Resurrection of the Daleks ( TV story ) Resurrection of the Daleks was the fourth story of Season 21 of " Doctor Who " . It was the final regular appearance of Tegan Jovanka , who left the Fifth Doctor for the second time . It also marked the return of Davros and the Dalek s after their last appearance in " Destiny of the Daleks " . Lytton makes his debut and , strangely for villains of the time , survives with no ill effects . Notably , this story was separated into two 45 - minute episodes in place of the usual four 25 - minute ones , a format that would temporarily become the norm during Season 22 ; the 45 - minute length eventually became the established episode length for the series following its revival in 2005 . Synopsis . Captured in a time corridor , the Doctor and his companions are forced to land on 20th century Earth , diverted by the Doctor ' s oldest enemy - the Daleks . It is here the true purpose of the time corridor becomes apparent : after ninety years of imprisonment , Davros , the ruthless creator of the Daleks , is to be liberated to assist in the resurrection of his army . Not even the Daleks foresee the poisonous threat of their creator . Indeed , who would suspect Davros of wanting to destroy his own Daleks - and why ? Only the Doctor knows the truth . Will he descend to Davros ' level of evil to stop him ? Plot . Part one . A group of futuristic humanoids are running down Shad Thames in 1984 . As they attempt to escape , they are gunned down by two policemen led by Commander Lytton in the uniform of an inspector . Two of the humanoids , Galloway and Quartermaster Sergeant Stien , escape into the adjacent wharf where a time corridor is situated . Galloway is killed , leaving Stien alone . Lytton transports back to his battle cruiser and prepares to attack a prison space station . Its only prisoner is Davros , the creator of the Dalek s . Meanwhile , the Doctor , Tegan and Turlough are being dragged down a time corridor in the Doctor ' s TARDIS , following on from the events at the end of " Frontios " . They land in an apparently disused part of London . The Dalek Empire attacked the prison station and try a direct frontal assault on the outside the station airlock with poor results . The station crew , led by Dr . Styles and Lt . Mercer , fight back in force . Lytton persuades the Dalek Supreme to use poisonous gas to dispose of the crew . This proves a success and the Daleks have little trouble taking over the station . Following orders , Watch Officer Osborn tries to destroy Davros , first with a non - functional automated system , then in person . However , Lytton and an engineer break into the cell and kill Osborn before she can complete her mission , then release Davros from his cryogenic imprisonment . The Doctor and his friends have by now met a traumatised Stien . He joins them in returning to the warehouse to hunt for the time corridor , but Turlough is suddenly discovered to have vanished . They meet a military bomb disposal squad , led by Colonel Archer , who were called in after builders uncovered what they believed unexploded bombs . While the others were distracted , Turlough had stumbled into the time corridor , and ends up on the Dalek ship . Having learned the Doctor is in the warehouse , the Supreme Dalek dispatches a Dalek to detain him . The Dalek travels through the time corridor and appears in the warehouse . The Doctor yells at everyone to take cover as it prepares to exterminate them . The Dalek kills several men before the Doctor gets them to focus their fire on its eyestalk , blinding it . In the struggle , Tegan is hit by the Dalek ' s sucker arm , but the others push the Dalek out of the loading bay doors , whereupon it hits the ground and explodes . Tegan has suffered a head injury and blacks out . On the prison station , only Styles , Mercer and two guards are left alive of the original crew . Disguised in uniforms taken from Lytton ' s guards , they plan to blow up the station with its self - destruct system . Davros explains to Lytton that his cryogenic sentence lasted for " ninety years of mind - numbing boredom . " He vows revenge on " that meddling Time Lord , " the Doctor . Lytton insists he is in their grasp . While Davros ' travel chair is undergoing maintenance by the engineer Kiston , Lytton explains the Daleks lost their war against the Movellan s due to the development of a virus that specifically attacks Dalek tissue . They have woken Davros to find a cure . Despite Lytton ' s reservations , Davros demands he remain on the prison station while working on the virus . It may be necessary for him to be refrozen . When Lytton leaves to discuss this with the Supreme Dalek , Davros uses a hypodermic - like mind control device to take control of Kiston . Meanwhile , the Doctor and the members of the bomb disposal squad have brought the remnants of the wrecked Dalek back inside . They search for the Kaled mutant inside . They find and kill it after it wounds one of the squad ' s men . The squad ' s scientific advisor , Professor Laird , looks after the victim and a recovering Tegan . Colonel Archer decides to radio his H . Q . for reinforcements , although his own radio is dead . Leaving the Doctor his gun - belt in case any more Daleks arrive , Archer leaves to find a telephone . Archer finds a telephone box , but the phone has been vandalised . Stepping outside , Archer finds two policemen ( Lytton ' s associates ) , and asks one of the officers if he can use his radio to call for assistance . The policeman silently obliges , but when Archer tries the radio , it doesn ' t work . The other policeman then holds a gun to Archer ' s head . The Doctor and Stien head into the TARDIS to find out what is happening at the other end of the time corridor . On Earth , the soldier attacked by the Dalek mutant behaves very strangely , wandering away , mumbling nonsense , and running upstairs . Sergeant Calder follows the soldier , but finds himself confronted by four Daleks . Tegan and Laird hear the sound of gunfire upstairs and try to leave the warehouse — only to be caught by Archer , Calder and the soldiers . Archer tells them the warehouse is now under martial law and he will have them shot if they try to leave . Out of the soldiers ' earshot , Tegan mentions to Laird that ' s not the real Archer , as the Colonel gave the Doctor his gun - belt and yet he ' s wearing one . The TARDIS materialises inside the Dalek ship and narrowly avoids being captured . The Doctor tells Stien they should find Turlough and make a swift exit . Stien points his own weapon at the Doctor , revealing himself an agent of the Daleks . . . Part two . A squadron of Daleks close in to exterminate the Doctor , but Lytton enters and tells them the Supreme Dalek has ordered the Doctor is not to be killed — yet . The Daleks confirm this and lead the Doctor away . On the prison station , Turlough joins forces with the remnants of the crew . He tells them of the time corridor to escape the station ' s self - destruction . The Daleks reveal their plan of cloning the Doctor and his companions and using the clones to assassinate the High Council of Time Lords on Gallifrey . Stien begins the mind - copying sequence while the Doctor tries to talk him into resisting his Dalek mind conditioning . Styles and the two station guards are killed while trying to activate the station ' s self - destruct system . Back on Earth , Tegan tries to escape by running east down the Thames Path , pursued by Lytton ' s " policemen " , and shouts for help to a man with a metal - detector down on the mud banks . But the man has his back to Tegan , and is wearing headphones so he can ' t hear her . The " policemen " recapture Tegan , and then one of them callously shoots the man — even though he saw and heard nothing . Back at the warehouse , Archer orders the soldiers to put the women into the time corridor , but Laird panics and runs ; the soldiers open fire and kill her . Tegan is taken through the time corridor to the Dalek ship . Meanwhile , in the duplication chamber , Stien is overcome by confusion . The Doctor has realised Stien ' s conditioning is unstable . He challenges his ability to think for himself . As the mind - copying sequence nears completion , Stien breaks his conditioning and stops the process , freeing the Doctor . The Doctor finds Turlough and Tegan . They return to the TARDIS with Stien and the last surviving station crew member . Rather than depart , the Doctor decides he must destroy Davros once and for all . With Stien and Lt . Mercer he heads to the station lab . He leaves Tegan and Turlough in the TARDIS , which he has secretly programmed to return them to the warehouse on time delay . In the lab , Davros has heard the Doctor has been taken prisoner by the Daleks . He announces that once the Doctor has been exterminated , he will build a new race of Daleks which shall be even more deadly . They shall again become the supreme beings . The Doctor confronts Davros in the lab . His chance to kill him is lost when Stien ' s conditioning reasserts itself long enough to let Lytton ' s troops kill Lt . Mercer . Horrified by his actions , Stien refuses to accompany the Doctor back to the time corridor . He runs off into the station . Davros ' army ( a biochemist , Kiston , a soldier , and two Daleks ) is growing . He dispatches his newly Imperial Daleks and loyal troopers to Earth . Anticipating resistance from the now Renegade Dalek s led by the Supreme Dalek . Davros opens a capsule of the Movellan virus . Two Daleks enter to exterminate him , but are killed by the virus . Back at the warehouse , a battle rages between Davros ' new loyal Daleks and the Supreme Dalek Daleks . The TARDIS arrives and the Doctor returns through the time corridor . He now knows the " unexploded bombs " discovered earlier are canisters of the Movellan virus . He opens a canister that Turlough and Tegan have brought into the TARDIS . He places it behind the Daleks , who all start to die . Lytton has escaped . He gleefully watches the Daleks ' demise . He swaps his Dalek uniform for that of a policeman , and joins his two fellow " bobbies " on their next vigil . Back on the space station with the Imperial Daleks defeated , Davros prepares an escape pod to flee from the station , but the Movellan virus attacks and seems to kill him . Back on Earth , Daleks from both factions are dead . Tegan is appalled at the deaths . The Dalek Supreme appears on the TARDIS scanner and threatens the Doctor , claiming the Daleks have duplicates of prominent humans all over Earth . It is just a matter of time before Earth falls . Meanwhile , a wounded Stien tries to activate the self - destruct sequence . Just as he is about to finish , the Renegade Daleks enter and exterminate him . Although dying , he manages to complete the sequence , destroying the station and the Dalek ship . The Doctor calls for them all to leave , but Tegan refuses . This has been one massacre too many . She no longer enjoys her adventures and wants to give it up , so she says a brief goodbye to the Doctor and Turlough before running off . The Doctor sadly remarks that he originally left Gallifrey for much the same reason that Tegan has just left him ; he had tired of the nature of their lives and notes that he should try and mend his ways . With that , the Doctor and Turlough return to the TARDIS and as it vanishes , Tegan runs back , remembering the Doctor ' s old admonishment : " Brave heart , Tegan . " She calls out to the empty air that , despite everything , she will miss him . Home video and audio releases . DVD releases . Released as " Doctor Who : Resurrection of the Daleks " , the UK DVD release was the 4 - part edition untransmitted in the UK , which came with an additional rubber case that went over the top of the standard packaging . Released : Contents : Rear Credits : Notes : Special Edition release . This story was released as " Doctor Who : Resurrection of the Daleks : Special Edition " Released : Special Features : Notes : VHS releases . This story was released as " Doctor Who : Resurrection of the Daleks " . Released : Notes : It was presented in the non - broadcast ( original edit ) four part format . Notes : W H Smith exclusive as part of the The Davros Collection box set .