Top 5 Dalek scenes from the Chris Chibnall era

The Chris Chibnall era of Doctor Who is often treated harshly by fans, but one of this era's greatest strengths is its Dalek episodes, as there are lots of fantastic Dalek scenes for fans to enjoy. In this video, we will be listing five of these great Dalek scenes in chronological order.
All footage and music is the property of the BBC.
#chrischibnall #daleks #doctorwho

[@walterposs1212]

Always felt like the scene where the Dalek had its eyestalk switched off proves Daleks can be used for horror. I would LOVE a horror themed Dalek story.

[@robotx9285]

They've always been used for horror. Weather that be in the errie segments through the 60s episodes, their aggressive demeanor in the 70s episodes, their mad brutal demeanor during the 80s, or their status as a recurring existential threat throughout the 2000s-20s. Daleks always do horror well.

[@dalekbumps]

The short visual trailer for Big Finish's 'Genetics of the Daleks' has a pretty good illustration of Daleks in a horror setting. Sadly the audio itself wasn't all that interesting but the trailer is fantastic

[@nickthepick8043]

I always liked that part of the Daleks as a concept. They can be used for eerie, horror stories, or they can be used for epic sci-settings too. It speaks volumes to the aspect of their design and how it is used properly.

[@minicle426]

Haven't listened to it yet, but Nightmare of the Daleks seems to have an appropriate premise.

[@th3d3storoy3r]

If Torchwood was still around, I'm pretty certain they could easily do a horror episode with daleks

[@TheSequelWasBetter]

Said it before and I'll say it again: I do wish we got more Defense Drone Daleks. But otherwise agreed: for how heavy-handed Chibnall's creative direction was, he nailed the pure malice of the Daleks in ways that Moffat and RTD only touched.

[@minicle426]

The Recon deflecting the Tank's shell with its own is a part I find myself replaying a lot.

[@messytexy]

My favorite scene is in Resolution when the Recon Scout Dalek is revealed in it's new armor. Great episode!

[@Cmor19]

Chibnall's Dalek episodes are genuinely some of the best in the entire show. Personally Resolution is my 2nd favourite Dalek episode right behind Resurrection of the Daleks

[@anndra8687]

I'm a fan of this whole era (fight me) and I absolutely love the way Chibnall handled the classic villains. His Daleks weren't just bad guys doing bad guy things. For them, it was personal.

[@dalekbumps]

Agreed, Chibnall's biggest successes were his reinventions of classic monsters. Daleks actually getting to exterminate people again, Cybermen that fuse with Time Lords, Sontarans that aren't a complete joke and wear armour that looks metal and not plastic, and of course Sacha Dhawan's fantastic Master

[@fletcherhamilton3177]

Yes, whether it was the Sea Devils casually leaping hundreds of feet into the air like Ang Lee’s Hulk, the Master literally stealing the Doctor’s wardrobe, the Sontarans all retreating to recharge their ‘probic vents’ _at the same time_ whilst exclaiming _’CHOCOLATE!’_ or the Daleks obnoxiously grating dialogue ‘triumphs’ such as ‘DALEKS _LEARN!’,_ Chibnall definitely ‘nailed’ the baddies alright 🤦‍♂️

[@dalekbumps]

@@fletcherhamilton3177 All the things you've mentioned here are great, not sure what the problem is. Sea Devils adapted to live at extreme underwater pressures, so them having powerful leg muscles makes sense - it's a moot point anyway though, they have a giant flying ship, so I'm guessing they have anti-grav technology. The Master stealing the Doctor's wardrobe is great, just another in a long line of examples of the Master making mockery of the Doctor. I mean, is it any worse than the time he kept him as a pet dog? The Sontarans' love of chocolate is perfect, they're a race of flash-cloned jingoists who are fed through a tube in the back of their neck, so having them fall for something as simple as chocolate works perfectly - like occupying Germans in France falling for French bread. The commander knows its wrong, he sends his troops out before raiding the newsagents. Plus, as far as 'comedy Sontaran moments' go, it works better than anything New Who had previously tried with them. Aren't you being a bit harsh? And as for "Daleks learn" - genuinely stumped as to what you could possibly dislike about that. It's quick, to-the-point, punctuates the slow turn of the Dalek to reveal the gatling gunstick, and finally does away with the silly sonic-affecting-Daleks thing that was introduced in the 50th Anniversary.

[@fletcherhamilton3177]

@@dalekbumps - each to their own ay 👍

[@android65mar]

I think you pretty much covered all my favourite Dalek scenes from the Chibbers era! Resolution is the best Dalek story of the new era after Sherman's Dalek in series one

[@fletcherhamilton3177]

In fairness I did like the ‘28 Days / Weeks Later’ tonal feel of _Resolution,_ whether or not it was intended. Actually, it was almost certainly unintended but the grim bleakness of that wind turbine-dominated grey English countryside set to those melancholy guitar tabs was one of the only real aesthetic successes of Chibnall’s era . . . If anything the idea of a ‘scrapheap’ make-do Dalek casing hurriedly bolted together from industrial farm clutter by a long lost reawakened Dalek mutant desperate to annex the planet and summon whatever Dalek brethren remained would have been a better reintroduction to the Daleks back in 2005, but it would almost have certainly required a two-parter’s time length 🤷‍♂️

[@lordferbus2970]

I honestly wouldn't consider the fight in revolution of the Daleks a "civil war" it was pretty much a massacre, a straight up genocide of a newly diacovered race of mutant Daleks.

[@dalekbumps]

Fair point, I called it that simply because the term 'Dalek civil war' has been used in the past to refer to similar conflicts. The Eighth Doctor calls the battle from Blood of the Daleks a 'Dalek civil war' and the circumstances there are fairly similar

[@TheBlackcredo]

Resolution was one of the best dalek stories ever.

[@AnubisX1]

The army scene from resolution is definitely the best followed the way the daleks are lit and hid in eve. That episode really makes them out to be sadistic predators and a horror dalek story could really work. It is really chilling to think that the dalek just listened to Yaz just to think oooh I can use that to taunt her! Also the gatling guns they have! While chibs & jodie get a lot of hate, chibs is more justified, but jodies is unjustified. I will defend the dalek trilogy to the high hills. He clearly understands the daleks. Also the fact he makes the weeping angels scary again after Moffat ruined them. Shows he does understand the monsters better than the human characters. If the recent leaks are to be believed about the daleks return for s14, also the production teams teases of a redesign. Would do a video on what you think the daleks should be like? Ie loose the rivets, chunk and be a smooth elegant design?

[@dalekbumps]

Agreed, Chibnall isn't the best writer but he gets a lot of undeserved hate and Jodie in particular does not deserve the backlash she got for her portrayal of the Doctor. I genuinely enjoy Chibnall's Dalek stories, I hope in the future they're looked back on more fondly by the fandom and yeah I'm looking forward to seeing the Daleks return in Series 14, so I hope the rumours are true. A new design would be great, and I have faith in Russell T. Davies to write them properly. Removing the rivets from the midsection would be a great start

[@AnubisX1]

@dalekbumps yeah I have faith in RTD, but would be nice to have a dalek story, not set on earth. Have the doctor go to an already dalek occupied planet ala spiridon instead.

[@nickthepick8043]

Do you think Daleks get any sort of feeling of satisfaction when exterminating someone? I know all they feel is fear and hate as their emotions by default(Since they use logic as their main method of cognitive processes), but if I were Davros it would make sense to engineer a small amount of gratification to give them a sort of "Goal and reward" system to that end.

[@dalekbumps]

Oh absolutely, it's not talked about often in the show but I reckon it's the closest they can get to feeling happiness, or at the very least satisfaction

[@nickthepick8043]

@@dalekbumps Oh thank goodness. I appreciate you confirming it. Even the books don't mention it. Btw, I know you probably recognized me popping up here and there in your comments section, and I hope I'm not being a nuisance.

[@dalekbumps]

@@nickthepick8043 not at all! I appreciate regular comments, it motivates me to keep making videos. I'm in the process of making a Q&A series so if you have any questions about dalek lore or anything else to do with daleks feel free to drop a comment and I'll add it to the list :)

[@nickthepick8043]

@@dalekbumps That's relieving to hear. I'll have to think up a creative one. I'll keep an eye and ear out before it's ready. Glad I help motivate you!

[@legobi_wan_kenobi]

Love all these scenes, especially the Recon Scout annihilating the army. Chibnall wasn't the best showrunner but at least he did the Daleks right. Also Dalek Bumps have you seen Mr TARDIS' review of Into the Dalek? he gives it a really bad review and I wondered what your thoughts were on that since you were also commenting on his livestream yesterday

[@dalekbumps]

I have seen all of Mr TARDIS' Dalekcember reviews, they're really good. Mr TARDIS is one of those stalwarts who I will always respect for battling the likes of bowlestrek, regardless of what his opinions on individual Doctor Who episodes are. I personally disagree with some of his assessments of episodes but I respect his opinion. To be fair a lot of people back in the day disliked Into the Dalek, even I remember thinking it was a bit naff when it first came out but I was only a teenager then so I didn't really understand the themes. I've come to really appreciate it recently, especially as a direct opposite to 'Dalek'. I should review it one day, I just need some time to properly think it over

[@legobi_wan_kenobi]

@@dalekbumps but in the review he seems to miss a lot of obvious points about the episode, it's like watching a review from someone who only saw half the episode but decided to make a review anyway despite missing half the context. I used to like Mr TARDIS but lost respect for him after that. looking forward to seeing your review of Into the Dalek.

[@ALookIntoTheEulenspiegel]

I think it's very telling that the best thing "Chris Chibnall" did was the work of animators and sound designers, with the writing either being extremely blunt and boring, or just straight up lifted from previous showrunners.

[@dalekbumps]

It's interesting that people will only use this argument to express negative sentiment. No-one questioned the validity of attributing great Dalek moments from the Russell T. Davies era to Russell T. Davies, even though it was a combined effort from Davies, Helen Raynor, Graeme Harper, Nick Briggs and countless other creatives

[@ALookIntoTheEulenspiegel]

@@dalekbumps That's because what made the Daleks of that era great, was a combination of effects, cinematography, acting and writing. The aspects all work well together, within the means they had. Merging together to produce an excellent piece of art in the end and therefore it's perfectly fair to think highly of the person in charge of directing and combining them. It wasn't just the Daleks firing lasers and killing people in spectacular fashion. The stories that were told with these effects was also great and each aspect made the other better. Meanwhile, in the Chibnall era, we have a clear and obvious weak spot: the writing and the general direction of the story. The thing that, most of all, is Chibnall's job to oversee and direct. Davies elevated the people who worked with him. Chibnall was a roadblock they had to overcome and whose writing made everything they did worse, rather than better. Virtually everything praised in this video, is not because of the "brilliant" writing involved, but because of the quantity of money given to the animation department.

[@dalekbumps]

​@@ALookIntoTheEulenspiegel but none of those other elements could have existed in the first place were it not for the writer. That's part of the reason why I attributed each of the 15 moments I've covered across the 3 videos primarily to the writer - be it Davies, Moffat or Chibnall. And not all of these moments involve Daleks firing lasers and killing people - Chibnall wrote the scene in which the mutant puppeteers Lin, he wrote the circumstances leading to the debate between the Defence Drones and the Death Squad, and he wrote the scene in which Yaz and Dan talk while the Dalek stalks them in the shadows. Like any good Dalek moment we could cite from any era of the show, the magnificence is realised by the actors, the score, the effects and the direction, but the initial genesis of the idea always comes down to the writer. Ironically, Chibnall used the Daleks in much more creative ways than Russell T. Davies did - bearing in mind the only Dalek episodes in the RTD era that were actually written by Russell himself were Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways, Army of Ghosts / Doomsday and The Stolen Earth / Journey's End - all of which follow the same basic RTD finale formula of big evil army + character conflicts B-plot ending with a huge deus-ex machina that wipes out all the bad guys. And the final two-parter of the three - often considered to be his best - lifts many elements from The Dalek Invasion of Earth, even down to direct Dalek quotes being re-used. Doctor Who is defined by creatives building and enhancing each others' ideas, be it directors and visual effects artists enhancing the work of a weak writer, or a writer lifting an entire plot from the classic series and modernising it for 21st century audiences.

[@ALookIntoTheEulenspiegel]

@@dalekbumps That's not true and you know it. Those same teams would have just as likely worked on Doctor Who if the showrunner had been literally anyone else. It doesn't take some kind of genius to hire an expensive team to animate a Dalek invasion. The show would have had a showrunner one way or another and he was just a bad choice for the person to run it, because the aspects where he had the most say, were the ones that failed the hardest. And yes, of course there is bound to be repetition, but Chibnall steals a LOT more than just lines and then makes it worse. There is a difference between using a line again, as a callback, and just ripping off an entire story element, completely. And I am not just talking about vague, bland ones like "Daleks attacking Earth to kill all humans". Quite possibly my favorite example of his copying, only worse, being, that he destroyed Gallifrey. Again! Only for it to not even really matter in the story, because the Doctor doesn't even really care all that much, the way she's been written. And the Master could have just created his super cybermen literally anywhere else, if he really wanted to. For the 9th Doctor, the destruction of his home was the core of the story, his character shift and the drama from beginning to end. And in the Chibnall era, it might as well have been written out of the story with no real noticeable impact. And when Chibnall does try to be creative, it's just... the worst. Like making the Doctor the "super special original super immortal" which in itself is already painfully cliché, but then he doesn't even do anything with it. She just goes: "Oh right, I have no reason to care about this." And then it moves on. A massive, super invasive change to the backstory of the Doctor and it didn't even matter in the end and will likely go completely ignored by future writers, because it's just ridiculous. Look, you can argue that people give Davies too much credit. But you got to agree that Chibnall has done a worse job as a showrunner than literally everyone else since the show was brought back. He had the most funds and yet drew the smallest crowd and developed the smallest fanbase. And that in an era where watching Doctor Who is easier than ever. He had the best shot and yet objectively performed the worst.

[@dalekbumps]

@@ALookIntoTheEulenspiegel you misunderstand my point - sure those same teams would have worked on Doctor Who regardless of showrunner, but these specific moments were written by Chibnall, so the reason why they exist now is because Chibnall was that showrunner. It's all well and good debating maybes and perhapses regarding what might have been with a different showrunner but it's a moot point, we got Chibnall (for better or worse) and while I agree that he's not a great showrunner I personally find his Dalek episodes to be very enjoyable. I like them a lot more than Moffat's Dalek stories, for example, and on any given day I'd be just as likely to watch Revolution of the Daleks as I would The Stolen Earth / Journey's End. And I think you're misusing the word 'copying' - either that or you're ignorant as to the reiteration of ideas throughout Doctor Who's history. Russell T. Davies wasn't the first one to implement the idea of destroying Gallifrey - Faction Paradox and the War in Heaven did that before the Time War was even a twinkle in Russell's eye. In fact, I'd argue he probably took a lot of inspiration from the '90s novels when writing his era - we know this because episodes like 'Dalek', Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel, Human Nature / The Family of Blood and several other episodes were adapted from the expanded media. Is that Russell 'copying' what came before, or just reiterating those ideas in new ways? As far as the destruction of Gallifrey goes, the circumstances are very different. The 9th Doctor feels intense guilt and remorse at the destruction of Gallifrey because he thinks he destroyed it. He holds himself personally responsible for the deaths of billions, and it weighs heavily on him. It's not so much that the Doctor cares intensely about the planet - go back and watch any Gallifrey-set Classic Who story and you'll see that certainly isn't the case, especially later on - it's that he is personally devastated that he killed so many people, to the extent that the Tenth Doctor retroactively views Gallifrey with a tragic sense of awe and melancholy, which would have been very out-of-character for any Doctor incarnation prior to 10 but it makes sense in this context because 10 is also riddled with guilt and loss, and this colours his perception of his own people. This all leads up to the wonderful moment in The End of Time when it is revealed that the Time Lords are returning, and Wilf expects the Doctor to be jubilant, only for it to be revealed to the audience that the Doctor saw the planet through rose-tinted glasses. Compare that to the situation the Doctor is in during the Chibnall era. Gallifrey is back, but it's a shadow of its former self, and the last time the Doctor went there they almost destroyed themselves, broke all their own rules, suffered the loss of one of their best friends, and deposed the incumbent President before unceremoniously abandoning the presidency and returning to their travels. This is much akin to the Doctor's relationship with Gallifrey during the eras of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Doctors - they're not against the Time Lords anymore, but they don't particularly like them either. All the rose-tinted love of the planet from during the 9th/10th era came crashing down and the Doctor was brought back to the harsh reality that the Time Lords are, as a society, systemically bigoted, self-important and xenophobic. Everything the Sixth Doctor says in his speech denouncing the Time Lords still applies, even after the Time War. And so Chibnall, being a Classic Who fan through and through, wrote his version of the Doctor to align with that perspective. And it's not without precedent either - we've seen Doctors flip-flop on moral standpoints and even ideological basis between regenerations before, compared the Second Doctor's attitude to authority to the Third Doctor's militaristic attitude, or the Fourth Doctor's holistic view of the universe causing him to refuse to destroy the Daleks with the Seventh Doctor's scheme to trick them into obliterating their own homeworld. Of course the Doctor is upset at the loss of Gallifrey - we see her reaction when she steps out of the TARDIS and sees the Capitol in ruins - she's devastated at the loss of life. But it wasn't her fault, and she's not deluded by the same wistful nostalgia as Ten was, so of course her reaction would be more muted. This likely won't be the last time we see Gallifrey rise and fall either - if the chronology of Human existence has taught us anything, it's that history repeats itself. London has been burned to the ground and rebuilt at least 3 times in our comparatively miniscule history - why should Gallifreyan history, consisting of billions of years across many epochs, be any different? And the Doctor isn't a "super special original super immortal". She just happened to be the unwilling initial progenitor of the Time Lord's ability to regenerate, something that she doesn't even remember doing. What's so special about that? Is it any different from the original Cartmel plan, to have the Doctor be a reincarnation of the founder of Time Lord society? Or having the Doctor be the "super special" Time Lord who ended the Time War using the Moment? It's only "super special" to people who invest undue importance in the Time Lords as a narrative device, when in reality their importance as a society to the overall story of Doctor Who is negligible. What you so easily brush off as "Oh right, I have no reason to care about this" is a scene in which the Doctor recognises that regardless of whatever bizarre "super special" origins they might have, they're still the same good-natured travelling madman in a box that they've always been. Whether the Doctor's origins are being loomed into existence from the soul of the Time Lord founder, or being found on the edge of a wormhole and abused to allow the early Time Lords to regenerate, or being born into a Prydonian House with the innate aristocratic ability to regenerate, or being placed in front of the Untempered Schism aged 8 - none of that matters to the fundamentals of the show. The Doctor could have the most bizarre and wacky origin story imaginable and it still wouldn't answer the question 'Doctor Who', because all that matters to the core of the show is what the Doctor does in the present, how they choose to live, and who they choose to be in that moment. That's the whole point of the Timeless Child plotline, and if you watch The Timeless Children again you'll see what I mean. The Master tries to use information about the Doctor's origins to break her, but it doesn't work because she comes to realise that her origins don't make her who she is - what she does now in the moment defines who she is.

[@grahamturner1290]

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[@snakedaemongaming6590]

Daleks civil war doesn't count Firstly it was done before in remembrance of the daleks Secondly it was done in blood of the daleks almost moment by moment the same down to the conversation, people have even animated it in multiple variants of daleks, just looks for meeting of the clans or search blood of the daleks animation

[@dalekbumps]

I've heard Blood of the Daleks, and personally I prefer the version we see in Revolution. BotD is great but an audio cannot recreate the thrill of an action scene from a piece of visual media. All the stuff about the 'Dalek bloodline' from Blood was a bit silly too, I get its called Blood of the Daleks but it just seems like a very un-Dalek like thing to say. There's also the fact that Martez's Daleks don't see themselves as being true Daleks like the Defence Drones do, they were designed to protect humanity so the circumstances are quite different. The Defence Drones actively want to kill the Humans, whereas Martez's Daleks act surprised and offended when Humans attack them. And the comparison to Remembrance of the Daleks is a moot point, for two reasons. First, that's clearly the point. It's like saying Planet of the Daleks is innately bad simply because it uses plot elements from The Daleks. Second, the civil war itself is very different. Remembrance does not treat us to the two factions debating each other - in fact, not once in the entire story does a Renegade Dalek and an Imperial Dalek actually talk to each other. The fact that both episodes use the same basic story concept does not invalidate the latter example - by that logic, Blood of the Daleks itself is invalid because, like Revolution, it clearly takes lots of inspiration from Remembrance of the Daleks.