The Magician ' s Apprentice ( TV story ) The episode shows the first encounter between Davros and the Twelfth Doctor , as well as the first televised encounter between the two of them since their meeting during the Doctor ' s tenth incarnation . The episode gives no explanation as to how Davros managed to survive after the events of " Journey ' s End " , nor when the Doctor discovered he had done so . The episode also placed the Twelfth Doctor in a moral dilemma that he himself had brought up many years ago in his fourth incarnation in the television story " Genesis of the Daleks " : " If someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil , to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives , could you then kill that child ? " , with the Doctor coming face to face not only with Davros in the present , but also as a child in the past . However , it was not the first story to depict Davros as a child . Big Finish Productions ' " I , Davros " chronicled his rise to becoming leader of the Scientific Elite , starting in his early teenage years . Synopsis . The serpentine Colony Sarff has searched the entire universe for the Doctor , to give him the final message of Davros ; however , the Time Lord is nowhere to be found . This is quite serious , as not even the Doctor ' s closest frenemy , Missy , is able to find him as well . Adding onto this is the fact she was given his Confession dial , which in human terms is the last will and testament of the Doctor . . . Plot . On a misty battlefield , soldiers flee a bombing run . When the dust settles , one of the soldiers notices a small figure running in the mist . The soldier ' s companion warns him they need to leave , because clam drones are going to pass through the area to pick off those whom the bombing run missed . The soldier says he thinks he saw a child and will catch up ; he runs off and discovers a boy , whom he tells to stop . The boy , dressed in the same uniform as the soldier , turns fearfully as he is asked if he is lost . The boy nods and the earth below him rumbles ; something appears to be tunnelling underneath it . The soldier warns the boy to be still and quiet , and takes out a scanner . The soldier and the boy are standing on a Handmine field ; they will be safe as long as they remain still and quiet . The soldier pulls out some tools and tries to keep the child calm ; he asks if the boy has ever seen a Handmine before . The boy nods and points to the man ' s leg — a muddy hand has clamped onto the soldier ' s ankle . The soldier looks upon his ankle in fear and then back to the boy , before the Handmine pulls him down into the earth , creating a gaping hole that closes behind him . Several muddy hands with a single eye on their palms rise from the ground . Alone and panicked , the boy begins to scream for someone to help him . Suddenly , something lands beside him : a sonic screwdriver . The boy picks it up , and sees a man through the mist . The Doctor has arrived to help the child . Using the sonic screwdriver to create an audio corridor , they talk . The Doctor tells the boy that he has one chance in a thousand of surviving , but that he should focus on that one chance : one is all he needs . He asks the boy what war this is , not knowing when or where he is . The boy , confused , replies that " it ' s just the war . " He is similarly confused when the Doctor asks him what planet this is . The Doctor tells him not to mind . In an attempt to reassure and comfort the boy , the Doctor asks him what his name is . The boy replies , " Davros . My name is Davros . " At the Maldovarium , Colony Sarff , an envoy of Davros , is searching for the Doctor . He demands that the patrons tell him his location . He is met with silence . Later , in the Shadow Proclamation , the Shadow Architect refuses to tell Sarff where the Doctor is , insisting that she has no idea . Later still on Karn , Ohila warns Sarff of the dangers hunting the Doctor can bring . Colony Sarff tells Ohila that Davros is dying , but is still anticipating his final meeting with the Doctor . They then leave , giving Ohila a message for the Doctor , unaware that the Time Lord is hiding from behind the rocks . On present day Earth , Clara is teaching in Coal Hill School . She looks out the window , noticing something amiss ; using a marker , she draws a circle around a plane in the sky , realising that it ' s frozen in the air . After assigning her class to use their mobiles to search about any information , Clara is told by another teacher about a call for her . Knowing it ' s UNIT , Clara leaves for the Tower of London . She attempts to contact the Doctor , but receives no answer . At UNIT HQ , Kate Stewart is tracking the frozen planes . Clara deduce s the planes aren ' t being weaponized because an invasion involves stealth , not spectacle . At that moment , the Doctor channel is opened , and lyrics appear on the screen , with one repeating word — Missy . appears on - screen , explaining that the frozen planes were just a way to get their attention . She proposes a meeting with UNIT . At 16 : 00 , Clara and Missy meet in a cafe , where Missy demonstrates her ability to freeze the planes with a simple Time Lord trick . She also notes that Clara must have tried contacting the Doctor by now ; Missy explains that she can ' t find him either . Clara dismisses it , stating it happens sometimes . Missy then reveals that it ' s worse than she thinks , showing Clara the Doctor ' s confession dial — containing the Doctor ' s last will and testament . She explains that a confession dial is given to a dying Time Lord ' s closest friend on their final day . Clara attempts to touch the dial , but is zapped by it ; Missy explains that it was given to her , not Clara . This confuses Clara , as Missy tries killing him ; she retorts they both trying killing each other - " it ' s basically our texting . " Missy explains their friendship is more complex than Clara can comprehend . Wondering if Missy has turned over a new leaf , Clara is answered by the mad Time Lady vaporising members of UNIT . Threatening to have the snipers kill her , Clara demands Missy show she cares about the Doctor . Missy releases the planes from the time stop , revealing nothing else could have been done with them ; they were just stuck in time . Missy explains the Doctor is facing his final day , and therefore has come to Earth ; however , when and where is unknown . Clara asks Missy how a Time Lord would spend his final day , and Missy says that it is supposed to be in meditation . Knowing the Doctor is showboat , Clara tells Kate to track mentions of the Doctor not involving an alien disturbance , and they discover his location : Essex , the Middle Ages . Using a vortex manipulator , Missy and Clara vanish into the past . Clara and Missy arrive in a castle , where Missy explains that the vortex manipulator she put on Clara is slaved to her own ; where Missy goes , so does Clara . Wondering how they will find the Doctor , Clara is told to look for anything that stands out . At that moment , they hear an electric guitar playing ; the Doctor arrives in a stadium , playing guitar on a tank . His opponent , Bors is annoyed ; the Doctor laughs that he wanted an " ax fight " . The Doctor begins making bad jokes , to which Clara notes is not like him ; Missy retorts " you really are new , aren ' t you . " To Clara ' s surprise , the Doctor looks right at them and starts playing " Pretty Woman " " " to clue them in ; Clara heads down , wondering how the Doctor picked her out of the crowd . The Doctor says he always sees her , and hugs her ; Clara notes this isn ' t like him . The Doctor states he spent the past days wearing items his last lives did . stating all of him is welcome to his party . Missy arrives next , wondering what he ' s up to . The Doctor gets the crowd to boo at her . However , Bors is next heard choking ; the Doctor checks his neck , finding a snake , which he tosses off Bors . The crowd flees . as Sarff arrives , revealing his composition : a colony of snakes , bound together to form a humanoid . They demand the Doctor come with them to speak with Davros . The Doctor , recalling an action about which he feels great shame , agrees to go with Sarff . Missy and Clara demand to be taken as well ; after voting , Sarff agrees to take them , binding the hands of all three with snakes . The Doctor , Clara and Missy are teleported to Sarff ' s shuttle . In their absence , Bors — revealed to have been converted into a Dalek puppet by Sarff — procures the TARDIS and informs Dalek High Command . Travelling to Davros ' location — apparently a space hospital - the Doctor tells Clara who Davros is — the creator of the Daleks ; a child of war who sealed his species inside tanks to preserve them . In the hospital , the Doctor goes with Sarff to see Davros , leaving Clara with Missy . As he leaves , he mentions the gravity . Both the Doctor and Missy have noticed that the gravity is natural . The hospital cannot be a space station . Missy daringly opens the air lock . The Doctor meets with Davros , and they talk of how their conflicts have been fuelled by a single disagreement — was Davros right to create the Daleks , or was his lack of compassion wrong ? Davros plays several recordings of the Doctor ' s various speeches to him about morality . He ends on the Doctor ' s reasoning against destroying the Daleks : it would not be right to kill a child who would cause nothing but evil once grown , given he is still innocent ; recalling , in a cruel twist of fate , the Doctor seeing Davros as a child . The Doctor tells him that his point has been made . Clara and Missy walk out , apparently into outer space . However , they are breathing , and apparently walking on solid ground . Missy realises that , once within the planets atmosphere , one begins to synchronise with it . The illusion vanishes , showing a city in the middle of a wasteland ; Missy reacts with horror and disbelief , while Clara is left confused . At the same time , the Doctor is shown the truth by Davros ; they are on Skaro , the Daleks ' home world . Sighted by a Dalek , Clara and Missy are taken to see the Supreme Dalek , who has a large weapon aimed at the TARDIS . Missy attempts to reason with the Daleks - if they don ' t destroy the TARDIS , she can help them fly it , allowing them to conquer the universe . However , the Supreme Dalek demands Missy ' s total exterminated , and she vanishes in the blast . The Doctor pleads with Davros to not let Clara come to harm — but Davros tells him that he does not control the Daleks . Davros observes the Daleks ' choice to wait for Clara to run . As she runs , they exterminate her , causing her to vanish . The Supreme Dalek then orders the TARDIS to be destroyed and it is seemingly vaporised by the weapon aimed at it . Davros reasons with the Doctor that this happened because the Doctor showed him compassion as a child , despite knowing his destiny — allowing Davros to create the Daleks , who have now killed his friends . The child Davros , still pleading with the Doctor not to leave , hears the TARDIS rematerialise behind him , and disbelievingly asks him how he has moved . The Doctor explains he ' s come from the future , and that he has to save his friend in the only way he can . Brandishing a severed Dalek gunstick , the Doctor glares towards the child , shouting " Exterminate ! " Home video releases . DVD releases . " The Magician ' s Apprentice " was released on DVD as part of " Doctor Who : Series 9 , Part 1 " on November 2 in region 2 and November 3 in region 1 . Blu - ray releases . " to be added " Digital releases . " to be added "