11 Worst Doctor Who Dalek Stories

1. Victory Of The Daleks (2010)

If we were being uncharitable, we could say that the sole reason that Victory of the Daleks exists is to introduce a new line of toys. It certainly feels less like an actual story about the Daleks and more like a 46-minute long commercial for the brand new Dalek Paradigm figures coming to a shop near you! Yes, yes, we know that Mark Gatiss was actually trying for more of an homage to Power of the Daleks, as evidenced by the Dalek saying the line 'I am your soldier!' and trying to pull a fast one on Winston Churchill. Problem is, Power of the Daleks doesn't reveal the sinister plan behind that subservient veneer until well into the third episode. Victory gets there by the twelve-minute mark. Sometimes a multi-episode story really is better for building tension. And then it turns out that the sinister plan is... to restore the Dalek race using a Progenitor that for some reason needs the Doctor's testimony that yes, they are the Daleks, to switch it on. Wait, what, huh? The end result of this is that the Daleks trying to rebuild their race get the thing going; it makes new Daleks (in a rainbow of fruity colours!), who emerge from the machine in a burst of public relations shots; and the new Daleks decide that the old ones are impure and destroy them. Of course, this seems to go straight in the bin once Asylum of the Daleks comes around and we see both old and new Daleks together in the same Parliament, but hey. Then the Doctor does something clever... oh, forget it. All we remember is that it involves Spitfires that have been retrofitted impossibly fast to fly and fire in space... No, that's it, actually. Nothing else memorable about this one at all. Granted, the new Daleks are impressive from a size and sound point of view. They're big enough to put a driver into. But then, so is a SmartCar, and SmartCars come in the same colour scheme. They sound impressively menacing and even a bit human. Problem is, they all sound like the Emperor now. But they don't have much of an impact ultimately, do they? We see them next in The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, where they have a bit part; we see them in Asylum; and then...? Are they back in Skaro as we speak, directing the usual Daleks in their battles against the humans, as in stories like Into The Dalek? If so, do we even need them? And did we really need this story? Whether we offended or thrilled you with our choices for these lists, we'd still love to hear your thoughts about the Worst Dalek stories, so give them to us in the Comments section below!