Doctor Who brainteaser: what would happen if the Daleks did "exterminate" all life in the universe?
They're the most feared race in the universe – but if the Doctor failed to save us, what would the Daleks do if they were the ONLY race in the universe?
The question
The Doctor has fallen, and the Daleks have managed to EXTERMINATE all other life in the universe except themselves. What happens next?
The background
Misery loves company, and the Daleks are certainly bloody miserable. A genetically engineered race hell-bent on universal extermination, their only aim is to wipe out all non-Dalek life.
Thankfully, the Doctor's constant vigilance has meant the Daleks have (so far) never achieved their ultimate aim of becoming the sole, supreme race in the universe.
But if, in a bleak far-off possible world, the Daleks were to finally prevail, what would they do next? After all, this isn't the sort of species to put their metal skirts up after a hard day's exterminating.
It's hard to think of the Daleks without their age-old enemy, but when we take the Doctor and all other life forms out of the equation it gets even more intriguing.
In-fighting over the purity of the race has already scarred Dalek history; the Daleks of the New Paradigm didn't have any problem smoking what they considered to be "impure" Daleks, while back in the classic series "Imperial" and "Renegade" factions of the species engaged in a violent civil war.
Perhaps this suggests that once all other life has been obliterated, Daleks would turn on each other in a ferocious post-apocalyptic kerfuffle about who is truly purebreed Dalek?
Ah, but hang on: in Asylum of the Daleks the Dalek Prime Minister says they do not wish to destroy all their mad, bad, malfunctioned brethren house in the Dalek loony bin. "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred," the big tentacled cheese tells the Doctor.
And then there is that brilliant line from the most recent series, where the 'damaged' Dalek in Into the Dalek tells Capaldi's Doctor, "You are a good Dalek!". Maybe the Doctor doesn't even have to be exterminated for this nightmare Dalek-only vision to become (science fiction) reality?
And that's where we're stumped. Can anyone in the comments help us? When we've successfully exterminated this conundrum, click on the link below for more. As always, thanks to Ask Science Fiction for the inspiration.
