Evolution of the Daleks ( TV story ) Evolution of the Daleks was the fifth episode of the third series of " Doctor Who " . It marked the demise of three members of the Cult of Skaro and the near genocide of the Dalek s . It also marks the first time since Genesis of the Daleks , that the idea of how Davros designed his creations to behave was called into question . Ironically enough , Dalek Sec , thanks to his newfound humanity , was able to see that the Daleks were lesser than their enemies because they had abandoned their " hearts " . Synopsis . As a new Dalek Empire rises in 1930s New York City , the Tenth Doctor receives help from an unlikely ally . Plot . The hybrid Dalek Sec comes face - to - face with the Tenth Doctor , who has emerged from the crowd . The other Dalek s wish to exterminate him , but Sec orders them to stop . The Doctor demands how they ended up in 1930s Manhattan . Sec responds with Emergency Temporal Shift after the events of the Battle of Canary Wharf . As they attempt to capture him , the Doctor holds out a surprise : a radio . Using his sonic screwdriver , he causes the radio to emit a high - pitched sound which disorients the Daleks and the pig - humans . The Doctor and the captured human s run back through the sewers , catching up with Tallulah on the way . As soon as they ascend the ladder and disappear from sight , Thay and Caan discuss their doubts about Dalek Sec ' s orders since he became humanised . The gang arrives back at Hooverville , and the Doctor ' s stories are told to the crowd . Soon , a watchman sees one of the pigs and calls everyone to arm themselves . A fight breaks out between humans and pigs . Suddenly Daleks Jast and Caan arrive in the air , ready to exterminate the assembled humans . Dalek Sec watches from the Empire State Building via visual link . Solomon tries to reason with the Daleks , saying that they are both outcasts and should work together to create a better universe . The Daleks exterminate him . Sec watches and gasps in horror as Solomon — a man whose courage he admires — falls . Furious , the Doctor steps out and demands they kill him too and spare the other residents of Hooverville . The Daleks prepare to do so , but are stopped by Dalek Sec . He asks the Doctor to return to the Daleks ' genetics laboratory . The Doctor agrees , but only on the condition the Daleks do not kill the Hooverville residents . Martha asks the Doctor if she can go with him , but the Doctor refuses , saying that she should help the injured . At the same time , he winks as he slips her the psychic paper . At the lab , Dalek Sec explains to the Doctor how he wanted to create a new race which combined Dalek and human DNA by " formatting " the human brain , ready for information to be loaded onto it , creating new hybrids as " humans are the great survivors " . The Daleks planned to use a gamma strike from a solar flare ( which will occur in eleven minutes ) which will hit the Empire State Building as an energy source . However , there are problems which only the Doctor can fix . The Doctor has no choice but to help the Daleks . He prepares the gene solution to be fed into the human " shells " . Sec explains the new race will have the intelligence of Daleks but the emotions of a human . He also says the Daleks ' obsession with universal supremacy must be removed . The Doctor is shocked that Sec is willing to eliminate the one thing that makes a Dalek a Dalek . However , seven minutes before the flare , as the Dalek DNA is pumped into the humans , a malfunction occurs . The other Daleks are overriding the system . Dalek Caan leads a mutiny , taking Sec and the Doctor hostage . They believe Sec is no longer Dalek , so they don ' t have to obey him . The two Daleks load pure Dalek gene solution into the humans . The Doctor and Laszlo escape to the elevator and ascend to the top of the Empire State Building . Meanwhile , Martha and Tallulah use the psychic paper to gain entry into the Empire State Building . On reaching the top floor , they scan the blueprints of the top floor , looking for design and construction changes . They see a design change at the top of the building , where dalekanium has been added . The Doctor and Laszlo escape up the lift and meet with Martha , Frank , and Tallulah . The Doctor climbs to the top . He uses the sonic screwdriver to loosen the bolts holding the dalekanium . However , after removing one strip of dalekanium and a bolt holding another , he drops the sonic screwdriver ; all he can do is hug the pole as the lightning strikes . Martha has made a makeshift lightning rod from spare pipes to divert the lightning into the elevator , just as the pig slaves arrive , killing them . The Dalek - humans awaken , and Dalek Caan designates himself the new leader . Sec states he was to be the controller , but Dalek Caan deems him unfit and orders them to take up arms ( Thompson submachine gun fitted with Dalek laser weapons ) . The army goes into the sewers . The Doctor , Martha , Tallulah , Frank and Laszlo head for Tallulah ' s theatre . At the theatre , the Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to let the Daleks know where he is . The army breaks in . Daleks Thay and Jast enter , with Sec bound in chains and crawling like a dog . The Doctor tries to tell the Daleks what they have done to Sec is wrong , because he is the most intelligent Dalek whose ever existed and rhetorically demands if Sec ' s condition is the foundation for their new civilisation . They try to exterminate the Doctor . Sec , tries to reason with the other Dalek ' s . When this fails he gets up and is hit by a blast from Thay meant for the Doctor , which kills him . This angers the Doctor , who angrily notes Thay ' s lack of hesitation in destroying " The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness " . It is at this point that Caan , who is monitoring from the lab in the Empire State Building , notices something is wrong with the Dalek humans reaction . Back in the theatre , the Doctor again tells the Daleks to order the Dalek - humans to kill him . Thay and Jast comply but the Dalek - humans do not fire , then one of them repeatedly asks , " Why ? " , and says they are not Daleks . The Doctor reveals that , because he hugged the pole as the lightning came through , the lightning struck him first and some Time Lord DNA was mixed into the hybrids . This gave the Dalek - humans freedom . Jast promptly kills the Dalek - human who openly questioned orders . The other Dalek - humans return fire . Thay and Jast kill more Dalek - humans , but are overwhelmed and destroyed under the sheer volume of fire - power . As the Doctor tries to reassure the Dalek - human ' s that it ' s over , Caan who has been watching the whole thing via visual - link , screams that the Dalek - humans are a failure and commands , " Destruct ! " All the Dalek - humans clutch their heads in pain and fall to the ground , dead , much to everyones horror . The Doctor is barely able to control his anger , as he comprehends the fact that the Dalek ' s created and wiped out an entire species within the span of an hour , rather than let said species live in freedom . After witnessing this genocide , the Doctor returns to the Laboratory . For the first and only time in history , the last of the Time Lord ' s stands face - to - face with the last of the Daleks . The Doctor confronts Caan , who wants to exterminate him and offers to help . He says that he is probably the only person in the universe that would show him any compassion , because he has seen enough death today — they are now both the last of their species . He does not want to see more genocide , and wants to end the conflict between their two species . Caan replies with " Emergency temporal shift ! " . As the Doctor lunges forward , the Dalek vanishes . Laszlo is on his deathbed ( the pig - slaves can survive only for a few weeks ) . The Doctor starts to work on a solution to save him , stating , " There ' s been enough death today . Brand new creatures , wise old men and age old enemies ! " Later , Laszlo ( still a pig slave , but alive and healthy ) and Tallulah are in the park . Frank tells Laszlo he talked to the residents of Hooverville . They will take him in and give him a home . As always , Hooverville is where people go when they have nowhere else . As the Doctor and Martha are about to enter the TARDIS , Martha says there ' s somebody for everyone . The Doctor says , " Maybe " . Martha then tells the Doctor how sorry she is that Dalek Caan got away , knowing how important it was to him that he finished things with the Daleks . When asked if he thinks he ' ll meet Dalek Caan again , the Doctor replies that he ' ll be back . . . the Daleks always come back .