Daleks

"Today, the Kaled race is ended, consumed in the fire of war, but... from its ashes will rise a new race - the supreme creature - the ultimate conqueror of the universe - the Dalek!"

- Davros

Daleks are a race of extraterrestrials who feature as prominent adversaries in the Doctor Who television franchise. Of all the strange foes that the Doctor has faced throughout the various iterations of the program, no single group has proven to be as enduring and as popular amongst fans as the Daleks. Developed by regular series writer Terry Nation, the Daleks were introduced in 1963 in the first multi-part story-arc of the program known as "The Daleks". They were first seen, ableit briefly in the first chapter of the serial, "The Dead Planet". The Daleks have made numerous appearances over the years and were the central antagonists in several storylines such as "The Power of the Daleks" (1966), "The Evil of the Daleks" (1967), "Day of the Daleks" (1972), "Planet of the Daleks" (1973), "Death to the Daleks" (1974), "Genesis of the Daleks" (1975), "Destiny of the Daleks" (1979), "Resurrection of the Daleks" (1984), "Revelation of the Daleks" (1985) and "Remembrance of the Daleks" (1988). They have also appeared in several single episodes of the original series as well as numerous appearances in the 2005 Doctor Who revival series. The synthesized voices behind the Daleks have been provided by numerous actors over the years including David Graham, Michael Wisher, Peter Hawkins and Roy Skelton.

Genesis
Daleks were alien creatures genetically bred in the laboratories of a man known as Davros on the planet Skaro. Davros' race, the Kaleds had been embroiled in a Thousand Year War with their sworn enemies the Thals - a war that left the surface of Skaro a radioactive wasteland. As a result, many people on the planet began to suffer severe genetic mutations that were ultimately inherited by their descendants. These mutant beings were referred to by the derogatory name Mutos. Davros knew that this mutated form represented the final destiny of all Kaleds. In the hopes of finding a way to survive this, Davros turned his sights on the field of genetic engineering. His work in the field produced a variety of hideous, monstrous creatures, but his most successful achievement was a small organism which came to be known as a Dalek. Daleks were cephalopod life forms characterized by a centralized cranial region and long, flowing tentacles. To give the creatures mobility, Davros housed them inside of mobile life support canisters, or travel machines, the design of which was based on his own mobile chair. Davros believed that the Daleks represented the final evolutionary stage of the Kaled race.

Davros' motivations behind the creation of the Daleks was hardly altruistic however. As leader of the Elite Scientific Corps of Skaro, he was allowed to continue his experiments because the city administrators believed that he was working in the best interests of his people. During the final days of the Thousand Year War, Davros realized that his Daleks could also serve as the ultimate war machine. He had their metal shells outfitted with laser weaponry and instituted a program that would remove all sense of emotion and consciousness from a Dalek's brain. It was this procedure that ultimately spelled Davros' downfall however. His top scientists could not abide the notion of the creation of a creature absent of any sort of moral values and they rebelled against him. Davros suspected their treachery however and implemented his Daleks to eradicate those who opposed him. With the shrill, mechanized word "Exterminate!" echoing from within their metal casings, the Daleks slaughtered the heads of both the Military and Scientific Elite. The Dalek programming led them to believe that they were superior to other life forms, even those responsible for their creation. Ultimately, they turned against Davros himself.

Notes & Trivia

 * The concept of the Daleks was developed by series writer Terry Nation.


 * Dalek is an anagram for Kaled.