The Daleks i/ˈdɑːlɛks/ are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. The Daleks were conceived by science-fiction writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 Doctor Who serial The Daleks, in the shells designed by Raymond Cusick. Within the programme narrative, Daleks are cyborgs created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals. He genetically modified a race of extraterrestrials, known as the Kaleds from the planet Skaro, and integrated them within a tank-like, robotic, mechanical shell. His final modification was to remove their ability to feel pity, compassion or remorse. The Daleks soon came to view themselves as the supreme race in the universe and began a conquest of universal domination and extermination. Various storylines portray them as having had every emotion removed except hate, leaving them with a desire to purge the Universe o...