Were The Daleks Lurking Off Screen In Last Week’s Doctor Who?

There was something Doctor Who fans were ready for for going into season 11, and that’s that there were to be no classic monsters. Everyone’s used to seeing the Daleks pop up every now and then, usually with an appearance by the Cybermen and the Master as well, but new showrunner Chris Chibnall wanted a clean slate for the Thirteenth Doctor and decided not to bring any familiar foes back. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t still out there, right?

Last week’s episode – which was probably the worst outing of the new run yet – was set in the 67th century, which the Doctor points out was a pretty tumultuous time in the universe’s history. Unfortunately, we’re not given any clues as to what she may be referring to, but Digital Spy’s done some digging and came up with an interesting theory.

The Dalek Empire spinoff series from Big Finish Productions told us that roughly around this same time period, the Daleks were looking to re-invade our galaxy after waging war back in the 42nd century. As such, DS believes that the Doctor’s most iconic enemies were simply just lurking off screen, perhaps patrolling the area around the ship that Thirteen and her companions were on. Maybe one of them even exterminated the adorable little Pting that was ejected by the Doctor?

Of course, there’s not much evidence to back this theory up, but if you, like us, find yourself longing for some of the classic Who monsters, feel free to subscribe to what Digital Spy has put forth. After all, we don’t imagine we’ll be seeing the Daleks for real this season.

Sure, that’s disappointing for Doctor Who purists who consider them to be very much part of the show’s DNA, but remember, this is a brand new era we’re talking about here, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the team wants to introduce different enemies for the Time Lord to face.