10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Doctor Who

8. The Daleks Couldn't Levitate Until 2005

Doctor Who Dalek stairs
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 over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!