The Daleks broke away from the Doctor in 1965, going solo in a comic-strip saga that some regard as their finest hour.

Dalek saucers from TV Century 21 comic strip The Daleks. Art by Ron Turner.

Dalek competition prizes in TV Century 21 issue 23 (1965).

From 19 January 1965 to 11 January 1967, the Daleks starred in their own comic strip on the back page of TV Century 21. At its height, this lavish comic sold over half a million copies a week, with early-1980s Doctor Who writer Stephen Gallagher among its readers. “I was a first generation telefantasy kid and the perfect target for any mag with TV in the masthead,” he recalls. “In the process I realised that Daleks without the Doctor not only worked, but were something even more glorious.”

Without the Doctor or television budgets to inhibit them, TV Century 21’s Daleks rampaged across Skaro and into outer space across 104 stunningly illustrated single-page instalments. Also along for the ride was Mervyn Capel, then 12 years old. “I got TV Century 21 beginning with the second issue,” he remembers. He soon caught up with what he’d missed, however – “I acquired the first issue from a classmate a few weeks later” – and found himself poring over its opening chapter: “Deep in Hyperspace is Planet Skaro…”

The Daleks shared TV Century 21 with other strips, many of them based on TV series produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Mervyn recalls feeling that “the comic was promoting the Andersons, but the Daleks were undoubtedly a factor in its early success.” Another early reader, Briony Lea, then aged 11, recalls The Daleks vying with the Andersons’ Lady Penelope as her favourite strip; she was thrilled by “exciting adverts and competitions for Dalek toys you couldn’t possibly have afforded.” Sadly, none of the 25 inflatable Daleks or 200 jigsaw puzzles given away in issue 23 would ever be hers. “I never won any,” she laments, “but I did try!”