The Daleks very rightly sit on the very top rung of the Doctor Who ladder of rogues, along with the Cybermen and the Master. They are Doctor Who, almost as much as the Doctor himself, and their cross-cultural appeal means they invade properties beyond the boundaries of the Who universe. But, like any property that has at various stages been blighted by sub-par writing - which is beyond all else the reason for the show's initial demise - Doctor Who hasn't always been kind to its most famous villains. Played for laughs too often - especially in appearances outside of Who episodes - and given some of the most comically terrible story-lines (as well as some of the best) the Daleks haven't always been the most impressive villains. Whisper it, but at times, Doctor Who has made Daleks look like idiots, with about as much threat as a giant salt grinder on wheels, and we're here to lament those moments in solidarity.
Honourable Mention
Merry Christmas
It's not just the Daleks - who play a major part in the episode in question - that are mistreated by the end of the first Doctor Who Christmas Special of "The Daleks' Master Plan." For reasons known only to whoever was responsible (the theories suggest either an Hartnell ad-lib or a hasty re-write by the director,) the Doctor turns to the camera at the end and says "Incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home." Never has the Doctor broken the fourth wall with such flagrant disregard (he's done it more subtley twice since,) and unfortunately, all that was accomplished was a reductive sense that everything was fake. Naturally, that is the case, but with sci-fi in particular, it is fatal to acknowledge the puppet strings.