the curse of the daleks is a dalek stage play, written by david whitaker and terry nation, which appeared for one month at the wyndham's theatre in london beginning 21 december 1965. it is notable for being terry nation's first live action attempt to exercise his ownership of the dalek concept independently of the bbc. as such, it does not include the character of the doctor, the tardis or any other elements from the "doctor who" television series. produced by john gale and ernest hecht, and directed by gillian howell, it was performed mostly as a matinée indicating that children were the intended primary audience.