must suck”, but simply to see if there has been an increase in the frequency of Dalek appearances (there has) and see if people agreed they’d become excessive. Older Who also suffered complaints of excess Daleks (with good reason IMO).
I don’t watch the New Who, but I think they must be using Daleks so much now there’s a Dalek showing up on South Park. See Funnybot.
You misunderstood me. What I meant was, I would rather see the show take a break from all of the classic villains, but if the new villains are as disappointing as the Slitheen, then I would certainly take a good Dalek episode in its place.
I don’t think I’ve ever made a joke anyone wanted to steal. I’m honored.
I even have a skit for it in my head where a bunch of gay Daleks appear in the Tardis, say “DECORATE!” and then there’s a shopping montage to the theme from “Queer Eye for tge Straight Guy” and then when they’re done the Tardis is decked out like a Pier One store* and the Doctor is dressed to the nines (no Fezzes).
*I’m not gay or fashionable so I really don’t know what gay Daleks would do decoration-wise.
Ah, that makes it all worthwhile.
The OP didn’t specifically ask if they are overused as villains, though. 'snot unheard-of for a creation to make the jump - see “Ferengi”, for example.
But fezzes are cool.
Why? It was really only a cameo appearence by the Dalek, and the 5th Doctor didn’t even meet it. I certainly wouldn’t class it as a Dalek story. Even if you did, it is 1 Dalek episode at best, not 4.
Does any Dalek cameo make it a Dalek story? Would you count The Space Mueum for example? It has a Dalek as an exhibit in the museum. Also a Dalek appears at the end in a cliffhanger leading into the next story.
The Daleks are played. The giant pepper shakers just aren’t that scary. They move very slowly and announce what they’re going to do before they do it. They’re a classic example of “Tell, don’t show.” We’re told how powerful and terrifying they are, but they rarely live up to it. I’d like to see them on hiatus for awhile.
Nu-who could come up with some new scary villains. They’ve already done this with the Weeping Angels, who are actually terrifying.
I meant to vote for the first option but I suppose that wasn’t realistic anyway.