War of the Daleks ( novel ) War of the Daleks is the fifth BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures novel featuring the Eighth Doctor and Samantha Jones . It was written by John Peel . It features the Dalek s , Davros and several Thal s . This novel is also notable for significantly attempting to retroactively rewrite every televised Dalek story from " Destiny of the Daleks " onwards , It also features a reference to every single TV story featuring the Daleks from " The Daleks " through to " Remembrance of the Daleks " . Concerning a continuity issue brought up by the 1996 telemovie , this novel gave a possible explanation for the planet Skaro reappearing after the Seventh Doctor supposedly used the Hand of Omega to destroy it in " Remembrance of the Daleks " . Instead , he was apparently duped into destroying Antalin , a sacrificial decoy used by the Daleks . Publisher ' s summary . The Doctor is repairing the TARDIS systems once again when it is swept up by a garbage ship roving through space , the " Quetzel " . When another ship approaches and takes the " Quetzel " by force , the Doctor discovers that he and Sam are not the only unwitting travellers on board - there is a strangely familiar survival pod in the hold . Delani , the captain of the second ship , orders the pod to be opened . The Doctor is powerless to intervene as Davros is awakened once again . But this is no out - and - out rescue of Davros . Delani and his crew are Thals , the sworn enemies of the Daleks . They intend to use Davros as a means to wipe out the Daleks , finally ridding the universe of the most aggressive , deadly race ever to exist . But the Doctor is still worried . For there is a signal beacon inside the pod , and even now a Dalek ship is closing in . . . Plot . The story opens up with the Doctor and Sam in the TARDIS doing some maintenance when they are collected by a ship which holds an escape pod containing the Dalek Emperor Davros . A group of Thals arrive ; they want Davros to alter their species so they will be better able to fight the Daleks . A force of Renegade Daleks then arrive and take the Doctor and Davros , along with others to Skaro . Before landing on Skaro , the Doctor discovers that the coordinates he believed were Skaro ' s were actually those of the planet Antalin . Since Davros ' s return , the Dalek Prime has met considerable resistance with a number of Imperial Daleks forming . Initiating a final civil war on Skaro , the Dalek Prime has all the Davros loyalists revealed and exterminated . In the mean time he releases the Doctor to leave Skaro . The Doctor discovers a planted device on board the TARDIS which would allow the Daleks to survive in case the Dalek Prime failed . He jettisons it into the vortex . With the Imperial Daleks defeated , Davros is sentenced to death by matter dispersal . Prior to his downfall he had implanted a Spider Dalek as a spy amongst the Dalek Prime ' s forces . Davros is placed in a disintegration chamber and his atoms dispersed . His fate is left open when his data is either erased from the disintegrator or transmatted across space to a safe location . Story notes . Retcon . " War of the Daleks " is controversial for its retconning of every Dalek story from " Destiny of the Daleks " to " Remembrance of the Daleks " , although it is not really a true retcon . The retcon also makes reference to other Dalek stories .