Doctor Who Invades the Multiverse: The Avengers

That’s the original Avengers, mind you. Well, almost–Steed and Emma Peel, who were the later iteration of the original Avengers.

(Daily Doctor Who #158)

Doctor Who has actually crossed over with the Avengers before, in small ways. Most notably, John Steed and Mrs. Peel popped up in a Seventh Doctor comic story that was published in Doctor Who Magazine back in 1991. That same story also featured cameos by Bart Simpson, Worf from Star Trek, the Silver Surfer and Conan the Barbarian.

But this post is about Doctor Who turning up in other places. Unlike last time, today’s example isn’t an instance of elements of the fictional world of Doctor Who bleeding into other fictional worlds. Rather, it’s about another TV acknowledging that there is a TV show called Doctor Who.

Or more specifically, that there are Daleks which exist as a merchandising opportunity.

The Avengers episode is Death at Bargain Prices, which involves a evil madman planting a giant bomb underneath a department store. To investigate, Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) goes to work at the store as a clerk. She works for a while in the children’s toy department where she dresses up in a general science-fictiony outfit.

Present in the store, although not focused on, are a couple of Dalek toys.

Apparently, she even fiddles with one at one point.

According to the internet, the episode aired on October 21, 1965, but was produced much earlier, from around January 25-February 17, 1965. This would have been shortly after the airing of the second ever Dalek story, The Dalek Invasion of the Earth.