Doctor Who’s most famous adversary, the Daleks, are to be given a rest from taking on the Doctor, the shows head writer and executive producer has told The Radio Times.

Created by Terry Nation, the Daleks have made regular appearances on the show since their first appeared in 1963. Mofatt said that the Daleks had been defeated too often and that this posed a problem.

“There’s a problem with the Daleks. They are the most famous of the Doctor’s adversaries and the most frequent, which means they are the most reliably defeatable enemies in the universe,” he explained. “They have been defeated by the Doctor about 400 times. Surely they should just see the TARDIS approaching, say, ‘Oh. It’s him again’, and trudge away.”

In 2007 the Daleks came out top in a poll of the most scariest Doctor Who villians but now the shows executive producer has said it’s time-out for the Daleks.

“They aren’t going to make an appearance for a while. We thought it was about time to give them a rest.”