Steven Moffat has denied that the Daleks appear so frequently because of a contractual obligation.

Speaking at the recent Royal Television Society panel: “You certainly don’t wheel the Daleks out because you’ve got a contractual obligation to provide Daleks.”

He adds: “I think Doctor Who is great when there are Daleks in it [and] I don’t think you should go too long without Daleks.

“For a child, a year between Dalek stories is an eternity – I remember as a kid saying ‘Why haven’t they done the Daleks for ages? It’s been four or five weeks!'”