Different types of the fictional alien cyborg race
Since their first appearance in 1963 there have been a number of variant models of the Daleks, a fictional alien race in the BBC science fiction television programme "Doctor Who".
First seen in the serial "The Daleks" (1963–64), the outward manifestation is portrayed as a powerful, technically advanced travel machine in which a hideous and malevolent mutant, the Dalek creature, resides. Although the general appearance of the Daleks has remained the same, details of both the casing and the mutant creature have changed over time. Alterations were made to accommodate the requirements of specific plot elements in various serials and episodes or at the request of producers, designers and directors to revitalise the Dalek appearance. On other occasions design changes have been the result of practical considerations when filming the Dalek props on location, or the mixing of components acquired from different sources.
The episodes "Asylum of the Daleks" (2012), "The Magician's Apprentice" (2015) and "The Witch's Familiar" (2015) feature appearances by many of the Dalek variants seen in the "Doctor Who" programme since its inception.
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Glossary of primary Dalek components.
The component names listed below are used in this article as an aid to tracking the detail changes made to the basic Dalek design to create variants. From the base up, the major components are:
General design.
Overview.
Externally Daleks have the appearance of a truncated cone varying between approximately 1.5 metres (5 feet) and 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches) tall depending upon the variant. They are equipped with a single mechanical rod-mounted eye which protrudes from a rotating dome, a directed energy weapon and a telescopic arm. Usually the arm is fitted with a manipulating device resembling a sink plunger. This item is shown in various episodes to be capable of holding people and objects, seemingly using a powerful vacuum. The weapon is depicted as having a variable output which can paralyse, stun or kill most life forms, disintegrate other Daleks and destroy buildings and spacecraft.
Casing.
In "Remembrance of the Daleks" (1988) and the episodes "The Parting of the Ways" (2005) and "Doomsday" (2006) the Doctor states that Dalek casings are constructed from "bonded polycarbide", with this material being referred to as "dalekanium" in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (1964) and "Daleks in Manhattan" (2007). The casing is depicted as being impervious to most projectile and energy weapons, although not indestructible. In various episodes Daleks are shown being damaged or destroyed by overwhelming firepower, their own weaponry and falls from a height. In addition, in "Revelation of the Daleks" (1985), they are said to be vulnerable to "bastic-headed bullets". In appearances from 2005 onwards a Dalek's defensive capability has been shown to include an invisible force shield, with the eye remaining a weak point.
The lower shell is covered with hemispherical protrusions. In the BBC-licensed "The Dalek Book" (1964), and again in "The Doctor Who Technical Manual" (1983), these items are described as being part of a sensory array. In "Dalek" (2005) they are shown to act as components in a self-destruct mechanism.
Eye.
Historically, a Dalek's eye has been depicted as its most vulnerable spot. In "Silence in the Library" (2008) the Doctor, speaking of how to deal with various alien menaces, says "Daleks: aim for the eye stalk". In the revived series from 2005 onwards, storylines have shown Daleks as having systems to protect their vision. In the 2008 episode "The Stolen Earth", Wilfred Mott attempts to disable a Dalek by blinding it using a paintball gun. The Dalek is seen to simply evaporate the paint from its eye.
Eye lens, eye discs and dome lights.
While maintaining their general shape and appearance, the design of these components has varied over the years. Eye lenses were first shown as blank, white discs, sometimes featuring internal illumination. Later, lenses with a black "pupil" were introduced. "New Series" Daleks have a clear lens which glows with a blue light while New Paradigm Daleks, introduced in the episode "Victory of the Daleks" (2010), are equipped with an "organic eyeball" set behind a small transparent hemisphere. ;ref name="DWC 5/3" ; ;/ref ; Throughout the 1960s Daleks were occasionally shown with a functioning iris, a feature also seen in the "New Series" Dalek design. The eye discs have varied in number, size, spacing, profile and configuration. Colour has generally been restricted to powder blue, white or gold, with "New Series" Dalek eye discs having a translucent, frosted appearance and those of the New Paradigm variant being black.
The dome-light covers first resembled table tennis balls, before items having the appearance of plastic egg cup inserts were substituted. Later these were replaced by various types of "bee skep-shaped" vehicle side light lenses. The flattened lights fitted to the Imperial Daleks seen in "Remembrance of the Daleks" were formed from Perspex discs capped by commercially available saucer-shaped plastic components, while "New Series" and New Paradigm Daleks have light-covers consisting of tubular beacon lenses, the former variant's being surrounded by a metallic cage.
Underside.
The underside structure of a Dalek casing was indeterminate until the publication of "The Dalek Book " (1964). This included a cutaway drawing entitled "Anatomy of a Dalek" which showed it to have a base through which a large central sphere, surrounded by smaller satellite "balancing globes", protrudes. This layout was generally adopted and used in subsequent Dalek plans and comic strip representations. This is at variance with the few glimpses seen in early "Doctor Who" television episodes and films, which made little attempt to show (or hide) anything other than the actual base of the Dalek prop. As this usually took the form of a plywood board to which castors had been attached and a hole cut out for the operator's feet, these brief appearances were of little assistance in maintaining the illusion of the props being functional, armoured casings housing an alien being. This situation was finally remedied in the episode "Dalek" (2005) and subsequent appearances of the "New Series" Dalek. This variant is shown to have an underside consisting of a large, recessed central hemisphere surrounded by eight satellite hemispheres. The central hemisphere and four of the satellite hemispheres glow when the Dalek is in flight mode.
Dalek Mutant.
The creatures inside the "travel machines" are depicted as repulsive in appearance and vicious even without their mechanical armour. Rarely glimpsed until the programme's revival in 2005, they were usually shown as amorphous green blobs with strong tentacles capable of strangulation or, occasionally, as having clawed hands. Their appearance and evolution is variously attributed to radioactive fallout from a catastrophic war, artificially accelerating pre-existing genetic mutations in the Kaled species and the manipulation of genetic material forcibly obtained from other (usually human) species. From 2005 onward the Dalek creature has been seen more frequently, in its latest incarnation resembling a pale octopus-like being with a single viable eye, a vestigial nose and mouth, and an exposed brain.
In the episode "The Witch's Familiar" (2015) it is revealed that the mutants are biologically immortal, yet still gradually age to eventually rot away into a liquid mass. These decayed Daleks are ultimately deposited in Skaro's sewer system, where they decompose further into a living, maddened sludge.
Voice.
Daleks have distinctive electronic voices, the harsh, staccato sound being created by actors speaking through a microphone into a device called a ring modulator. While this produces considerable distortion and a monotone effect, inflection and pace are used to express a range of emotions including rage, triumph, disdain and, very occasionally, fear. (  )
Locomotion and manoeuvrability.
Dalek locomotion is usually shown as a gliding movement a few centimetres above the ground. "The Dalek Book" (1964) indicates that traction is provided by a large, omnidirectional rotating metal sphere, while in the serial "Death to the Daleks" (1974) the Doctor states that they move by psycho-kinetic power. For years Daleks were depicted as being unable to climb stairs, with travel confined to smooth ground and level surfaces. This was rectified in "Revelation of the Daleks" in which a hovering Dalek was seen briefly, and then in "Remembrance of the Daleks" which featured a Dalek levitating up a staircase. From 2005 various "Doctor Who" episodes have shown Daleks hovering and flying with ease, locomotion being imparted by anti-gravity generators.
Dalek variant naming conventions.
During the course of the "Doctor Who" television programme the BBC, its producers and scriptwriters have rarely alluded to changes in Dalek design or ascribed names or designations to the various models seen. Notable exceptions usually refer to rank, such as "Emperor" and "Supreme Dalek", although in "Genesis of the Daleks" the newly created Dalek casing is referred to as a "Mark 3 Travel Machine".
The Dalek variant naming conventions used in this article are attributed to the various models as a matter of convenience. They can be found in general use by the Doctor Who/Dalek fan base, and are often quoted in posts and documentation on websites such as The Project Dalek Forum. Other classifications for the major Dalek variants exist. "The Doctor Who Technical Manual" (1983) places both television and Movie Daleks in the same numerical sequence by order of their first screen appearances, although reconciling the characters and events depicted in the Doctor Who films with those established in the TV programme is problematic.
The term "drone" is used in this article to indicate a Dalek having no rank. Its only use to date in the Doctor Who television serials and films in which the Daleks have appeared has been in the episodes "Victory of the Daleks" and "Revolution of the Daleks".
Mark 1 Daleks.
The Daleks first appeared in the 1963 "Doctor Who" serial "The Daleks". There are no visual cues to distinguish one Dalek from another, or suggestions in the story of a hierarchy.
The Mark 1 Dalek differs from later variants in having no shoulder slats or mesh, nine eye discs (the greatest number of any version) and a "toffee apple" shaped eyeball. The eye lenses are illuminated and shown to have an iris which can expand and contract. These Daleks have a silver colour scheme with blue/grey shoulders, blue hemispheres and eye discs, collars in natural aluminium and black fenders. The story refers to them being powered by static electricity, with mobility limited to the metal floors in the Dalek City on their home planet, Skaro.
In the episode "The Ambush" a Dalek is shown using a device resembling a thermal lance to cut through a door. It consists of a long, slim tube flanked by two globes, surmounted by a clear disc-shaped "sight screen". This appendage is mounted to the Dalek's arm in place of a plunger.
The Dalek concept was the creation of screenwriter Terry Nation, with the design being realised by BBC staff designer Raymond Cusick. The props were constructed by Shawcraft Engineering of Uxbridge, England under the direction of Bill Roberts, who also provided additional design input.
Mark 2 Daleks.
The storyline for the second serial to feature the Daleks, "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (1964), required the props to be used extensively on location. Consequently, serial designer Spencer Chapman and manufacturer Shawcraft Engineering devised a tricycle arrangement, incorporating three pneumatic tyres, to replace the original castors and carry the props over uneven ground. Enlarged fenders were then created to hide the revised undercarriage.
To explain the Daleks' ability to travel away from the static-charged floors of their city, the narrative has the Doctor stating that an aerial located at the edge of a mine in Bedfordshire is the key to the Daleks' power supply on Earth. Although not referred to directly in the story, it is implied that the parabolic dishes now fitted to the rear shoulder section of each prop act as receptors for a form of transmitted energy. Other design changes are a reduction in the number of eye discs to five and painting some eyeballs silver instead of the standard black colour. An amphibious capability is demonstrated in the closing moments of the first episode of the serial when a Dalek emerges from beneath the waters of the River Thames.
For the first time a Dalek command structure is introduced, with rank indicated by differing colour schemes. The Earth Task Force Commander, or "Saucer Commander", features a black dome and alternating light and dark skirt panels. A Supreme Controller or "Black Dalek" is also seen with a black dome, shoulders and skirt.
Mark 3 Daleks.
First introduced in 1965, the basic design of the Mark 3