Doctor Who: 5 Worst And 5 Best Dalek Stories
Ah, the Daleks. Who doesnt like the Daleks? Well, Im not actually a huge fan of them myself. When they work, they work well, but thats rare, and they tend to be very, very overused. But theyre popular with the kids, I know that much.
Yes, from the moment they first trundled onto the screen in 1963, the Daleks have been a mainstay of Doctor Who. Its not much of an exaggeration to say that had they not shown up in the fifth episode, we probably wouldnt have Doctor Who today. The show likely would have been cancelled after season one and that would have been that. But Dalekmania came along and helped keep the show going for, oh, fifty years, give or take. Sadly, the popularity of the Daleks results in them being, as I said, overused. It seemed like at some points they were just being brought out because someone had a checklist and said, Oh, look, we need a Dalek story this season. The end result is that they often arent used well and they are almost never scary. Also, in the latter years of the first show, there was waaaaay too much Davros. But that said, some of the best stories from the series have been ones with the Daleks. So without further ado, lets have a look at the worst and the best of the Dalek stories.WORST:
5. Doomsday
So Im pretty sure this one started as a bit of fanwank by Davies back in the day who, likely as a fifteen-year-old, thought, You know what would be brilliant? The Daleks fighting the Cybermen! Then, when he got power over the series, he made that an actual thing. Now the idea of the two fighting isnt horrible, I suppose, but it is rather silly and pointless. The story was also a clear shoehorning of Torchwood into the Doctor Who universe, and that seemed a bit unnecessary. As for Roses farewell? Mildly touching at the time, I suppose, but destroyed by later episodes where, after being sealed away forever and ever in an alternate universe with no way of coming back ever, she does, of course, come back and gets her true love in the bargain. Vomitization.