10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Doctor Who

8. The Daleks Couldn't Levitate Until 2005

Doctor Who TARDIS David Tennant
BBC

We've banged this drum on WhoCulture before, but it bears repeating - if only to defend our favourite genocidal aliens from the still surprisingly common accusation that they "can't do stairs".

That iconic scene in Series 1's Dalek where the main villain levitates up a flight of stairs has, on occasion, been called "the first time the Daleks flew." Understandably, their ability to conquer the universe was questionable if they needed an elevator to reach the second floor, but this moment put that doubt to rest.

Except, it had already been put to rest in 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, with a Dalek defeating some stairs with apparent ease...

Doctor Who Remembrance Of The Daleks stairs
BBC

...and 23 years before that, a Dalek levitated out of some sand in the First Doctor serial The Chase, in a scene that served as the cliffhanger of episode one.

Doctor Who The Chase Dalek rising out of sand
BBC

We also see a Dalek hovering in 1985's Revelation of the Daleks. This is something that's been reinforced throughout NuWho, where it's been shown that the Daleks can actually, properly fly (see that epic Daleks vs. Cybermen street battle in Doomsday, or the Reconnaissance Scout swooping down to fight the human army in Resolution).

So we won't hear any more slander about the Daleks not being able to climb stairs, okay?

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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.