10 Notorious Doctor Who Urban Legends

7. The Daleks Couldn't Levitate Until 2005

American Doctor Who
BBC

The Daleks are often mocked by non-Who fans for their apparent mobility issues. People will say "couldn't you just run up some stairs to get away from them?" and fans will reply "NO, you moron, a Dalek was clearly shown levitating up some stairs in the 2005 revival, get your facts right, now be quiet and go watch The X Factor".

And while it's true that a Dalek did elevate up a staircase in the 2005 episode Dalek, this wasn't the first time we'd seen something like this happen, contrary to what the general public - and even some corners of the Who fandom - might believe.

A Dalek was actually shown levitating up some stairs in the 1988 serial Remembrance Of The Daleks, chasing after Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor.

Doctor Who Remembrance Of The Daleks stairs
BBC

But that's not all - if you want to go back even further than this, you can.

In the First Doctor serial The Chase - which aired all the way back in 1965 - a Dalek was shown rising up out of the sand in the cliffhanger of the first episode.

Doctor Who The Chase Dalek rising out of sand
BBC

While this obviously isn't the same as climbing up some stairs, it does prove that the Daleks have always been capable of vertical movement in some capacity, even as far back as the formative years of the show.

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Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.