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Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of The Greatest Enemies of the Universe
For the first time, the never-before-told history of the Doctor’s most dangerous enemy, the Daleks, from their genesis thousands of years ago to their conquest of the universe.
Doctor Dalek, is the one and only volume devoted solely to the history of the Doctor’s greatest enemy. The Daleks, with their watchword cry "Exterminate!", are a race of cyborg aliens single-mindedly determined to conquer the universe and end all life forms they consider inferior.
First appearing on Doctor Who in 1963, the Daleks are among the show’s most popular villains. Reminiscent of human-sized pepper shakers, the external mechanical casing of the Dalek protects a soft, repulsive creature whose electronic voice is reduced to a squeak when outside of its shell.
Doctor Dalek chronicles the Daleks’ genesis through the Time War and their ongoing conquest of the universe. Here are never-before-told stories about these legendary creatures—including terrifying near-mythical adventures, startling visual recreations of secret conflicts, and more. Each story sheds new light on what has become the most feared alien race in the universe.
With a foreword by showrunner Steven Moffat, full-color illustrations, concept art, cutaways, diagrams, comic strips and more, Doctor Dalek is the ultimate celebration of all things Dalek and a must have for devoted Whovians of every age.
Doctor Dalek, is the one and only volume devoted solely to the history of the Doctor’s greatest enemy. The Daleks, with their watchword cry "Exterminate!", are a race of cyborg aliens single-mindedly determined to conquer the universe and end all life forms they consider inferior.
First appearing on Doctor Who in 1963, the Daleks are among the show’s most popular villains. Reminiscent of human-sized pepper shakers, the external mechanical casing of the Dalek protects a soft, repulsive creature whose electronic voice is reduced to a squeak when outside of its shell.
Doctor Dalek chronicles the Daleks’ genesis through the Time War and their ongoing conquest of the universe. Here are never-before-told stories about these legendary creatures—including terrifying near-mythical adventures, startling visual recreations of secret conflicts, and more. Each story sheds new light on what has become the most feared alien race in the universe.
With a foreword by showrunner Steven Moffat, full-color illustrations, concept art, cutaways, diagrams, comic strips and more, Doctor Dalek is the ultimate celebration of all things Dalek and a must have for devoted Whovians of every age.
- GenresDoctor WhoFiction
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 26, 2017
28 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
George Mann
365 books675 followersGeorge Mann is an author and editor, primarily in genre fiction. He was born in Darlington, County Durham in 1978.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella "The Severed Man", and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella "The Severed Man", and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 8, 2021
Safe heaven:
A short comic but quite a tragic one for our main characters the Thals who are looking for a new place to live on skaro. We then see the group trying there hardest to survive from the horrific monsters/creatures that live there. We see giant octopus tentacles, giant crabs and finally the Daleks themselves with a note saying "there are no save havens on skaro". For a child this is exciting/great stuff to show the horrors/creatures that live on skaro too. It something I was shocked to learn about as a child because newwho never really talks about it and yet classic who often mentions them in countless medias. So seeing all these different creatures on skaro is so fascinating and builds this very scary image of how nightmareish skaro really is. It's very similar to many comic strips of the Daleks chronicles too. The story is simple but enjoyable and Mike Colins art is beautiful to look at throughout this book. Rating 3/5 6/10
Cyber crisis:
As a kid I did always love the idea of Daleks meeting and destorying other monsters/aliens in the show. Although today I still like that idea it can be either too fan fiction or just not be fairly written for both sides. Which is something that is slightly present here, however it's a short comic and it's the Daleks book so it can get away it. The classic Daleks meet the classic cybermen (attack) and take control of there new empire on new Mondas. We follow the story of an innocent man who's been captured and is now being converted, for a comic it's very well drawn graphically but not too much. We then see how the Daleks invaded the cybermen and started converting cybermen to have Dalek mind controls and bombs attached to them. Meaning for a short time we get to see cybermen say the Dalek famous line. It's so incredibly cool to see and although the idea of a half Dalek/cybermen is something we shouldn't see on screen I'm all for the idea to be at least tried out. It's also incredibly horrific that this poor man just thinks he's about to be killed by the Daleks to be put out of his pain but he's not and is made to be fully converted by the Daleks. Later we hear him say he in the suit he's rages silently to get the other cybermen to listen but can't. It's incredibly creepy to think about the people behind the cyber suits. The idea of screaming silently is something that could be so well done on TV, although probably will be never touched upon. It is so horrible and yet so awesome to see the Daleks like this though. The art is absolutely stunning here to. All these short comics have one thing in common. All very good ideas that I'd love to explored more.
Rating 3/5 7/10
Empire of the Daleks:
I really liked this comic, it's an idea I'd love to see expanded upon because I do love seeing Daleks in moments of history and the checky idea that Daleks themselves have shaped our lives. Similar to another story that I read with the same idea of the Daleks changing timelines to make sure Humans become the dominant/lasting race on the planet. It's an odd idea but I'd love to see it fully expand on. Here we see the Daleks controling the mind of Roman Emperor Caligula to be supreme and control earth etc. We see him be mad to kill others and there's a great scene in which the Daleks are fascinated by our thrust for blood/fights such as in Roman gladiator fights. Moments like this in our history is perfect for Dalek story's as we acted no different to them. So instead of tons of modern day earth humans bad stories go back to history instead. In the end the emperor manges to control his mind and the Daleks flee but still preaching that they are the masters. Caligula was seen as a noble and mordate emperor at first but then caused carnage as he believed he was a god until his death. Of little that has been found on him many sources focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance, and sexual perversion, presenting him as an insane tyrant. So he would be great for the Daleks and it's a nice cheeky nod to real history which is great for the kids and as to why he was this way. Because of the Daleks, which is even funnier that even the Daleks refuse to control him/his actions. The art work panels are excellent here. The way Mike Colins has made the two overlap each other to reflect how similar they are just adds to it so well.
Rating 3/5 7/10
War and Peace:
Eric Saward ends the book off with an excellent short story that shows how even at the very end the Daleks come back and never change. I knew going in to this story it would be werid and wonderful, Saward has a tendency to make the Daleks very creepy and odd and here he does the very same but in a very different way. Years into the future on the planet Cerberus all races join to sign a peace treaty. Included are a new race of Daleks built by Gonzo Orcini who has modified and messed with there DNA to make them a lower speaking, clever and helping Dalek. No guns just a sucker and a computer. They also talk very well and human like, can eat food and drink. The story slowly shows us how one Dalek is about to change all that. Dalek Gelt who due to drinking alot has messed with his DNA and started to bring back his anger. He tries persuade Dalek Seg that war is what there good at and look how much freedom they had before, he then kills Seg and a few months later a new army of Daleks returns. It's a great short story that does something really werid with the idea of new good Daleks, something's are really odd, such as a Dalek lifting his dome head off to eat a cereal bar. Some are really really odd such as the idea of a Dalek getting drunk and becoming an alcoholic. I can't tell if this is a slight cheeky joke or a way to warn any children watching this that drinking can cause you to be very evil like the Daleks. Who knows ? But very odd and I do love an odd Dalek story.
Rating 3/5 7/10
Lost patrol:
An enjoyable but straightforward short story of a group of survivors being stuck on a planet and trying to flee from unknown creatures that are killing them one by one. It's an enjoyable journey through the planet and the mines as they're killed off but the ending makes it worth while even if it is predictable. Three surviving Daleks kill off the last of the crew. It's a good short story that hearts back to the idea that Daleks will always survive, what I did like was that the Daleks are stranded here to for awhile. They want to steal anything they can, then rebuild the ship and leave. So they didn't even need to kill these people. It reminds of the idea that Moffat used during his awful Dalek story were Clara is about to be exterminated. Why do they wait? Because they like it when there prey run. It's also similar to the idea in "Prisoner of the Daleks" in which its mentioned that for a Dalek to actually kill a human it has to take a few seconds to change the gun settings, so the idea the Daleks do love a good chase, kill and actually willing take the extra time to exterminate separate things is very creepy for them.
Rating 2/5, 5/10
Infection of the Daleks:
Possibly one of my favourite short stories I've read about the Daleks, Mike Tucker nailed what makes the Daleks so scary and evil. He shows just how evil and miniupltive they can be to people/creatures and also shows through the main character of The Prime Speaker that the Daleks can kill you and your hope long before they extreminate your body.
The Daleks here have deliberately made Ogrons infiltrate and die on the planet of Helatrine to spread an incurable disease that will both kill out the people and make them join the Daleks war. But there's no cure for it and only way to us to be transformed into a Dalek that will save the people. In the end wanting desperately to save something of her people the prime speaker does so. It's an incredibly awesome and horrific idea for them to do to a planet all just to get new Daleks, weapons and win the war against the universe. For a such a short story it makes you want more and shows you just how creepy Daleks are. For a Dalek virus story it's really good to see something new and far more horrific with it. Most stories are just Daleks spread the virus and planet dies but here it's to make these people lose hope for the own gains and get new Daleks and weapons. Excellent story.
Rating 3/5 8/10
Abduction:
This short story follows the 12th Dr (or doctor disco as he calls himself) trying to watch "My little pony" on a plane as two men fight. One man is a politician and the other is an alien believer fanatic. But the Daleks are chasing the plane too. Nothing happens in this story whatsoever apart from the dr guessing what guys they are. Instead of techno babble it's just babble with no ending. I did like the Dr thinking That this politican probably cuts the arts and NHS funding. The idea that the Daleks want to steal this politician to make him a roboman secretly on earth is a good one and it has been done in the dalek annuals, expect it's explored and we get an ending. It get the story is really trying to be wacky but it just doesn't work that well, I would of liked the alien believer who's convinced the Dalek are coming for him to learn the doctor is an alien and get a little fly in the tardis. That's the kinda of fun you could do, this is just lazy.
Rating 1/5 3/10
Davros genesis:
This was a really interesting insight to Davros and how he slowly became into power by his corruption and manipulation. And a introduction of how the Daleks started to become a thing. It's a short story set just before the events of "Genesis of the Daleks". We learn how Davros has been given some special treatment due to the bombing attack that took his legs and made him build his own travel machine. He's been given access to dead solders brain to experiment on his new machines The Dalek. It's an horrific idea that we later see expanded on in the same book and countless other medias. We see how he created his first Dalek and how it failed to be controlled and calmed but it at least scared Nyder and Gharman.
Davros later uses this as a way to minuplate them both and get more power and respect. He creates one perfect obeying Dalek and creates a better life support machine for himself with his side character General Ravon. He makes the dalek kill the guards of Nyder and Gharman to make them fear him and give him what he wants to achieve the Daleks.
It's a very enjoyable short story following his origins of creating the Daleks and it shows just how amazing Terrace dicks was to showing you in such a short space of time how courpt he is. I really liked the idea of when you watch genesis of the Daleks you'll be wondering about Nyders involvement. Although he may eventually grow respect for Davros does he still secretly fear him and so stays by his side doing as he says because of it. It's quite tragic but really fascinating subtext to his character/relationship with Davros. The story ends on a nice tease to Davros meeting the 4th Dr for the first time too.
Rating 3/5 7/10
A short comic but quite a tragic one for our main characters the Thals who are looking for a new place to live on skaro. We then see the group trying there hardest to survive from the horrific monsters/creatures that live there. We see giant octopus tentacles, giant crabs and finally the Daleks themselves with a note saying "there are no save havens on skaro". For a child this is exciting/great stuff to show the horrors/creatures that live on skaro too. It something I was shocked to learn about as a child because newwho never really talks about it and yet classic who often mentions them in countless medias. So seeing all these different creatures on skaro is so fascinating and builds this very scary image of how nightmareish skaro really is. It's very similar to many comic strips of the Daleks chronicles too. The story is simple but enjoyable and Mike Colins art is beautiful to look at throughout this book. Rating 3/5 6/10
Cyber crisis:
As a kid I did always love the idea of Daleks meeting and destorying other monsters/aliens in the show. Although today I still like that idea it can be either too fan fiction or just not be fairly written for both sides. Which is something that is slightly present here, however it's a short comic and it's the Daleks book so it can get away it. The classic Daleks meet the classic cybermen (attack) and take control of there new empire on new Mondas. We follow the story of an innocent man who's been captured and is now being converted, for a comic it's very well drawn graphically but not too much. We then see how the Daleks invaded the cybermen and started converting cybermen to have Dalek mind controls and bombs attached to them. Meaning for a short time we get to see cybermen say the Dalek famous line. It's so incredibly cool to see and although the idea of a half Dalek/cybermen is something we shouldn't see on screen I'm all for the idea to be at least tried out. It's also incredibly horrific that this poor man just thinks he's about to be killed by the Daleks to be put out of his pain but he's not and is made to be fully converted by the Daleks. Later we hear him say he in the suit he's rages silently to get the other cybermen to listen but can't. It's incredibly creepy to think about the people behind the cyber suits. The idea of screaming silently is something that could be so well done on TV, although probably will be never touched upon. It is so horrible and yet so awesome to see the Daleks like this though. The art is absolutely stunning here to. All these short comics have one thing in common. All very good ideas that I'd love to explored more.
Rating 3/5 7/10
Empire of the Daleks:
I really liked this comic, it's an idea I'd love to see expanded upon because I do love seeing Daleks in moments of history and the checky idea that Daleks themselves have shaped our lives. Similar to another story that I read with the same idea of the Daleks changing timelines to make sure Humans become the dominant/lasting race on the planet. It's an odd idea but I'd love to see it fully expand on. Here we see the Daleks controling the mind of Roman Emperor Caligula to be supreme and control earth etc. We see him be mad to kill others and there's a great scene in which the Daleks are fascinated by our thrust for blood/fights such as in Roman gladiator fights. Moments like this in our history is perfect for Dalek story's as we acted no different to them. So instead of tons of modern day earth humans bad stories go back to history instead. In the end the emperor manges to control his mind and the Daleks flee but still preaching that they are the masters. Caligula was seen as a noble and mordate emperor at first but then caused carnage as he believed he was a god until his death. Of little that has been found on him many sources focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance, and sexual perversion, presenting him as an insane tyrant. So he would be great for the Daleks and it's a nice cheeky nod to real history which is great for the kids and as to why he was this way. Because of the Daleks, which is even funnier that even the Daleks refuse to control him/his actions. The art work panels are excellent here. The way Mike Colins has made the two overlap each other to reflect how similar they are just adds to it so well.
Rating 3/5 7/10
War and Peace:
Eric Saward ends the book off with an excellent short story that shows how even at the very end the Daleks come back and never change. I knew going in to this story it would be werid and wonderful, Saward has a tendency to make the Daleks very creepy and odd and here he does the very same but in a very different way. Years into the future on the planet Cerberus all races join to sign a peace treaty. Included are a new race of Daleks built by Gonzo Orcini who has modified and messed with there DNA to make them a lower speaking, clever and helping Dalek. No guns just a sucker and a computer. They also talk very well and human like, can eat food and drink. The story slowly shows us how one Dalek is about to change all that. Dalek Gelt who due to drinking alot has messed with his DNA and started to bring back his anger. He tries persuade Dalek Seg that war is what there good at and look how much freedom they had before, he then kills Seg and a few months later a new army of Daleks returns. It's a great short story that does something really werid with the idea of new good Daleks, something's are really odd, such as a Dalek lifting his dome head off to eat a cereal bar. Some are really really odd such as the idea of a Dalek getting drunk and becoming an alcoholic. I can't tell if this is a slight cheeky joke or a way to warn any children watching this that drinking can cause you to be very evil like the Daleks. Who knows ? But very odd and I do love an odd Dalek story.
Rating 3/5 7/10
Lost patrol:
An enjoyable but straightforward short story of a group of survivors being stuck on a planet and trying to flee from unknown creatures that are killing them one by one. It's an enjoyable journey through the planet and the mines as they're killed off but the ending makes it worth while even if it is predictable. Three surviving Daleks kill off the last of the crew. It's a good short story that hearts back to the idea that Daleks will always survive, what I did like was that the Daleks are stranded here to for awhile. They want to steal anything they can, then rebuild the ship and leave. So they didn't even need to kill these people. It reminds of the idea that Moffat used during his awful Dalek story were Clara is about to be exterminated. Why do they wait? Because they like it when there prey run. It's also similar to the idea in "Prisoner of the Daleks" in which its mentioned that for a Dalek to actually kill a human it has to take a few seconds to change the gun settings, so the idea the Daleks do love a good chase, kill and actually willing take the extra time to exterminate separate things is very creepy for them.
Rating 2/5, 5/10
Infection of the Daleks:
Possibly one of my favourite short stories I've read about the Daleks, Mike Tucker nailed what makes the Daleks so scary and evil. He shows just how evil and miniupltive they can be to people/creatures and also shows through the main character of The Prime Speaker that the Daleks can kill you and your hope long before they extreminate your body.
The Daleks here have deliberately made Ogrons infiltrate and die on the planet of Helatrine to spread an incurable disease that will both kill out the people and make them join the Daleks war. But there's no cure for it and only way to us to be transformed into a Dalek that will save the people. In the end wanting desperately to save something of her people the prime speaker does so. It's an incredibly awesome and horrific idea for them to do to a planet all just to get new Daleks, weapons and win the war against the universe. For a such a short story it makes you want more and shows you just how creepy Daleks are. For a Dalek virus story it's really good to see something new and far more horrific with it. Most stories are just Daleks spread the virus and planet dies but here it's to make these people lose hope for the own gains and get new Daleks and weapons. Excellent story.
Rating 3/5 8/10
Abduction:
This short story follows the 12th Dr (or doctor disco as he calls himself) trying to watch "My little pony" on a plane as two men fight. One man is a politician and the other is an alien believer fanatic. But the Daleks are chasing the plane too. Nothing happens in this story whatsoever apart from the dr guessing what guys they are. Instead of techno babble it's just babble with no ending. I did like the Dr thinking That this politican probably cuts the arts and NHS funding. The idea that the Daleks want to steal this politician to make him a roboman secretly on earth is a good one and it has been done in the dalek annuals, expect it's explored and we get an ending. It get the story is really trying to be wacky but it just doesn't work that well, I would of liked the alien believer who's convinced the Dalek are coming for him to learn the doctor is an alien and get a little fly in the tardis. That's the kinda of fun you could do, this is just lazy.
Rating 1/5 3/10
Davros genesis:
This was a really interesting insight to Davros and how he slowly became into power by his corruption and manipulation. And a introduction of how the Daleks started to become a thing. It's a short story set just before the events of "Genesis of the Daleks". We learn how Davros has been given some special treatment due to the bombing attack that took his legs and made him build his own travel machine. He's been given access to dead solders brain to experiment on his new machines The Dalek. It's an horrific idea that we later see expanded on in the same book and countless other medias. We see how he created his first Dalek and how it failed to be controlled and calmed but it at least scared Nyder and Gharman.
Davros later uses this as a way to minuplate them both and get more power and respect. He creates one perfect obeying Dalek and creates a better life support machine for himself with his side character General Ravon. He makes the dalek kill the guards of Nyder and Gharman to make them fear him and give him what he wants to achieve the Daleks.
It's a very enjoyable short story following his origins of creating the Daleks and it shows just how amazing Terrace dicks was to showing you in such a short space of time how courpt he is. I really liked the idea of when you watch genesis of the Daleks you'll be wondering about Nyders involvement. Although he may eventually grow respect for Davros does he still secretly fear him and so stays by his side doing as he says because of it. It's quite tragic but really fascinating subtext to his character/relationship with Davros. The story ends on a nice tease to Davros meeting the 4th Dr for the first time too.
Rating 3/5 7/10
May 25, 2021
I borrowed the ebook from the library. The main content itself is basically what you would expect in something that covers the history of Daleks and how it shaped the show and pop culture shopping. Thrown in between the biography type content are related short stories and comics. If possible, I highly recommend getting the physical edition to read if possible as the ebook edition I borrowed didn't translate right. (It's originally a bigger coffee table type book)
There was also a note in the index stating that the page numbers reflect the physical edition. Those 2 things are the only thing that bugged me. If you do decide on reading via ebook, I recommend getting a device with a bigger screen to better enjoy the comic portions.
There was also a note in the index stating that the page numbers reflect the physical edition. Those 2 things are the only thing that bugged me. If you do decide on reading via ebook, I recommend getting a device with a bigger screen to better enjoy the comic portions.
September 12, 2018
I liked getting the history of the Daleks, but I found the book to be very hard to read flow-wise. I was expecting a clear history from start to finish, but instead the book presented a number of disjoint sections/topics that often repeated things (with a slightly different perspective). The history is inherently disjoint since it involves time travel, but I think the book could have been better organized to simplify this for the reader.
April 22, 2018
The end of this book really brings home the continued relevance of Daleks!
'Fake news. Fake news. We lost only a few Dalek fighters...Dalek's have never had open borders. Uncontrolled boundaries are anathema to our race!'
'Fake news. Fake news. We lost only a few Dalek fighters...Dalek's have never had open borders. Uncontrolled boundaries are anathema to our race!'
April 7, 2018
More about Daleks than I need to know. I'm sure hard core Doctor Who fans will like it more. Great photographs.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews