Doctor Who: 10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About The Daleks
4. They Must Appear Once A Year
It's long been rumored that the negotiations between the BBC and the Terry Nation Estate to bring the Daleks back in 2005 had one particular stipulation – that the Daleks must appear once every series or year.
This has never been confirmed by any Doctor Who showrunners and it was actually denied by Steven Moffat in 2014, and as a theory it doesn't really hold up to much scrutiny.
There's not a single Dalek story between Journey's End in 2008 and Victory of the Daleks in 2010. There's a minor Dalek cameo in The Waters of Mars, but does this really constitute an "appearance"?
The derelict Dalek that the Eleventh Doctor consults in The Wedding of River Song feels less like a contractual obligation and more like using an existing prop as a budget-saving exercise.
What Doctor Who fans sometimes forget is that the Daleks are massive cultural icons. Whovians may have tired of them, but the general public hasn't – unleash a Dalek in a hotel lobby during a Doctor Who convention and there'll be a huge queue of people wanting a selfie.
The show keeps bringing back the Daleks not because of an obligation to the Nation estate, but because they guarantee a ratings spike.