Doctor Who: 6 Things That Explain The Matt Smith Era

7. The Daleks

Before we start on the complicated arc stuff, let's focus on probably the Eleventh Doctor's biggest enemies, the Daleks. Chronologically, they first appear in 'The Day of the Doctor' of course, as it's clear to see that one ship escapes the Doctors' attempts of freezing Gallifrey. Assuming that the RTD era followed suit unaffected by timeline changes, Eleven first met the Daleks in Churchill's bunker, where they escaped his clutches, and travelled off to the stars. Hundreds of years passed - they even find a new nickname for the Doctor, in 'The Predator' - and the Daleks rebuild. By 'Asylum of the Daleks', they're a fully-formed civilisation again, which explains the odd appearance in 'The Wedding of River Song' and 'The Pandorica Opens'/'The Big Bang', as well as the inclusion of Paradigm Daleks, RTD Daleks and Classic Daleks in that episode. The Daleks have their memories of the Doctor wiped in that episode though, and when a signal calls from Trenzalore, they're among the first there. They bide their time, wait for someone to attack first, but eventually take over the Papal Mainframe, killing everyone there. Their last attack is on Christmas and Trenzalore, where the Doctor's final battle takes place. In one timeline, he dies, but obviously in 'The Time of the Doctor', he changes the future and survives. There are still Daleks out there, though.