Debunking more Dalek weaknesses

[@arrowtt3364]

In the novella "I am a Dalek", the Doctor mentions that a Dalek would just blink at a nuclear warhead, assuming the mutant was capable of blinking.

[@Arcadia_warlic]

I wonder if the basic Daleks will eventually evolve so much they will have no need for dedicated aircraft/spaceships, as they will essentially become one-"man" craft in their own right. Would be a terrifying sight to not see a fleet of Dalek vehicles, but just a fleet of Daleks themselves being the primary fighting force, with any craft being specialized for support or other one-off purposes.

[@hedgehog3180]

Pretty sure that's basically already the case. Daleks are capable of making an unassisted re-entry from Earth orbit and are shown to be more than capable of maneuvering in orbit. Considering that we never see any re-entry heating this implies that Dalek thrusters have a delta V at least comparable to space rockets. The ships seem to really mostly be for transport, since they can do FTL travel while Daleks can't and presumably the Daleks also have to carry materials.

[@Arcadia_warlic]

Strange they bother to equip them with weaponry when they are better off skirmishing by themselves.

[@stratusgio]

Would really love to see a modern who story but like, with way way older daleks. The doctor just going "ah i can defeat these ones by disabling the electricity on the ground. ok"

[@haiderr]

would make for a very good joe vevers 15th doctor dalek ytp

[@GreaterGrievobeast55]

Dang that power of the daleks quote was rad! Nice use of the Halo 4 ost. Good to know they have night vision too.

[@fourthknower9831]

assuming that you hit the Dalek directly with the nuke, the blast MIGHT take it out. But again like you said it's trying to remove an ant infestation with a bomb. Sure you remove the problem but you've blown up your house.

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

Exactly. The laws of physics dictate a direct hit with a nuclear blast WILL obliterate more-or-less anything and everything, it's just not the most practical single-target weapon.

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

Another way the bronze Daleks casing is presented to be overpowered is in the Doctor who Novel “Prisoner of The Daleks.” In this novel there is a scene where a group of Dalek fighters use a weapon on the Daleks casing which freezes it and immobilises the mutant inside. Initially the weapon works but when they try to use it on another Dalek the weapon fails because the Dalek casing has adapted to protect itself from that specific weapon. In other words the information and tactical data was passed through the Pathweb and the Daleks casing learned to adapt. This is also shown to us on screen in S2 Ep13 “Doomsday” when a squad of Cybermen attack the cult of skaro in the sphere chamber, the guns in Initially impair the Daleks casings until Dalek sec yells “Adapt to weaponry.” The greatest downfall of the Daleks is their own Arrogance, confidence and self hubris. One weakness from classic who that the Daleks have outgrown in New who (I can’t remember if you’ve covered this one already) is their pure dependence on logic and intelligence. Such as during the Dalek Movellan War. xx

[@triacontahedron]

Their arrogance really is devastating. Sure, give a -formerly- human dalek access to the Pathweb. What could go wrong? Link every dalek's power supply through a central hub. It's not as if any enemy will every be able to access the controls for that hub.

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

@@triacontahedron The Doctor literally states that the Daleks Pathweb is not hackable because even he can’t do it. The only way you can access it is through another Dalek, say a rogue Dalek since it is still part of the link. xx

[@triacontahedron]

@@TheWhovinerd-1963 Exactly why it was so hubristic to give the Dalek with the highest chance of going rogue access to it.

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

@@triacontahedron True. The Daleks never anticipate one of their own Turning against them because they believe their cause is so just. When a Dalek goes rogue they are shocked and horrified xx

[@ЮлияПопова-ч5ю8х]

People after nuking their own planet: well, that was a grievous sacrifice but now it should stop the Daleks. Meanwhile the Daleks, feeling nostalgic: ah yes, just like back home😊

[@abravenewclockworkorange.7875]

I wonder if Daleks with their temporal technology will ever go to full scale war with the weeping angels in a "Time War 2"

[@MadMal2024]

That's an interesting point... The Weeping Angels are an extremely old race;And as they feed on temporal energy... Then the Daleks Temporal shift technology would probably be seen as a food source by the Angels... Easy way to kill a DAlek. Give it to an Angel for a snack.

[@WR288]

Could you do a video trying to deduce what the Daleks' native time period actually is?

[@llewelynshingler2173]

Does the Dalek's native time period still exist?

[@stuff31]

We know it's probably some time roughly concurrent to Earth's 21st/22nd century, as The Dalek Invasion of Earth is apparently their first incursion with humans in the natural flow of time. All other incursions, like the 2009 invasion and Revolution, were fought by time travelling Daleks following their invention of the DARDIS.

[@pikachucetthesecond4296]

You know I like to imagine that if any other fictional character could stand a chance at defeating the Daleks it would be Godzilla (like a big part of both Godzilla and the Daleks is how they're practically unstoppable and coincidentally also represent horrors of World War 2) but the point about Nukes being ineffective against Daleks makes me wonder if tyat would make it harder for him. For those who don't know Godzilla's atomic breath varies in strength and form depending on the Incarnation. For example in the original film it just seems to set things on fire (definitely not effective against a Dalek), in Shin Godzilla it turns into a laser that can cut through buildings and aircraft (depending on how powerful that laser is it could possibly cut through Dalekanium, especially since Shin Godzilla is unique in the sense that he can evolve-well, more like he's forced to evolve and it's very painful-to adapt to new situations, so if he had enough time he might adapt to Dalek weaponry) and in Godzilla Minus One it causes a nuclear explosion once reaching a point of critical mass and causes the metal of a Japanese war ship to liquify. That seems to be his strongest atomic breath, but given it's only as strong as the Trinity Nuclear Test I'm not sure how well using that breath would be effective against the Daleks. I mean he's also big enough that if he stepped on a Dalek he'd instantly crush it, armour, mutant and all, and if Godzilla's hide is thick enough he might have some resistance to the Dalek death ray (though it would really hurt), though the Special Weapons Dalek could cause some serious injury. If an official crossover did happen...well of course Godzilla would win, he always wins, but I think the writers would need to emphasise that the Daleks are very much capable of killing him to set up just how dangerous they are. If it's possible for them to kill Godzilla then what hope do YOU have?

[@hedgehog3180]

4:11 Becoming essentially immune to all infectious diseases isn't even super far fetched. It's totally possible given what we know about biology and pathology. Basically what you'd need is incredibly advanced analysis technology that can rapidly analyze and determine the molecular structure of any foreign biological material. The Dalek energy shield actually helps here since it probably sterilizes the surface of the Dalek and thus minimizes the ammount of stuff that has to be analyzed. Then you'd reference it with a database of known biological material, pathogenic or otherwise, if it's a known structure then that's the end of it. If you don't recognize this material though then a second step kicks in, a super computer that rapidly develops either a vaccine for the new thing or just synthesizes the antibodies directly and floods the mutant with them. This is really just speeding up the vaccine development process by magnitudes, we have to have humans do it in the real world and that makes vaccine development really slow, but the Daleks without a doubt have computers powerful enough to do this. It's also kinda just what our immune system already does, just faster and smarter since our immune system doesn't have access to a computer and is limited to making decisions based on behaviour that evolved over millions of years, and that means that pathogens can get ahead of it.

[@PlanetZoidstar]

I know you covered small arms fire, though I was hoping a mention of the "Bastic Bullets" which were said to be effective against Daleks in Revelation of the Daleks. Granted by the New Who era these no longer are effective unless you get a lucky shot to the eystalk.

[@thomasjohnson8391]

Do a video on the remote control Dalek history

[@idontlikeitproductions3509]

How’s their vulnerability to blunt force? And has the cold been covered? The Renegade Dalek in Totters Lane wasn’t destroyed by Ace’s Nitro-9, it destroyed the brick wall which crushed it. And the Daleks on Spiradon may not necessarily have been killed but they were most certainly rendered “unconscious” by the liquid ice and wouldn’t wake without being warmed up.

[@noahsrandomclips4781]

saw a flood infection form in the thumbnail, very nice

[@dalekbumps]

When I was making the thumbnail I was thinking to myself "What's a good representation of a biological weapon?" I could use the biohazard symbol but I'd already used the nuclear symbol, plus I used the biohazard sign on my previous video on Dalek biological weapons Then I remembered the Flood, the most virulent and dangerous biological weapon ever devised... I should do a video one day on how the Daleks would actually deal with a threat like the Flood

[@Jedi_Spartan]

​@@dalekbumps regarding the last point, I think that not just certain variants Daleks but several other species in Doctor Who would be very effective against the Flood (eg: unless consuming Flood Biomass infected them, the Vashta Nerada would be EXTREMELY effective against the Flood).

[@noahsrandomclips4781]

@@dalekbumps that would be awesome

[@msmith1890]

​@@dalekbumpsFuture video on the subject would be interesting.

[@Atari-5200]

1 minute ago is legendary

[@adoredmodestcolt1258]

A Dalek hyping itself before it kills by yelling EXTERMINATE is the most... I wanna see a Dalek cheerleading squad that does little more than shout "EXTERMINATE" as they watch a Dalek kill things without saying anything.

[@Fargodeep]

I feel like the Daleks becoming so formidable is a consequence of writers feeling the need to keep 'upping the ante' to keep people taking the old pepper pots seriously. It's gotten a bit tacky at this point, as it just means that each ensuing defeat they face at the hands of The Doctor and his allies will be more and more reliant on nonsense technobabble (see: Journey's End) and other contrivances instead of something simple and satisfying.

[@Traykartheswift]

Weren't the ironsides destroyed by a nuclear weapon in 'The Ironsides Advance' though?

[@hedgehog3180]

1:49 Tbf hard kill active protection systems aren't like sci-fi technology. They've been around since the 50s and the Merkeva mk 4 and the M1A2C both come with Trophy APS as standard, and all next gen MBTs incorporate some sort of hard kill system. Also that's a Scorpion light tank, which isn't really comparable to an MBT in power.

[@reeceemms1643]

I think with the biological warfare one. It could work for a time if a new biological weapon was developed. Though it would probably only be a short time weapon as the Daleks would most likely adapt to it soon after its usage. So unless you can constantly develop a new virus then yeah biological weapons aren't going to be very good. One weakness I can think of though is possibly corrosive acid strong enough to melt through the Dalekanium. Also speaking of biological warfare. Could we see a list of Dalek bio weapons that they have employed throughout their history?

[@alexander9703]

Given the extensive effort the Daleks have made to make themselves immune to biological weapons, it seems reasonable to assume that any new weapon would need Dalek mutants to experiment on and to test potency of any bio weapons they did develop. And that feels... implausible.

[@reeceemms1643]

@@alexander9703 do not underestimate the Daleks. They just need to quarantine 1 infected Dalek. Have the scientists analysis. Then they can develop a cure.

[@triacontahedron]

You could maybe design a ridiculously advanced bioweapon that can adapt to the Daleks' adaptations faster than the Daleks themselves can adapt to it, but that seems like something only the Daleks themselves could achieve. And even if you did make it, what if it jumps to another species? What if it becomes unconstrained by species?

[@itskevinjustkevin]

Stairs usually would stop em... Though I don't think that would do so anymore post 1988

[@zombiedalekweck2243]

These are always so factual Usually, you have to outsmart a Dalek. Unless you're prepared with anti-dalek weaponry beforehand, one of the best things you can do is RUN. As you don't have the plot armour of a main character. Note: One of the things I liked about the Magician two parter was the fact that the "plot armour" in a way was gone, which allowed the Daleks to well... Act like how they would normally. They didn't need the companion for any big scheme, so it's best to just exterminate her. On Mars, the governor gave a Dalek survival guide out, and it was quite literally "Run to the mountains where they're less mobile." So yeah, in reality, their only real weakness is their ego, hateb-----r for the doctor, and obsession with making the Earth "New Skaro."

[@demondoggo2768]

on the " Nukes " point - while it is possible for daleks to survive in radioactive enviroments ( such as their homeworld ) due to them essencially being genetically modified mutants that ignores the fact that any daleks caught within the blast radius of a nuclear explosion ( which is a big one ) would be absolutely obliterated shielding or otherwise.

[@johnnycool395]

Hey dude David Graham who voiced the daleks in doctor who died on the 20th of September

[@oliverwarren-cole9426]

I alway wonder what happened to the dalek casings and the dalek Tommy guns in daleks in manhattan and evolution of the daleks was they destroyed or something

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

Daleks Thay and Jasts casings were destroyed as they fought against the Dalek Human hybrids, Dalek Caan escaped into the Time War. Though Dalek secs casing vanishes randomly between scenes. As for what happens to the Dalek Tommy guns, destroyed Dalek casings and Dalek human hybrid bodies, we have no idea because we don’t see the Doctor clear up the mess. xx

[@stuff31]

They were probably either locked in a UNIT vault, or they were absorbed by the cracks in time and erased from existence.

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

@@stuff31 while that would be cool UNIT wasn’t founded until the 1960s though so that’s unlikely as Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks takes place in 1930. It likely isn’t in a Torchwood facility either because they only have 4 bases across the world according to Jack. Non of which are in America because it wasn’t in the British empire. The cracks in time eating it up is a more likely explanation perhaps. Who Nose 👃🏻 for sure eh 😉

[@laurencewinch-furness9450]

There was a missed opportunity for the show to do an episode where humans salvage and misuse the dalek technology left behind in manhattan.

[@Vynsomnia]

Nuking a Dalek is like nuking Godzilla

[@thecircleoft.e.d2121]

Surprised more people never try EMP weapons to counter-act how powerful Dalek shielding and power supplies have become.

[@matteomascaropennacchi2220]

Imagine if Davros or the daleks had learned from these mistakes and then evolved to a way Imun and indestructible or even more resistent than human weapon

[@timelordvictorious]

Guess you could persuade the dalek it’s been abandoned by its empire and just to give up. Like 9 did with that Dalek prisoner

[@theastrogoth8624]

Spoken like a true Dalek supremacist.

[@idontlikeitproductions3509]

The explosives weakness I do think needs some more exploration. Thing is, it’s well established that Daleks are vulnerable to energy weapons, shaped charges are basically a brute-forcing the effects of an energy weapon, a shaped charge creates a jet of copper plasma, so at that point the difference between explosive and energy weapon is pretty much null. I would put something like a Javelin missile as at the very least worth trying, one because shaped charge and two because they have the top-attack which means there’s every chance a Dalek wouldn’t see it coming until it’s too late. Of course even if it worked, Javelins are prohibitively expensive, given that in New Who a typical Dalek invasion tends to be in the tens of thousands minimum.

[@hedgehog3180]

We call it a plasma when talking about HEAT weapons but the penetration is actually being done by the kinetic energy of the jet. Also if modern humans can engineer composite armor that can defeat shaped charges then there's no doubt that the Daleks can too.

[@idontlikeitproductions3509]

@@hedgehog3180 But the point of the Javelin is defeat composite armour by using a tandem charge, which from what I've read is essentially the explosive equivalent of the old one-two. I wouldn't say it'd definitely work, but I'd still say worth a try.

[@thelegolord566]

Awesome

[@Joe-h4i1939]

I wonder if a dalek could be defeated by dropping something really heavy on top of it or maybe a land slide could take them out or would it just slow them down a bit

[@Selaneful]

Great video, but I have a question do dalek mutants get out of there casing when there not conquering planets and doing dalek stuff?

[@ekij133]

No. Once installed in a travel machine at an early age the Dalek remains their for their entire life. The only exception to this would be should the travel machine be heavily damaged or they get assigned a new model of travel machine. If would be like a human taking off their glasses, turning off their phone and running around outside naked. You could, but why would you?

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

No. Once a Dalek is placed inside its casing it never leaves it. The casing becomes a sort of Mobile transport tank for it to be trapped inside forever. A Dalek very rarely opens its casing or leaves it unless they resort to extreme measures. And Daleks never stop doing “Dalek stuff” they are relentless and the most tenacious species in the Whoniverse. xx

[@gorillazzilla]

Hey, Neil Davidge Halo 4 soundtrack, cant place the track name; but its a Halo track.

[@MadMal2024]

As I have mentioned in a reply to a comment in this thread... One way to end a Dalek would be to expose it to a Weeping Angel... The Daleks utilise Temporal Energy for their Temporal shifts... And we know thjat Angels feed on temporal energy. Though a single Dalek woul;d barely be a snack... it's still a possible way of ending one. Send the Dalek mutant back in time and use its temporal energy as food. Wonder how the daleks would evolve a way out of that.

[@simonzinc-trumpetharris852]

How does the virus get inside the casing?

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

Dalek with welders

[@stuff31]

I'll throw my hat into the ring, if it hasn't already been said: their own ideology and obsession with purity is a weakness. Daleks cannot stand the idea of being "contaminated" with non-Dalek DNA due to their deluded fascistic obsession with racial purity. The Dalek Civil War as seen in Remembrance led to the extinction of both sides of the conflict after the Imperials eliminated the Renegade faction before themselves being destroyed by the Doctor. In Dalek, the Metaltron is so disgusted by the thought of feeling emotions that it kills itself. In The Parting of the Ways, the human-origin Daleks are driven to insanity by their own flesh. In Evolution, the Cult of Skaro turn on Sec when he attempts to create a more benevolent race of Dalek hybrids, and in Revolution the Recon Scout and his entire faction is purged for impurity in spite of his otherwise unwavering commitment to the Dalek cause. Daleks operate on such an extreme level of the one-drop rule that it kneecaps their ability to survive and succeed. The Metaltron killing itself after absorbing Rose's DNA is analogous to a Schutzstaffel officer killing himself after finding out the blood transfusion that saved his life was from a Jew. Time and time again the Daleks have either brought themselves to extinction or made it unreasonably hard for themselves to create more of themselves (e.g. Victory of the Daleks) because the most insignificant and petty differences in their genetic makeup is enough to invalidate entire Dalek factions from counting as "Daleks". This is one weakness I think they have never been able to shake, though if they ever did, would they really be Daleks anymore?

[@hk1371]

I think its also due to the fact that they are genetically unable to feel those other emotions. And thus, they cannot handle having them. The Metaltron is the best example as it saw its own darkness. It regretted it's own existence. And its beyond just never feeling it but the bodies literally cannot handle it. So it's not the same as a Nazi officer finding out it had a blood transfusion but rather granting immense emotional intelligence to a creature that physically couldn't handle being shown the pure truth about itself. Even with Rusty's hatred was just redirected. And the only way it was able to handle other emotions was because it was actively being made sick by its damaged casing.

[@njfox3305]

What about rusty did he suffer illeffects from a solar flare?

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

No, Rustys Brain chemistry was altered by a radiation ☢️ leakage inside his casing which made him feel differently because he was unwell. Then he saw the birth of a star and realised the truth of the Daleks. Unfortunately once the Doctor fixed the leakage Rusty returned to normal and immediately started killing again. But then Clara/The Doctor showed Rusty the star being born from his memory banks and he began to question his function. The Doctor then showed Rusty his own brain and thoughts which unintentionally caused Rusty to believe the Daleks should be annihilated. xx

[@njfox3305]

@@TheWhovinerd-1963 Well thats contradictery Dalek mutents should be more resistent to radiation than that.

[@TheWhovinerd-1963]

@@njfox3305 I’m just telling you what happened in the episode mate… I didn’t write it lol 😂.

[@njfox3305]

@@TheWhovinerd-1963 fair point.

[@59rlmccormack]

No nukes! Remember that one…

[@grahamturner1290]

🐙

[@user-rbyee]

❤❤

[@SocieteRoyale]

it's kind of boring how they have evolved beyond being able to be destroyed by bazookas and weird virus. Daleks being the ultimatum war machine isn't really that interesting a conflict

[@GreaterGrievobeast55]

@@SocieteRoyale I wouldn't say that, just means you gotta be more creative in how you kill them

[@JamesAHirons_]

1:51 - but later couldn't shoot humans sliding along a floor 😂