11 Best Doctor Who Dalek Stories

1. Dalek (2005)

If Dalek were the only episode to feature the Daleks in the entirety of the 2005 series, we suspect that most fans would have been OK with that, simply because it's such a masterpiece. In the span of an old-style two-parter, it encapsulates the sheer menace of the Daleks, finally proving that memorable line from The Dalek Masterplan: 'One Dalek is capable of exterminating all!' And by all, we mean everything: it becomes clear in this episode that hordes of Daleks are (literally) overkill because a single one is more than sufficient to wipe out an entire planet, provided that planet doesn't have the Doctor or Rose Tyler on it. Actually, it's Rose who saves the day in this one by inadvertently 'infecting' the Dalek with the very Human Factor they were trying to find in Evil of the Daleks. Nice how the best stories always seem to tie together like this. It's also noteworthy for being the first time the Doctor has to question his animosity towards them, something which will come up again in Into The Dalek (which might as well be called Dalek 2.0). For once, the Doctor isn't the clear hero, the Dalek isn't the clear villain - but, unlike Power of the Daleks, this story ends on a note that fails to reassure us that either reversal is untrue. Because of this, it's probably the only time any of us have cried over the demise of a Dalek, and only Rob Shearman has been able to pull it off so far. Dalek stories that make us cry for other reasons, though... those are coming up next week. If we've offended you with our rankings, or if you seriously think that, say, Destiny of the Daleks should have come in at number one on this list, let us know in the comments below - as if we could stop you.