The DALEK World (1965)
By @edent
· Doctor Who DrWho predictions · 8 comments · 350 words
You're a big Doctor Who fan, right? If I asked you what the world DALEK meant, you'd probably tell me that it is an anagram of KALED - the original name of their species.
You'd be wrong.
In 1965, it was clearly established by a canonical source, that the world DALEK stands for:
- Destroy without pity
- Attack without fear
- Live without conscience
- Eliminate without worry
- Kill, kill, kill, kill!
I ain't even lying!
WTAF?
A few years ago, I picked up a copy of this - The DALEK World. A 1965 tie-in book published by the BBC. I've taken the liberty of scanning it and sharing a few images. 
It is bonkers. And contains loads of facts for DALEK fans:
There are also some pretty good stories - most of which don't feature Doctor Who, but do contain some brilliant future-gazing.
I love the fact that someone in 1965 predicted pirating movies and home projectors!
But, back to DALEKs. There's this brilliant bit of continuity busting:
Doctor Who wouldn't meet the Yeti for another two years - where it was established they were controlled by The Great Intelligence. Although, as the story is missing perhaps there is some retcon that we're missing?
Of course, there's no metric system in the future:
There are also some quite baffling claims:
A year after publication, Doctor Who had a full colour movie which featured this - presumably invisible - DALEK.
The artwork is gorgeous - albeit with a rather limited colour palette:
What else do we know about the DALEKs? Well, for a start, they're communists!
Blimey! Luckily, the best way to defeat the DALEKs is... to implement planetary communism.
You think some of today's stories and tie-ins are a bit weird? The DALEK World is a wonderful little time capsule which shows what kids were devouring just a couple of years after Doctor Who first aired. If you can find a copy, I thoroughly recommend having a ruffle through it.
@Edent I'm not into the DoctorWho franchise, but I loved reading your article. It was really like a small time capsule, fun and informative with nice images! 😃
@blog Now I want an embroidered D.A.L.E.K. wall hanging in the style of "live laugh love".
@blog that was such a damn good read. Your site presented it very well.
I'd love to have a poster of that cover! It would look great in a games room.
@Edent I don't want to quibble, but "there's no metric system in the future" doesn't make sense. There was no metric or imperial measuring system in the past, but I am still correct in saying the largest stegosaurus was 7.5 metres (25 ft) long.
Are any of the authors or illustrators named?
@edent says:
According to https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dalek_World
Mike says:
Never mind the red Dalek in the film, the Dalek in the image that says they can’t see red, is red! OK, the whole book seems to have very small palette (maybe they thinking of how it would look on red/black/white eInk displays in the future) but they could have picked any other colour that isn’t in the book’s very small palette to say Daleks can’t see, or simply not made that Dalek red!
I’m not a big Doctor Who fan, but even I know there’s a biological being inside a Dalek. I’ve seen inside a Dalek on TV. I’ve seen a human which weighs not much more than 2.5lbs and they were a lot smaller than that lump of biology inside a Dalek. Saying a Dalek weighs 2.5lb is absurd even ignoring the lump of biology. How is a 2.5lb Dalek going to make headway moving into a stiff breeze? How are they going to conquer Earth, or anywhere, why does the book claim we cannot hope to beat the Daleks tomorrow, when they’re light enough for a child to pick one up and chuck it?
Bonkers and then some. 😀
@blog I have wonder if calling it canonical is a bit of a stretch, though. Many instances have given their brand to authorised merchandise without necessarily implying it is canonical (I’m thinking of the Star Wars books, but also the BBC themselves and even Doctor Who).
An interesting find nonetheless!
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