10 Simple Doctor Who Scenes That Were A NIGHTMARE To Film

It’s an oft-repeated myth that the Daleks only learned to levitate in the modern series. But in fact, decades prior, we’d seen Daleks emerge from water and sand in the '60s stories The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Chase.

Neither shot was as straightforward to create as they appear. In the case of the former, an operator was present inside the Dalek (wearing a wetsuit), and a carefully-concealed cable was used to lift up the prop.

For The Chase, a similar method was attempted, with a Dalek (this time sans operator) buried in the sand. The idea was to pull it out with a Land Rover, Parting of the Ways-style.

But what actually happened is that the sand proved too powerful for the Land Rover, with the Dalek refusing to budge. The production team had to go back to the drawing board, and ultimately ended up completing the shot in studio, with miniatures.

It's no surprise that Daleks weren't often shown levitating back then, given how difficult the effect was to pull off with the technology of the time.