One elongated conical base section with a single row of black hemispheres
Bulbous head section split into sections
Booming voice
Version 2 (Remembrance of the Daleks)
Standard white and gold Imperial Dalek base section
Large domed upper body, no eyestalk
It’s actually Davros!
Version 3 (The Parting of the Ways)
Immobile
Mutant floating in a transparent tank
Two mechanical arms attached to the tank’s base
Giant bronze Dalek dome head with eyestalk and lights
Large, heavy bronze plating with gold hemispheres flanking to three sides
DALEK PRIME MINISTER
Dalek Prime Minister (Asylum of the Daleks)
No Dalek casing or weapons
Mutant creature encased in a single glass case
NEW DALEK PARADIGM
Larger
Chunkier central core
Biological eye
Thicker skirting
COLOUR-CODED DALEKS
Victory of the Daleks introduced a new ‘officer class’ of Daleks, each colour coded to their specific role.
White = The Dalek Supreme, the new commander of the Daleks.
Orange = The Dalek Scientist, pushing the boundaries of Dalek knowledge.
Blue = The Dalek Strategist, always thinking, always planning, always preparing for any eventuality.
Red = The Dalek Drone, the foot soldier of the new Dalek Empire.
Yellow = The Dalek Eternal, enigmatic and mysterious, possibly responsible for finding ways to ensure that the Daleks never again hover on the brink of oblivion.
THE GLASS DALEK
In 1964, the very first Dalek story was novelised as Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks, by David Whitaker. The novel differed from the original televised story in several ways, including one element that has become Doctor Who legend.
In the closing pages of the book, the Doctor and his friends launch their final attack on the Daleks, and discover the metal monsters have a leader – a mutant encased in a transparent glass Dalek casing. Whitaker describes the creature:
He was resting on a kind of dais and his casing was made of glass. Inside, I could see the same sort of repulsive creature that the Doctor and I had taken out of the machine and wrapped in the cloak. The Dalek looked totally evil, sitting on a tiny seat with two squat legs not quite reaching the floor.
The 1964 paperback edition issued by Armada included a picture of the glass monster, but sadly this was not reproduced in subsequent editions.
In the Sixth Doctor television adventure Revelation of the Daleks, a glass Dalek is seen, encasing the Doctor’s friend Arthur Stengos, who has been turned into a mutant.
40 WAYS TO DEFEAT A DALEK
The Supreme Beings? Who are they kidding? Turns out there’s more than one way to skin a Dalek.
Stick mud in the Dalek’s eye and push it over a Thal cape to insulate it from the power supply. After that it’s a simple case of opening the top and scooping out the mutant like a soft -boiled egg! (Note to time-travelling adventurers: this only works in the Dalek city on Skaro, where Daleks pick up static power through the floor.) (The Daleks)
Feed the Daleks anti-radiation drugs knocked off from the Thals. They don’t like that. (The Daleks)
Cut the power to the city. No static electricity, no Daleks. Well, in the early days at least. (The Daleks)
If all else fails, just chuck rocks at them. It might not kill them, but it’s tremendously satisfying. (The Daleks)
Mob the pesky pepper pot, hoisting it up before chucking it on the floor. Just make sure you don’t get stuck underneath. (The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Ram through a squad of Daleks with an enormous refuse truck. (The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Get together a gang of angry mine workers, grab yourself a Dalek and run screaming out of the mine to freedom, still holding the Dalek aloft. (The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Dig a hole in the desert sand, cover it with an old threadbare cardigan (thanks, Barbara!), get a Dalek to chase you and hope it falls in. (The Chase)
Dump them in a bubbling mud bath. (The Daleks’ Master Plan)
Overload them with static electricity. (Power of the Daleks)
If your country house has been overrun with Daleks, use some rope to drag one into an open fire. (The Evil of the Daleks)
If a Dalek creeps up on you when you’ve just arrived on Skaro, chuck it off a cliff. Easy! (The Evil of the Daleks)
Cause a civil war on Skaro. It’s the final end. (Hint: it isn’t.) (The Evil of the Daleks)
Disable with a scrambler made from a TARDIS tape recorder and whatever else you find in your pockets. (Planet of the Daleks)
Carelessly leave a cooling duct open. If you’re lucky a burst of molten ice will engulf passing Daleks at just the right moment. (Planet of the Daleks)
Sometimes you don’t have to do anything. There’s every chance a group of especially dumb Daleks may inadvertently trundle past some Thal explosives that had been rigged to explode by an earlier Dalek patrol. (Planet of the Daleks)
If a Dalek is riding up a ventilator shaft on an anti-grav disc, a well-aimed rock tumbled down the shaft should be enough to knock the Dalek back down to earth – or Spiridon. (Planet of the Daleks)
Dipping Daleks into a sub-zero pool of molten ice instantly kills the mutant inside. Daleks can’t handle sub-zero temperatures. (Planet of the Daleks)
Go for the direct approach and slide an explosive charge across the floor at a squad of advancing Daleks. (Planet of the Daleks)
Charges shoved into a crack of an ice wall should take out any advancing Dalek. (Planet of the Daleks)
Get it to make a mistake. Some Daleks are so self-critical that they’ll overreact and self-destruct. (Death to the Daleks)
Blow up their ship with a big bomb. Simple but effective. (Death to the Daleks)
Throw a hat over its eyestalk and clamp a convenient bomb on its side – but make sure you shove the Dalek down a narrow corridor before it blows up! (Destiny of the Daleks)
Push it into the corner of a handily mirrored corridor. It’ll no doubt fire and be exterminated by its own ricocheting death ray. (The Five Doctors)
Guarding one of the most dangerous beings in the known universe in a barely defended and poorly maintained space prison when the Daleks attack? Then stick a few mines in a corridor, it’ll take out a couple of the invaders at least. (Resurrection of the Daleks)
Topple it out of a third story warehouse door. However, always remember to check for leftover Kaled mutants amongst the wreckage – but don’t get it mixed up with Felis catus. (Resurrection of the Daleks)
If you’re Davros you can modify the Movellan virus to eradicate your own creations. Always make sure you’re not susceptible to the plague yourself though. Whoops. (Resurrection of the Daleks)
Blast it with a highly directional ultrasonic beam of rock and roll. (Revelation of the Daleks)
If that doesn’t work, bullets with bastic heads will blow it sky high. Unless it’s been through the Time War and has developed a personal force field, of course. (Revelation of the Daleks)
Zap it with a Dalek gunstick. Daleks are vulnerable to their own weapons. They really need to look at that. (Revelation of the Daleks)