51 Years Later: 5 Ways to Make the Daleks Menacing Again

Guest contributor Simon Beresford takes a look.

When the Daleks were introduced on this very date in 1963, they were an instant hit with viewers. 51 years later and they still remain as popular, though in recent years, there has been some criticism that they are simply not as menacing as they once were. So is it possible for this most beloved and iconic enemy of the Doctor, to become threatening once again? Here are five ways in which I feel that this could be achieved.

A Creepier Redesign

Blasphemy! I hear you cry, at the mere suggestion of redesigning such a beloved and iconic monster. However, the redesign that I have in mind would be to simply make the Dalek casing transparent, so that we could see the creature thrashing around inside at all times. Much like in Revelation of the Daleks, this would be particularly creepy if the creature inside happened to be humanoid (and as was the case with Oswin more recently) Imagine a human cramped inside, seemingly devoid of any emotion or even expression, just a blank eerie glare. Even with the classic Kaled inside, I feel that the design could be amped up a little, making the Kaled more slimy and aggressive (think Dalek Caan).

Tone down the catchphrase

The iconic catchphrase is undeniably a great one, but again has lost some of its impact over the years. I would not do away with it all together, however, I do feel as though it is vastly overused and often doesn’t result in a death. In my personal opinion, the word “exterminate” should only be used immediately before someone is actually exterminated, therefore in the future when we hear “Exterminate!” It will actually mean something, and therefore become menacing again.

Someone Important must die

I think that this is one thing that we can all agree on. In order for us to take the Daleks as a serious threat, they need to show just how destructive and ruthless they can be. The best way to do this, is to have them kill someone important, someone that we actually care about. With this in mind, a companion’s death at the hands of a Dalek could be the way to go. Not only to reinforce their presence upon the audience, but to also give the Doctor a reason to fear them again.

Davros

I have always felt that Davros was far more terrifying than the Daleks themselves. The design of Davros is already horrifying, so I don’t think that it would take very much to push it over the edge, to make him truly spine chilling. Maybe have his mouth oozing with a sticky black substance (I would have said blood, but I think that would be taking it a step too far). I would love to see Davros back on Skaro, experimenting again. Maybe he could create a new race of creatures to dominate the universe, a new race that is once more under his control, a race to rival the Daleks.

Victory for the Daleks

For the Daleks to be truly feared once again, it wouldn’t hurt to see them win from time to time. This could include, as above, the death of a beloved character, or maybe we could have a story in which the Doctor was simply too late to save the day.

So there are my ideas on how to make the Daleks a formidable force, and more importantly, scary again. How would you make the Daleks scary/menacing again?