The history we are about to cover in the next few pages
is conjecture. It is based on information that has been gathered from
certain aspects of the new Doctor Who
television series, but has
little or no “on screen” information to back it up. This lack of
“on-screen” information however, does not mean that one cannot pull enough
information together to present a coherent picture of events.
Here is what we do know; the Dalek’s first major encounter with the TimeLords
occurred when the High Council sent the 4th Doctor back to Skaro’s past
in an attempt to stop Davros from developing the Daleks (Genesis of the
). Before this, the TimeLords showed very little interest
in the goings on of the creatures from Skaro, presenting no interference
in their plans until they showed an interest in the “Crystal of Karn,” at
which time they sent the Doctor in his third incarnation to deal with them
(Doctor Who and the Daleks in Seven Keys to Doomsday
interference is not a factor in the next three Dalek stories, and the last
“official” appearance of the Daleks is in the episode “Remembrance of the
Daleks.” Here the Doctor tricks Davros into using The Hand of Omega
(a TimeLord stellar manipulator), to destroy Skaro’s sun, and thus the Daleks
themselves. As the series soon went off the air after this season
it was never followed up as to whether or not Skaro had actually been destroyed.
The eventuality of this however seemed highly unlikely, and it may be that
if the series was not canceled, the next time the Doctor encountered the
Daleks we would get an explanation on how they survived. In the years
that followed the cancellation several explanations have been put forth
to explain how Skaro survived. John Peel, in his novel “War of the
Daleks” suggests that the planet destroyed by Davros was actually a second
Skaro, created by the Daleks to trick Davros, and thus keep him from destroying
their real home world. This explanation seems highly unlikely and,
with no disrespect to Mr. Peel, very implausible, especially as we are asked
to accept the fact that the Daleks would go through this elaborate hoax to
fool Davros, when it would just have been simpler to exterminate him after
digging him up on Skaro. Another explanation may have been that the
Daleks, using their own temporal engineering, had some how diverted the
“Hand,” thus only giving the appearance of the sun going nova, or traveled
back in time and actually averted the entire incident all together.
Despite these problems, when the series went off the air in 1989, it seemed
a moot point on whether or not Skaro had survived. Then came Big Finish
Production’s audio adventures, which not only continued the adventures of
the 7th and 8th Doctors, but also filled in the gaps in several of the 5th
and 6th Doctor’s adventures.
If we consider the Big Finish audios as canon, then based on the information
gained from these productions as well as the original television series,
this is how Dalek history unfolded from “Resurrection of the Daleks” to
the end of the original series:
- While Davros is pretending to be the “Great Healer” on Necros, on
Skaro the Daleks engage in a plan to create a super destructive element,
which when activated, can destroy an entire galaxy. The first step
of their plan required them to mine a special element found only on the
oldest surviving planetoid in the universe. Using temporal engineering
Dalek scientists take the planetoid out-of-time, trapping Romana and several
TimeLords investigating the planetoid on it. In the audio adventure
it is mentioned that Romana had been missing on the planetoid for twenty
years, thus we may assume that these events take place either just before,
or at the same time as the events in “Revelation of the Daleks.”
- Word reaches Skaro that Davros is alive (Revelation of the
Daleks), and a special ship is dispatched to Necros to arrest him.
The ship however, never returns to Skaro, and Davros is presumed dead.
- Creating a universal disaster by re-emerging the planetoid and crashing
it into the planet Archetryx, the Daleks trick the TimeLords into lowering
their defection barriers and invade Gallifrey (The Apocalypse Element).
Their plan is to harness the power of the Eye of Harmony, and thus use
their super weapon to “cleanse” the near-by Seriphia Galaxy of all life.
Although the Doctor, Evelyn and Romana manage to destroy the Dalek taskforce,
the super weapon is used and Dalek forces occupy the newly re-formed planetary
systems to use as a galactic base. From here they plan an invasion
of the Milky Way, and then the entire universe. The TimeLords however,
vow to prevent this.
- Having now occupied their new galactic base, the next step in the Dalek
plan once again involves a desperate attempt to alter the history of Earth.
For reasons that are not explained in “Jubilee,” the Earth Empire still
poses a threat to the Dalek plan, and so they attempt to invade Earth
in the early part of the twentieth century. Unfortunately their
arrival out of the vortex coincides with the 6th Doctor and Evelyn’s arrival
during the same time period, creating a temporal paradox.
- Davros, in the meantime has survived his ship’s crash on the planet
Lethe, where mining operations have uncovered several Mechonid robots
left over from the Dalek/Mechonid Wars. Examining and reactivating
them, Davros begins to build his Imperial Dalek forces (The Juggernauts).
The Daleks on Skaro learn about this, and request the help of the Doctor
to stop Davros’ plans. Although Davros appears to be destroyed,
once again, he escapes to continue his plans.
The next stage in Dalek history must be a full-scale invasion of Skaro by
Davros’ Imperial Dalek forces. When we next see the Daleks in the
series, Skaro is caught up in a full-blown civil war. Each side is trying
to secure the “Hand of Omega,” a stellar manipulator the Doctor, in his
first incarnation, had left behind in 1963 London when he fled with Barbara
and Ian (Remembrance of the Daleks
). The episode implies that
the 7th Doctor, wanting to settle “unfinished business,” let the existence
of the “Hand” slip, hoping that Davros would seize the device, activate
it, and destroy Skaro and the Daleks in one final blow. Whether the
Doctor was acting on behalf of the TimeLords is never made clear (nor is
why the Doctor would leave such a device on Earth in the first place).
In the end Davros, now calling himself Emperor of the Daleks activates the
hand, which follows the Doctor’s orders, flies into Skaro’s sun, and turns
it super nova. Skaro is vaporized; the Hand destroys Davros’ ship,
but he escapes yet again.
We now come to the part of Dalek history that covers the time period between
the end of the original series and the new one. These histories are
based solely on material taken from the FOX television movie and the Big
Finish audio productions, which establish that Skaro was not, in fact, destroyed.
In “The Genocide Machine,” references are made to the Dalek home world,
as the Dalek task force on Kar-Charrat contacts the Emperor on Skaro.
In “The Enemy Within” the first shot in the film is of Skaro, as the Daleks
lure the Doctor back by informing him that they have captured and executed
the Master. In reality this was a plan by the Master (whose body had
returned to its degenerative state) and the Daleks to destroy the Doctor.
The events that ensue bring about the Doctor’s seventh regeneration.
Therefore we may assume that Skaro had somehow survived the encounter with
the Hand of Omega, although it’s surface was most likely devastated.
From here Dalek history seems to be as follows:
- The surface of Skaro lies in ruin, all Dalek cities have been destroyed
and Skaro’s sun has suffered irreversible damage. It is possible
that the Dalek Prime or the Emperor himself have also been destroyed,
but the surviving Daleks on Sakro as well as in the Seriphia Galaxy vow
to continue their plans of universal conquest. The paradoxes involved
in the re-re-invasion of Earth and the Dalek Civil War are compounded
by the devastation wrought by the Hand of Omega. This has convinced
the Supreme Conical that more, and possibly absolute information is needed
if their plans for conquest are to be achieved. They thus decide
to invade and conquer the library on the planet Kar-Charrat in the hopes
of downloading the entire contents of the library’s database into a specially
modified Dalek (The Genocide Machine). Unfortunately the
TimeLords have devised the defenses for the library and so their plan
of out right invasion goes awry. Eventually they do gain access
to the library and their plan works, the information creating an ultra-supreme
Dalek. Unfortunately this new Dalek sees no logic in killing, and
refuses to do so. The resulting conflict between this new Dalek
and its compatriots, helped along by the 7th Doctor’s intervention, sees
the destruction of the Dalek force on Kar-Charrat, and Dalek plans are
once again delayed.
- The Master, now in a degenerative state and dieing, arrives on the
devastated surface of Skaro with a plan to rid the universe of the Doctor
once and for all (The Enemy Within). The Daleks, whose frustration
level with the Doctor has reached the breaking point, agree to the plan
and stage a fake execution of the renegade TimeLord. Contacting
the Doctor, the Emperor informs him that the Master’s last wish was to
have his remains returned to Gallifrey. For some inexplicable reason
the Doctor agrees (why he does not suspect a trap is never explained),
and arrives on Skaro to retrieve the Master’s ashes.
- Despite the defeat of the Master's plan, as well as their losses on
Kar-Charrat, the Daleks decide to launch their full-scale invasion of
the Milky Way from Seriphia. Earth Alliance forces are unable to
stop their overwhelming forces, and after several years of fighting, most
of the galaxy falls to them (Dalek Empire). But growing underground
resistance, as well as the intervention of “good” Daleks from another
dimension, push the Dalek forces back to their galactic bases in the Seriphia
Galaxy. Unfortunately the Milky Way is devastated (Dalek War).
There is no mention of either the Doctor or the TimeLords during either
“Dalek Empire” or “Dalek War,” despite the TimeLords vow to prevent the
Daleks using the Seriphia Galaxy as a base. Nor are we told when
in the Doctor’s history these events take place. The Kar-Charrat
incident is mentioned in the series, which suggests it takes place during
the 7th Doctor’s tenure, but it is also possible that it occurs during
his 8th incarnation. We do know however than when the Doctor next
encounters the Daleks he is in his 8th incarnation and the Daleks are
trapped in a temporal paradox (The Time of the Daleks).
- It is never clearly explained in the audio drama exactly how the Daleks
first found themselves in this temporal paradox. What we do know
is that the Daleks, possibly frustrated by their recent defeat in the
Milky Way, create a Temporal Elimination Device (TED) that they plan to
use to seize control of the Time Vortex itself. During the launching
of the device something goes wrong, and both the Emperor and his fleet
are trapped in the vortex, destined to relive the accident over and over
again. It is clear however, that this type of “time loop”
can only be established by the TimeLords, and although the 8th Doctor
and Charley get caught up in events, it is obvious that it is the TimeLords
who are trying to finally address the Dalek question. The very nature
of the Dalek plan would have brought them to the attention of Gallifrey
and it is not too far a stretch of the imagination to see the accident
that created the paradox as the TimeLords doing. The Daleks of course,
being brilliant engineers, either figure out a way to escape the time
loop, or the remaining Daleks on Skaro and in the Seriphia Galaxy simply
decide to replace the Emperor and the fleet with members from their own
ranks. Either way the Daleks must have finally decided that it was time
to address the TimeLord problem once and for all.
Events in Dalek history from this point on until the start of the Time War
are a bit sketchy. It may be that Davros, having escaped from his
mother ship before the Hand of Omega destroyed it, survived to create a new
race of Daleks after invading and infecting Earth with a Dalek virus.
These events are chronicled in the Big Finish audio “Terror Firma,” but
are so convoluted and contradictory to Big Finish’s own continuity that
they, like the “War of the Daleks” novel, will not be considered here.
In addition the possible re-appearance of Davros in the new series may completely
negate the events in “Terror Firma.”
What we do know about this time period however is that the Daleks decided
to completely redesign their travel casings in preparation for their battle
with the TimeLords. The new casings are obliviously more powerful and carry
a wide array of improvements over the standard casings, which they believed
were necessary for a war fought within the Time Vortex (for a break down
of the new casings see: Dalek Hierarchy
As for the events of the war itself, according to Captain Jack in
“Bad Wolf,” the Daleks were the greatest threat in the galaxy when they
suddenly disappeared (Captain Jack is a native of the 51st Century, which
according to some chronologies would place him living after the events in
the Dalek Empire
series). The Doctor informs him and Rose that
they went off to fight the Time War. This establishes that at this
point in Dalek history the Daleks and TimeLords had one last confrontation.
This may mean that the TimeLords decided to answer the Dalek question once
and for all, but judging from the changes in Dalek design it is more likely
that the Daleks initiated the war. The new design also suggests that
the Daleks knew that their old travel machines could not stand up to the
temporal forces that would be unleashed during the war. Therefore having
decided on this course of action the Emperor must have ordered the construction
of a new casing, which are the ones we see in “Dalek,” as well as “Bad Wolf”
and “Parting of the Ways.” Having once bolstered their forces the
Dalek fleet must have left Skaro and headed towards Gallifrey. The
TimeLords, alerted to the approach of the Dalek fleet, put out a call for
all TimeLords to return to Gallifrey, including the Doctor. Little
is known about the actual events of the war itself, however it must have
been fought through several solar systems and over several time zones.
It may have been fought within the Time Vortex itself, as evidence from
the new series suggests that several cultures were affected. By pulling
together this information here is what we can establish:
- The war devastated several worlds throughout time and space.
Both the Nestene Consciousness in “Rose,” and The Gelth in “The Unquiet
Dead” make mention that their worlds were devastated by the war.
- The Doctor, in his 8th incarnation, took part in the war, that his
regeneration was a result of the war (he implies that he is recently
regenerated when he looks at his reflection during the episode Rose),
and that the destruction wrought on both Gallifrey and Skaro was a direct
result of the Doctor’s actions. This is established in the
episode “Dalek,” when the Doctor mentions that he not only saw the Dalek
fleet burn, but also that he “made it happen.” We can assume that
the catastrophic event that the Doctor implemented also caused great physical
harm to his body, causing him to regenerate.
- The war ended with the total destruction of both the TimeLords and
the Daleks. The Doctor tells Rose that his people were destroyed
at the end of “End of the World,” and that he was the last TimeLord.
- Both the planets Gallifrey and Skaro are destroyed as a result of the
war, the Doctor telling Rose that his home world was dust. None
of the TimeLords save the Doctor survive, and the Daleks are also destroyed.
- At the moment of destruction a lone Dalek warrior falls through the
temporal vortex crashing on late twentieth century Earth, where it is
sold at private auctions from collector to collector (Dalek).
- The Emperor’s mother ship also survives, escaping through the vortex
forward 200,000 years towards the time of the 4th Great and Bountiful
Human Empire. Crippled, the Emperor and the few surviving Daleks
begin to slowly infiltrate Earth’s culture while harvesting mankind’s
castoffs (prisoners, the poor, etc.) to mutate into a new Dalek race.
- Hundred of years pass and the Emperor’s power grows. He realizes
that in order to control Earth, he must control the source of Earth’s
information net, and therefore manages to install in the Earth News
Communication Network the Jagrafess (The Long Game). Through
the Jagrafess the Emperor is able to control Earth’s development, so that
by the time the Doctor and Rose arrive on Satellite Five, there is very
little left of the 4th Great and Bountiful Human Empire.
- 100 years are supposed to have passed between “The Long Game” and “Bad
Wolf,” and in that time the new Dalek race has multiplied to half a million
Daleks. Created out of human DNA the Emperor now considers himself
a god, and rules over his subjects with the intention of creating a new
paradise on Earth. It is at this point that the Doctor
returns to Satellite Five and the last great encounter between the Doctor
and the Daleks take place. At the end of “Parting of the Ways,”
Rose, having absorbed the power of the Time Vortex, accelerates the Emperor
and his Daleks to the point of dust, and the Time War is finally over.
Or is it...?
Unfortunately there are a lot of questions raised by the sequence of
events as listed above, and it may be that the actual details of these events
may never truly come to light. Exactly how the Emperor and his few
surviving Daleks were able to infiltrate Earth's security, install the Jagrafess,
and start "beaming" people from Earth to their Mother-ship to be mutate into
the new Dalek race leaves much to conjecture. Why did Earth security
not notice the disappearance of so many of it's citizens? Where did
the Daleks find the material to rebuild their fleet? It may be that
these questions may never be fully answered. However when the Daleks
return (and we know that they will), a whole new series of questions will
arise. How had these Daleks survived, where is their base of operations,
etc.? It may be that the Daleks the 10th Doctor will encounter may
be the survivors from the Seriphia Galaxy, or they may be the final creations
of Davros. In addition Big Finish’s “Dalek Empire III’ needs to be
considered into the continuity. Only the production team at present
knows what the answer is to be, and, as with the History of the Daleks itself,
the history of the Time War may need to be revised as new information comes
Special thanks to Andrew Panero.
Article © 2006 John
Rocco Roberto/Visagraph Films International.