10 False Doctor Who Facts You Probably Believe

Daleks are another sci-fi staple. Their voices and shape have become iconic since their 1963 debut. But they've always been stumped by one joke. How do you escape a Dalek? Run up the stairs. They can't get you then (even though you could still be in range of their weapon, making you dead meat). But this is wrong. Since in 2005's Dalek, one finally climbs the stairs for the first time. Wrong.

In the previous Dalek story of the series, all the way back in 1988, Remembrance of the Daleks, it is at the climax of this story's first part, that the Daleks finally conquer the stairs.

Over the years, the Doctor himself has made this stairs joke, most notably in Destiny of the Daleks, where he jests about the pepper pots not being able to follow him. Even in the first part of Remembrance, when the Doctor flees he shouts "stairs" to Ace. However, he is proven wrong, when in one of classic Who's greatest cliffhangers, the Dalek hovers up after him.

So whilst to a modern audience this is more noticeable in Dalek, with a greater emphasis made on the joke of the Dalek being defeated by stairs, it is during this absolute classic that the feat is first witnessed.

Speaking of Daleks...