Dalek - Movellan War The Dalek - Movellan War , also called the Movellan War or Wars , was a galactic war fought between the Cyborg Dalek s and the android Movellan s . The Dalek Empire and the Movellans were each expanding to control the galaxy when they met and fought to destroy each other . According to the human historian Njeri Ngugi , it was " the most disastrous military campaign the Daleks fought . " ( PROSE : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) Historical overview . Dating . Different dates have arisen concerning the war , which lasted for centuries . The Twelfth Doctor described the conflict as " the past " to 21st century native Bill Potts after returning from millions of years in the future . ( TV : " The Pilot " ) Movellans existed as early as the early 1980s . ( AUDIO : " The Movellan Grave " ) In 4000 , Gordon Lowery recalled the Movellan Wars as one of the last instances of Dalek activity in the galaxy , a thousand or more years before then . ( PROSE : " Mission to the Unknown " ) The Movellan War was included in " Vol XIX " of Ngugi ' s " The Children of Davros , a Short History of the Dalek Race " , published in 4065 . ( PROSE : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) The Matrix on Gallifrey recorded that Dalek and Movellan fleets were engaged in star system 4 - X - Alpha - 4 in 4949 . ( AUDIO : " Neverland " ) It is possible that some dates could be related to the later campaign fought by the Daleks , known as the " Pa Jass - Gutrik " , the " war of vengeance " against the Movellans . ( PROSE : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) The war . After visiting a distant planet in the future , the Twelfth Doctor arrived at some point during the war , and piloted the TARDIS to a war zone during a skirmish . He did this in order to sterilise the being that was following him , Nardole , and Bill . Nardole succeeded in sealing the area the Daleks were in . ( TV : " The Pilot " ) For centuries , the two were locked in a long stalemate , each side ' s purely logical battle computer s keeping them in deadlock . Hundreds of Dalek and Movellan battlecruisers flew across space , without a single shot being fired . To resolve this , the Daleks returned to their homeworld of Skaro to search the ruins of the Kaled dome for their creator , Davros . They believed that his unpredictable biological mind would allow them to re - program their computers to make unanticipated manoeuvres against the Movellans . The Movellans followed the Daleks to Skaro and ultimately learned of their plan . The Fourth Doctor , landing by chance on Skaro , was captured by the Movellans for the same reason . He later defeated both the Movellans and the Daleks , as well as the resurrected Davros . Davros was taken by Tyssan , a rescued Dalek slave worker , to Earth for trial . ( TV : " Destiny of the Daleks " ) The Movellans defeated the Daleks in a battle of Traxana ' s sector of space . ( AUDIO : " Alien Heart " ) After the trial , Davros was placed in a cryogenic freezer in a space station which served as his prison . The war continued for the next ninety or so years , until the Movellans developed a virus that could permeate the casing of Daleks and destroy them . ( TV : " Resurrection of the Daleks " ) According to Volume XIX of Ngugi ' s history , the Daleks , who had used biological weapons before , such as on Spiridon , failed to consider their own vulnerability to such an attack . The Movellan virus was so effective , therefore , because it took them completely by surprise . Overall , the Daleks suffered a casualty rate of 83 % and much of the Empire in Mutter ' s Spiral collapsed . Various sector commands began trying to reorganise in the remaining isolated sectors , leading to increased factionalism that would plague Dalek politics into the 41st century . ( PROSE : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) Aftermath . The Dalek casualties necessitated the recruitment of Dalek troopers to fight for the Empire . The Supreme Dalek ordered Davros recovered from his prison so he could find a cure for the Movellan virus . During this time , the Daleks began using a different form of time travel — time corridor s — although attempts to use the technology to prevent the losses of the war proved unsuccessful . ( PROSE : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) They also used these to place duplicates to manipulate events for the Daleks ' best interests . Following his revival , filled with more hatred than ever , Davros turned the Daleks on the Prison Station against each other , ( TV : " Resurrection of the Daleks " ) accentuating the factionalism which had resulted from the Movellan War . ( PROSE : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) Wide - scale hostilities between the factions sparked the Imperial - Renegade Dalek Civil War . ( TV : " Resurrection of the Daleks " , " Revelation of the Daleks " , " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) In later years , the Daleks launched the campaign " Pa Jass - Gutrik " , the " war of vengeance " against the Movellans , in which the Special Weapons Dalek participated . ( PROSE : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) Supposed non - existence . The Dalek Prime claimed it had contrived a hoax of a war with the Movellans ( whom the Daleks had created for the specific purpose of having an " enemy " ) as well as the Imperial - Renegade civil war as part of a plan to save Skaro from the Hand of Omega . ( PROSE : " War of the Daleks " )