Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed that The Doctor's fierce enemies The Daleks are to be rested from the show for the near future.

Later this month the much-loved sci-fi series will celebrate its 60th anniversary with three special episodes, followed up by a Christmas special and a regular eight-part series in early 2024.

The 2024 Christmas special is also already in the bag, while filming is already well underway on the 2025 series and rumours continue to swirl about potential spinoff shows.

Despite the flurry of new episodes on the horizon, however, Davies has said that he believes the Daleks should have "a good pause" for now after being used heavily for storylines over the last few years.

"I do think we've had a lot of Daleks lately," he told The Mirror.

"I think they've been done a lot - people are expecting them every year now. So I think they need a good pause.

"Hopefully, there's some enemies that will become new classics, but it's always good to move on."

Although The Daleks will seemingly not feature in new episodes for the time being, their very first appearance in the 1963-64 serial 'The Daleks' is to be rebroadcast in colour and with a new score on November 23.

Meanwhile, Doctor Who returns with 'The Star Beast' on Saturday, November 25 on BBC One in the UK and Ireland and via Disney+ in the rest of the world.