Have David Banks say “Excellent!!” a time or two, and I’m sold.
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I’m pretty tired of the Daleks, tbh, and I’ve often felt their stories in the revival strained credulity so far as to make the story dreadful. Victory (Daleks in WWII), Asylum (asylum, really?!), and Resolution (Dalek chopped into pieces over a millenia ago is still alive, and can operate people?!) are a few examples of stories that start from such a ludicrous idea that I can never buy into them, no matter what else they have going for them.
So, what Dalek stories do I actually like? I have the audio of The Dalek Masterplan, and really enjoy listening to that. I think The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a strong story of people struggling to keep up the fight in a near-hopeless situation. I’m fond of Day of the Daleks, might be the first time I encountered the “caused the thing we went back in time to prevent” trope.
So, not all bad. I just think that most of the new series stories that use something called “Daleks” would have been better if they created a new race with the necessary characteristics instead of shoving a Dalek into a square hole.
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I mean this is spectacular recency bias on my part but I just watched The Evil of the Daleks this week and it was a fantastic Daleks-as-Nazis story. The only criticism I have is that Kemel should have got to do something more heroic, he deserved it
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Welcome to the forum @ArcticAtlantic - do pop over to Introductions and tell us more about yourself.
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Oh, strange, I thought I’d already done that. Maybe I was thinking of the discord server. Will do soon!
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Hard question for me, I think the classic series had almost zero bad dalek outings (the closet is maybe destiny, but even that I think is solid, even through it’s mainly for our two incredible leads).
In terms of favorite, I probably have to go with multiple. The 60s are easily the peak of Dalek Stories in my Eyes. For all its length, I think Daleks Masterplan is in many ways stellar, especially as a Dalek Epic. Power and Evil are both excellent, showing us some of the most cunning sides those iconic villains have, and you can’t do anything wrong with 2 and the Daleks.
As anybody else Dalek and Genesis are two unbelievable stories that I do adore but honestly not sure if I call them a favorite (Then again Dalek is probably my favorite for the revival show).
80s wise I think all three outings are pretty good, I do think Remembrance is the best (simply because of how tight the script is, and I am a bit bias to 7 + Ace) but also Revelation is pretty damn good! Davros and 6 just work!
I don’t have a favorite in the EU since really I have to get around listening and reading more of those Dalek ones
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The Daleks are such a mixed bag for me, truly. A lot of it is tied up in my dislike for Nicholas Briggs’ trite overuse of them; I’ve heard far more bad Big Finish Dalek stories than good ones. But the good? There’s a few.
Dalek/Jubilee is obviously the first mention - I’m not going to go into which one is better because I think fundamentally they’re two very different Dalek stories (not to mention how they relate to the specific Doctor in the story comes out very differently) but they’re both masterpieces of horror (traditional slasher horror for Dalek and the type of surrealist nightmare only Shearman can make in Jubilee) that use the Daleks to powerful effect.
I’ll echo the mention of Magician’s Apprentice/Witch’s Familiar upthread, although I agree that these are less Dalek stories than they are “ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING” stories, but I think that in this instance the maximalist nature pays off and actually gives the whole thing a very Classic feel. Also of course, the lore of Skaro, specifically that the Dalek sewers are alive, is delicious.
Resolution is up here for me because the Recon Dalek is pissing terrifying, but also because the script gave Jodie so much to work with when the preceding season really didn’t. It’s probably in my top three of 13’s tenure, if not fighting heavily with Power for the top spot.
Is Evil of the Daleks the one where Pertwee’s got a little mate and they have to solve environmental puzzles? Where the cliffhanger is just a patterned bit of floor and a scare chord? I can’t genuinely say it’s good but I love it so much.
I totally forgot TDMP! I’ve only read the two part novel by John Peel but it stuck with me long after finishing, which a lot of the Target novs don’t. The Daleks are genuinely frightening in this in a way they’ve never been before, and the Dalek Time Destructor is such a nightmarish, incomprehensible weapon (it’s just a sphere that UNMAKES REALITY) that those last sequences where The Doctor is trying to escape are so harrowing.
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I think you’re thinking of Death to the Daleks from Season 11. Evil is the Troughton story with the mirrors, Daleks factor and the introduction of Victoria from the end of Season 4.
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I was thinking of Death to the Daleks, thank you! Definitely not a contender for even top ten Dalek stories, but as many people point out, there’s the wonderful moment where you can see Pertwee decide he’s over the show. It’s very silly and camp.
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Haven’t yet seen DMP but I love clips I’ve seen of it.
My faves are "Remembrance of the Daleks* and The Parting of the Ways. 
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Casts Revive Thread
There are few Dalek stories I dislike, only really Death to the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks and Victory of the Daleks. Also The Genocide Machine and The Time of the Daleks (it was a long time since I listened to it though) on audio.
Favourites are The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Power of the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks for classic. I also quite like Planet and Revelation.
For NuWho it’s Dalek, The Parting of the Ways, Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks and The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End. Doomsday, Into the Dalek and The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar are good too (although the last one is more of a Davros story than a Dalek story). Asylum of the Daleks is decent but has a number of things I don’t like about it.
Overall my absolute favourites would have to be Power, Genesis, Remembrance, Dalek and The Parting of the Ways.
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“Enemy of the Daleks” and “The Elite”. Can’t pick between the two
“Enemy of the Daleks” feels like a 90s action movie - non-stop and brutal action. But, unlike other action audios, you actually understand what is going in. It’s a basic Base Under Siege, but oh boy, WHAT A SIEGE! The Daleks do actually feel like an unstoppable force that can’t be negotiated with. Not to mention a great plot twist that really digs into the moral dilemma first introduced in “Genesis of the Daleks”, and to watch the different conclusions to which 4 and 7 come is fascinating.
And another thing - this audio right here has one of, if not THE best soundtrack BF have ever done. Steve Foxon really rips it with heavy guitar and drums, a true rock’n’roll soundtrack that fits perfectly into that “90’s action movie” vibe. Oh, and the story itself is written by David Bishop (Who Killed Kennedy, Full Fathom Five as his most famous stuff). Love that guy.
“The Elite” however is a non-traditional Dalek story, and it is fantastic for that, because, since it’s an adaptation of the unmade script, Classic Who could’ve definitely had its own version of Robert Shearman’s “Dalek”, yet this one is much darker. I’ll go as far as to say this is one of Fifth Doctor’s absolute best stories of all time.
The dark anti-utopia, the fantastic dark synthesizer soundtrack (definitely in my top 5 of best BF soundtracks), the character work, the action, the philosophy. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
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I’d say my absolute favorites are probably Lucie Miller / To The Death and Dalek.
I like the first one because of
Lucie’s death, the way it’s a bit like “Vietnam flashbacks” for the Doctor and Susan, the Daleks feel truly unbeatable, and you really see the consequences of a world ruled by them far better than in the similar The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
The second one, Dalek, I don’t think shines as much once you’ve seen more Dalek stories, but it’s still definitely very good.
Bonus Track: Genesis of the Daleks, a classic. I didn’t include it in the main list because it focuses much more on Davros and the creation of the Daleks than on the Daleks themselves.
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