Daleks, war-hungry aliens that cause fear and terror across the universe and scaring children since 1963. They are The Doctor’s greatest nemesis, providing some of the best stories in the classic and modern eras. However, it looks like the Daleks are not returning for the 11th season of Doctor Who.
The new showrunner Chris Chibnall confirmed this news when speaking to the Radio Times in the UK. Chibnall is quoted telling the Radio Times “We’ve got lots of new villains, lots of new monsters, lots of new characters for you to fall in love with.” Chibnall also states “It’s a great moment to bring everybody on board. It’s a big, inclusive, accessible mainstream series of 10 really, varied, exciting standalone stories. So you won’t see very much from the past.”
When speaking at San Diego Comic-Con Chibnall said “We’ve got two weeks left of shooting, and we haven’t seen them [Daleks] yet.”
This could all be a bluff from Chibnall with the aim to surprises audiences with a big return for blobs in battle armor, but it is unlikely. During the modern era the Daleks have been overused to the point that any sense of menace from them has disappeared – a break of a season or two so that the show could build up a massive return for them and be a huge threat once again. They could have a storyline that does them justice.
Doctor Who is set to return in October this year.