From: ira2p@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Iain Robert Asplin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: What Dalek book should I read???
Date: 27 Aug 92 03:35:23 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Virginia

In article <1992Aug26.133422.19330@cbfsb.cb.att.com> mfh@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (mitchell.hansinger) writes:
>I haven't read any novels about the Daleks, or about Dr. Who for that matter,
>and would like to know which one is best.  I would like to learn about the
>following things in the course of reading about the daleks :
>
>1)  What was Davros' purpose in creating the daleks?  ie what did he want to
>accomplish/hope to obtain?
>

The original purpose was that he was trying to create a travel machine
for the being the Kaleds would evolve into to survive in.  As time went
on, he based more and more of the machine on his own life support systems,
and his own megalomania and paranoia led him to alter the genetic
structure of the creatures to leave in only the mental qualities he thought
were strongest and best in himself.  

>2)  How did the schism between Davros and the daleks occur?

In his programming of the Dalek creatures, he told the Daleks that their
race was the supreme creature of the Universe and never to acknowledge
the superiority of another.  He forgot that they might include him in
that instruction, and thus when he tried to give them orders near the
end of "Genesis of the Daleks," one of the Daleks hits on this idea that
Davros is just as "inferior" as anyone else and thus ripe for extermination.

>3)  What kind of creatures are the daleks?  What do they look like?  What do 
they eat? etc
>
The Daleks are chemical and biologically and radiation-induced mutations.
We have seen a few variants of the mutants, most often they are shapeless
green or brown blobs of oily flesh.  Anything the mutant creature needs
by way of nourishment or life support is provided by the Dalek machine
they are encased in.  Recently, we have seen an Imperial Dalek faction
created by Davros who are more at-one with their machines than the
originals and have functional claw-like appendages and mechanical prostheses
grafted into their bodies.


>4)  Why must the daleks remain inside their robot-like casings?  I know it has 
>something to do with radiation but I want to read about it in a Dr. Who novel.
>
The casings are where the mutants live.  A little Dalek mutant can't get
very far or achieve very much out on its own, or even fend for itself.
The casing is a complete life support apparatus as well as a transportation
device, as well as one hell of a nasty armored war machine.
The original reason we were given in their first story was that they
retreated to their casings to protect them from the radiation from the
Neutron Bomb detonated on Skaro but instead grew dependent on this.
Later events in "Genesis of the Daleks" seem to suggest the Daleks we
met in their first story had an inaccurate historical record they were
relying on.


>Any guidance about which book would answer my questions would be greatly 
>appreciated. Please e-mail me direct with any info you can provide.
>
>Thanks,
>
>-Mitchel

I don't think I can point you at any specific book other than John
Peel;s "Doctor Who and the Daleks" book which I consider to be something
of a hack-up job and does not include "Remembracne of the Daleks"
(since that story came out after the book went to press).