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In the early 1960s a new craze swept over Britain, holding the nation’s youth in its grip. And this time it wasn’t the Beatles…

The Daleks first glided menacingly onto our screens in December 1963, as part of the second Doctor Who story. By the time that story ended, and despite their villainous intentions, they were proving to be just as popular as The Doctor and the TARDIS.

Rather than being exterminated, the Daleks instead became the first of Doctor Who’s enemies to return, in 1964, cementing their place in British popular culture.

In this archive radio clip from 1972 writer Terry Nation, who had the initial idea for the Daleks, tells Brian Hoey how he came to write the original story.

He also explains how his Welsh identity drives his urge to write, and how the Daleks once beat the Beatles in the ratings…

The return of the Daleks was marked by their appearance on the cover of Radio Times, the first of many to feature Doctor Who. Despite the fact that The Beatles were appearing at the same time in the television schedules on ITV, the Daleks proved more popular, giving rise to what came to be known as Dalekmania.

Actor William Russell recalls his memories of the Daleks, and how he knew their popularity was cemented when they featured in a newspaper cartoon in this archive radio clip.

Daleks began to invade the airwaves, and not just on Doctor Who. Blue Peter regularly featured clips of the Dalek stories, and in 1966, presenter Valerie Singleton even showed viewers how to make Dalek cakes and sandwiches.

Dalekmania even extended beyond television. They were a major merchandising success too, as this letter from writer Terry Nation's agent, Beryl Vertue, illustrates. Dalek cake moulds were among the suggestions for on-trend items. Extermin-cake!

But toys were what people really wanted. They became so popular that they featured in this 1966 short film, known as an interlude, made to cover intervals in early ����ý television programming.

So what was it about the Daleks that made them so popular? In this 2003 clip, former producer Verity Lambert explains how the ����ý had tried to analyse their appeal, but no one could quite figure out the magic ingredient.