Doctor Who: Every Dalek Story In The New Series Ranked WORST To BEST

Reintroducing the Daleks for the twenty-first century was always going to be a challenge.

In the years since Doctor Who had been off the air, they had become a subject of derision for most people. They look like saltshakers, they can only say one thing, and they can’t even climb the stairs. How are they supposed to be scary, exactly?

All of these doubts are put to rest just six episodes in to the new series. Dalek, simply put, is a masterclass in how to make just one of the Doctor’s greatest enemies a real threat.

It also shows a more dangerous side of the Doctor too, as he violently screams at the Dalek to kill itself and “rid the universe of your filth.”.

Writer Robert Shearman, adapting the story from his Doctor Who audio play ‘Jubilee’, draws clear parallels between the tortured Ninth Doctor and the titular Dalek here. Both are creatures born from war that learn to embrace their compassionate side through Rose Tyler’s positive influence.

Never mind millions of Daleks invading the Earth and screaming ‘Exterminate!’. Sometimes all you need is one that just wants to see the sunlight again.