The Black Dalek, a Black Dalek with golden adornments, was the supreme authority of the Daleks' Dalek City on Skaro, leading the Red Dalek and the Skaro City Daleks, when Dr. Who and his travelling companions in time and space visited it and ended up causing the apparent destruction of the Dalek race. (TV: Dr. Who and the Daleks)
The Dalek Survival Guide indicated that this Black Dalek came from a version of history "B" relative to the First Doctor's version of history "A". They were aware of the "B" reality from "film evidence" and identified this Black Dalek as the Dalek Leader, the Red Dalek being a Dalek Lieutenant. (PROSE: Dalek Survival Guide) By another account, the Black Dalek was a character in the film Dr. Who and the Daleks. (PROSE: Peaceful Thals Ambushed!)
According to another account, a dark Red Dalek ruled alone, (COMIC: Dr. Who and the Daleks) and in yet another account where it was the First Doctor who visited the Dalek City with his companions, the City's leader was a Glass Dalek. (PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks)
Characteristics[]
The Black Dalek had a casing mostly coloured black, consisting of the dome section, middle section and lower section. Like the Red Dalek, it sported gold accessories; the neck rings which supported its black neck grille, middle section bands atop and below the arm sockets, and the tall fender at the bottom of the lower section. Uniquely, the eyestalk that connected the eye lens, which appeared as a shining white disc at the face of a black ball, to the dome's pivot, along with the six discs that supported it, were coloured gold rather than silver and light blue respectively. The left and right arms of the middle section were a gunstick and suction cup manipulator arm respectively. The sense globes in the Black Dalek's lower section were alternately coloured gold and silver. As with all the Daleks on Skaro, two red, cone-shaped luminosity dischargers stood atop the dome and flashed when the Dalek spoke. (TV: Dr. Who and the Daleks)
Biography[]
Along with the rest of the Daleks living in the Dalek City, the Black Dalek was descended from the "forefathers" who fought a neutronic war with the Thals centuries prior. Resulting in many deaths and mutations, the war confined the Daleks to their city, protected by metal casings.
The Black Dalek rallies its fellows to destroy the Thals (TV: Dr. Who and the Daleks)
The Black Dalek joined the Red Dalek when its group apprehended human time travellers Dr. Who, Susan and Ian Chesterton within the control room of their city. Confiscating Dr. Who's fluid link, the Daleks sent the three into a cell with Barbara, who had been captured earlier. From the control room, the Daleks kept watch on the cell, observing that the travellers were suffering from radiation sickness but had not yet perished. Explaining the Daleks' origin to the travellers, the Black Dalek ordered one of them to leave the city to acquire the Thals' anti-radiation drug, with Susan volunteering. Observing her departure with the Red Dalek, the Black Dalek ordered that the drug was only to be used by the Daleks, while the travellers were to be left to perish.
Once Susan returned to the city, the Daleks found that she had been given a second supply of drugs by a Thal, which they allowed be shared among the travellers. With the drug formula in their possession, the Daleks were now able to reproduce it. Though the Red Dalek believed they should discard their casings before leaving the city to destroy the Thals, the Black Dalek decided it would be easier to lure the Thals into their city. The Red Dalek, delivering food and water to the prisoners, had Susan taken to write a letter transcribed with the Daleks promise of food to help the Thals before signing her name, at which point the Daleks revealed their true intentions. After Susan was returned to the cell, the travellers managed to deactivate the lens watching them. From this, the Daleks determined that they were intelligent. While the Red Dalek believed that they were too dangerous to be left alive, the Black Dalek decided to keep them in the case they could be useful again, deeming it unnecessary to replace the lens.
When the Thals entered the city, the Red Dalek led an attack on them, exterminating their leader Temmosus. However, as the travellers had managed to escape their cell, they were able to warn the Thals who fled the city with them. Providing the drug to a work section, the Dalek leaders observed from their deaths that the drugs would not work on them. Unable to leave their protective casings, the Daleks proceeded to prepare a neutron bomb, which would increase radiation throughout Skaro to a point where even the drug of the Thals would not be able to protect them, thus wiping them out. Seeking to retrieve his fluid link, Dr. Who and his companions convinced the Thals to penetrate the city. Observing their efforts, the Daleks intercepted and captured the Doctor and Susan. Learning that the Daleks intended to denonate their neutronic bomb, Dr. Who offered his ship, TARDIS, in an attempt to dissuade them, though the Dalek leader decided that he was not needed to operate the ship, which they intended to use to conquer other planets. However, the Thals, having penetrated the city, entered the control room and engaged the Daleks in battle. The Black Dalek was last seen being grappled by several Thals, and it presumably died with the other Daleks when their casings lost power due to the city's main controls being destroyed. (TV: Dr. Who and the Daleks)
Behind the scenes[]
Prop[]
The Black Dalek was depicted using a specially constructed prop.[1]
Dalek 'Decimus' was the Black Movie Dalek used in the Dalek Invasion of Weston-super-Mare and is owned and operated by Ben Fletcher.
In invalid sources[]
The Black Dalek in Weston-super-Mare alongside another Black Dalek. (NOTVALID: Daleks invade Weston-super-Mare)
A Black Dalek with an identical casing participated in a vacation in Weston-super-Mare with four other Black Daleks. It glided down the beach-side with the three others, chanting "Exterminate!" and "The Daleks are supreme!", but was not seen to participate in holiday fun as the others did. (NOTVALID: Daleks invade Weston-super-Mare)
Other matters[]
The leading Dalek in the comic adaptation.
- In David Whitaker's novelisation of The Daleks, on which the Dr. Who and the Daleks feature film was also based, the leader of the Daleks in the City was the Glass Dalek. The audio story Return to Skaro would introduce a Black Dalek as the one that had been issuing orders, albeit from a distance, to the Daleks in the city, proclaiming to have been the original Dalek leader.
- This Black Dalek (recognisable by the shape of its luminosity dischargers and golden metalwork) appeared on the cover of the documentary Dalekmania.
The Black Dalek on Now on the Big Screen in Colour!, a poster for Dr. Who and the Daleks.
- The Black Dalek also appeared on a notorious poster for Dr. Who and the Daleks wherein which Dr Who and his companions came across a long line of Daleks in the corridors of Skaro, led by the Black Dalek. According to this poster, the Black Dalek's weapon could be used as a pyro-flame, in accordance with original concepts for the film which were later dropped in favour of the gas weapons.
- In the comic adaptation of the film, Dr. Who and the Daleks, the War Machine Daleks are led by a single dark Red Dalek.
- A Black Dalek of a slightly different design features in the sequel film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., where it is subordinate to the Gold Dalek.
- This Dalek's colour scheme is identical to one of the colour schemes used for the Black Dalek Leader (the Dalek Prime's second-in-command), while serving as "Searcher One Leader" in the comic story The Archives of Phryne to be exact.
