10 Times Doctor Who Daleks Appeared Where You'd Least Expect Them

Extracurricular Exterminations.

Sesame Street Elmo Daleks
Sesame Workshop

On Saturday, it was revealed that Elmo was friends with the Daleks. This startling revelation proved that there’s nowhere those pesky pepper pots won’t go in their quest to be the dominant species in the galaxy. Since they debuted in 1963, the Daleks have been arguably bigger than Doctor Who itself. Created by Terry Nation and immortalised by Raymond Cusick’s iconic design, they’ve appeared on all manner of productions over the past five decades.

When Nation’s attempts to launch an American sci-fi show for them failed, he returned to Doctor Who but also harboured a desire to bring them into his series Blake’s 7. Since then, they’ve appeared in un-PC comedy sketches with Spike Milligan and on the 1990s late-night Channel 4 show TV Offal. It’s bizarre that the Nation Estate nearly turned down Robert Shearman’s Dalek but had no issue with two Daleks yelling EXSPERMINATE on Channel 4.

This list is (mostly) much more family-friendly and dodges those particular appearances. Here you’ll find Daleks advertising cigars, checking into a Muppet hotel and much, much more. They certainly get about!

10. The Daleks Check Into The Furchester Hotel

The two Daleks pictured with Elmo in that explosive social media snap first appeared in a Comic Con-themed episode of Sesame Street. The street was hosting "Numeric-Con", a celebration of number-themed characters like he Dark Nine and Cap-Ten Kirk. It also featured Doctor Two, who arrives on Sesame Street in his Twodis, bringing with him a dastardly collection of villains.

Among the aliens that Doctor Two introduces are muppet versions of the Daleks and Cybermen! Before they can cause any more havoc, Elmo leaps into action, dressed as the Dark Nine. Elmo and their friend Leela (seriously) dispatch the Daleks with the power of maths, but they're not completely defeated.

They returned in Sesame Street's transatlantic spinoff, The Furchester Hotel. Furchester is a Muppet hotel that appears to be constantly on the brink of disaster. Staffed by Sesame Street alums Elmo and the Cookie Monster, each episode features various elaborate guests. Two of these guests were a pair of Dalek looking Muppets, who wanted to book the time travel suite. It was a throwaway gag that, judging by the YouTube clip, ended up on the cutting room floor.

However, the Muppet Daleks are still out there. Waiting.

Contributor
Contributor

Citizen of the Universe, Film Programmer, Writer, Podcaster, Doctor Who fan and a gentleman to boot. As passionate about Chinese social-realist epics as I am about dumb popcorn movies.