11 Great Doctor Who Moments The Writers Chickened Out Of

11. Killing Off The Daleks For Good

The Daleks are synonymous with Doctor Who as much as the TARDIS and The Doctor's need for travelling companions. Even in their original 1963 form, their metallic exterior and matching personalities always caused one to shudder, especially when they screeched out their iconic phrase, 'Exterminate!'

The Russell T Davies era for Doctor Who was outstanding in making the Daleks the villainous threat they had once been, making them the seemingly undefeatable foe we always remembered. The story arc for the creatures from Skaro (apart from the poor episodes set in Manhattan) was enjoyable, and fitted nicely into a coherent timeline. Thanks to this we were able to get a real sense that the threat and number of Daleks wavered, depending on what had resulted in previous episodes.

The decision to bring about the Daleks ultimate destruction at the hands of the 'Doctor Donna' at the end of the fourth season was a huge moment, with the Metacrisis Doctor's decision to commit genocide one with significant implications. The episode was a fitting end to the once great villain, while also bringing to a close the outstanding Time War arc.

Then Matt Smith and Steven Moffat came along and undid all the good work. While the return of the Daleks from their own extermination may have been justifiable with decent scripting, there is basically no justification given for how they survived or managed to return. The fact they returned looking like M+M's just rubbed salt into the wounds.