Anyone who is a Who fan, knows what Daleks are.
Incidentally whatever I DO ramble on about here will be accompanied purely by fanpics of the Daleks, no series stills. Just because I said so....
The Daleks were never a favorite of mine, and as my friends will attest to, I have yet to even like a Dalek episode of the new series. Oh sure, I will not deny that I was excited as hell to see the bound gold casing in the underground Utah museum, but they've never been something that grabbed me for the series. I enjoy the Cybermen better, and actually quite a few of the other recurring (and some non-recurring races) much better.
Nevertheless, I have to admit to them being the reason that the show is still around.
Yes, I know that three letters back I expounded upon the brilliance of the 1st half hour of An Unearthly Child, and i DO stand by its magic.
But the following story brought about a phenomenon that, not even the producers of the show were prepared for.....I mean...who would ever think there would be a word: Dalekmania?
So, what is a Dalek?
If we go by the Doctor's own words, a Dalek is purely: HATE.
One could speculate that...if the entity known as Fenric is the living embodiment of evil, then the Daleks are the constructed embodiment for hatred.
They are often (and rather precisely) invoked as the Doctor Who Universe's version of the Nazis. The Doctor Who Universe HAS stories about the real Nazis, but the Daleks take that horror and place it upon a galactic playing field.
The Daleks bare hatred for anything unlike a Dalek. They are the ultimate in racial cleansing. Their mission is to annihilate anything that is not one of their own.
The genesis of the Daleks is rather a sad story to be honest, and what else bred this menace but war. The Daleks began as humanoid beings called Kaleds; sharing the planet with another race called Thals (who ironically are the ones who look more Aryan in appearance).
The two races eventually came against each other in explosive conflict....massive enough to sterilize the entire planet. The planet became a radioactive wasteland, and one which crippled the Kaled race.
Upon the survivors came a brilliant scientist (another major "D" post for the future) This man was fueled by utter contempt for the Thals. He took the feeble mutated ruins of his people and genetically altered them...removing from them any thoughts of conscience, compassion or morality. He then plugged this newly born monster into a metal shell and provided it with an energy ray that spat death.
Thus resurrected these remnants became the Daleks. A race so insanely resolved to be pure, that one of their first actions is to turn violently against their creator.
The original Daleks glided around on a single base, utilizing static electricity from metal flooring, such limited creatures. But, these beings are not so driven by hate that they lack in astounding ingenuity. The Daleks are geniuses. They swiftly solved their mobility problem and nowadays you can find hovering Daleks, spider-legged Daleks, even submarine Daleks.
They are the first race to actually copy TARDIS technology and by that I mean time travel machines that actually have the higher dimensions contained within, in essence bigger on the inside like the Time Lord's machines.
Do they ever put them to catastrophic use.... The Daleks take their time machines and shunt a Dalek constructing factory within them. This way any place one of these machines land can possibly have thousands of Dalek soldiers on board, PLUS the ability to make more.
Despite my adherence to the fact that the Daleks were never my favorite baddies (despite them being quite possibly the most popular baddies, and the whole reason for the overnight success of the series) these ruthless machine creatures have spawned some of my favorite stories.
For the Doctor Who beginner, or even simply the Dalek beginner, I strongly recommend finding in book form (or ebook) Power of the Daleks and Evil of the Daleks.
Sadly these two 2nd Doctor stories are not available in their televised format, but reading the goings on at Maxtible's House and on the planet Vulcan is something no one should miss.
Also, you should try to get your hands on a copy of the 4th Doctor story Genesis of the Daleks. Quite possibly the most important Dalek story ever told.
Hmm, I think the post turned out ok.... Join me next time when I chat about a Time Lord who is rather overshadowed, and yet is the first Gallifreyan in a very important position on the Time Lord homeworld.
::exterminates the post::
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