Death to the Daleks ( TV story ) Death to the Daleks was the third story of season 11 of " Doctor Who " . It was the first time Sarah Jane Smith was on a planet other than Earth and the first time she encountered the Dalek s . Synopsis . An energy drain traps the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith on the planet Exxilon with its hostile natives , causing the travellers to make an uneasy alliance with a Marine Space Corps expedition and a squadron of Dalek s . The key to escape for all of them lies at the heart of a powerful and mysterious lost city , but only after a series of deadly traps . Plot . Part one . On the rocky surface of an alien planet one night , a blue - uniformed spaceman is carrying out an investigation . Suddenly , he is struck in the chest by an arrow , collapses and tumbles down a slope into a lake . The Third Doctor and Sarah are en route to Florana for a vacation when the Doctor ' s TARDIS suffers a series of power failures . An unknown force somewhere on the nearby planet Exxilon is causing the energy drain . They are barely able to land on the arid planet . The Doctor and Sarah exit the TARDIS , but Sarah goes back to change clothes from the swimsuit she is wearing . The Doctor , exploring , is pursued and captured by the primitive , xenophobic natives . Sarah searches unsuccessfully for the Doctor , finding his lamp covered in blood . She is chased by the native Exxilons , escaping briefly to an enormous city that pulses with energy . She is captured by the Exxilons , who consider her presence near their sacred city an abomination . They prepare her for sacrifice . Meanwhile , dawn comes , and the Doctor encounters a Marine Space Corps expedition whose ship has also crash - landed because of the power drain . The team — Lieutenant Dan Galloway , Lieutenant Peter Hamilton , Captain Richard Railton , and civilian geologist Jill Tarrant — are in search of the rare mineral parrinium , which can be found in large quantities on Exxilon and is needed desperately to cure a galactic plague . Along with Commander Stewart , who is badly wounded after a previous Exxilon attack , they are the only survivors of their expedition ( another member named Jack has disappeared without trace ) . Another ship lands nearby . The Marines initially believe it to be a rescue vessel , but to their dismay a squad of Dalek s emerge , guns at the ready . The Dalek leader gives the order for the Doctor and the humans to be exterminated . . . Part two . The energy drain has disabled the Daleks ' energy - based weaponry , much to the Doctor ' s glee . They are also seeking parrinium ; their own worlds are falling victim to the plague — or so they say . What they " don ' t " say is that there are several more Daleks hidden on their ship . The Doctor , the Marines and the Daleks are forced into an uneasy alliance to find the source of the energy drain so they can escape . However , they are all captured by the Exxilons in a skirmish that ends with the death of Captain Railton and the self - destruction of one of the Daleks . The Doctor saves Sarah from sacrifice but is recaptured and is himself sentenced to die for assault on the High Priest . Back at their ship , the remaining Daleks replace their electronic weaponry with mechanical projectile weapons and quickly master the Exxilons . In the confusion , the Doctor and Sarah flee down a nearby tunnel . The Daleks then " negotiate " a deal with the High Priest , which forces the natives to mine the parrinium . In return , members of the Space Corps are in charge of wiping out a renegade group of Exxilons . The deal also states the Doctor and Sarah will be returned to the Exxilons — dead or alive . Peter and Jill protest , but Galloway ( who has taken charge despite the last wishes of expedition commander Stewart ) insists it ' s the only way if they want the parrinium . In the tunnel , Sarah realises that the sacrificial ritual had been meant to end with them being sent down the tunnel — something in here was meant to complete the sacrifice . Both realise that this is probably the source of the strange roars they hear echoing in the tunnel . Sarah also wonders how the Daleks were able to move if they were robot s ( and thus electronic ) ; the Doctor explains that Daleks move by psychokinetic power ( and are thus unaffected by the power drain ) . At a junction , the Doctor has Sarah wait whilst he has a look down the other tunnels for a way out . While she waits she is frightened by the appearance of another Exxilon . In the new tunnel , the Doctor is about to head back when an enormous , metallic , snake - like creature rears up to strike at him . Part three . The Doctor ducks out of the root ' s way , but he can ' t do it for ever . At the junction , a terrified Sarah is reassured by the Exxilon , who introduces himself as Bellal . Along with another Exxilon , Gotal , they conceal Sarah from pursuing Daleks , who head down both tunnels after the Doctor . In the tunnel the Doctor is in , the Dalek comes across the root probe and is destroyed , allowing the Doctor to escape and reunite with a very relieved Sarah . As they are guided away , Bellal explains to the Doctor and Sarah about Exxilon . Their civilisation was once very technologically advanced , including space travel . Thousands of years ago , the Exxilons built the enormous city , one of the Seven Hundred Wonders of the Universe . It became sentient and drove them out , and the Exxilons gradually degenerated into their current primitive society which worships the thing that destroyed them . Bellal and Gotal are from another , much smaller faction which wishes to destroy the City . After Bellal draws several of the images he has seen on the city walls , the Doctor realises that the advanced Exxilons had been to Peru on Earth . He decides they must infiltrate the city to deactivate the energy drain . Before he leaves with Bellal as guide , he tells Sarah to make sure the Marines are ready for take - off when the beacon is disabled , because the Daleks will destroy their ship once they have full power again . He also lets Sarah know that if he should fail to return from the city , she must go with the Marines back to Earth . On the surface , the deal between Dalek and human is fast becoming uneasy . The Daleks are upset the Exxilons are not mining fast enough , much to Galloway ' s distaste . After another root comes to the surface through a body of water and kills an Exxilon and a Dalek , the Daleks are forced to move the mining operation to another location , as the Exxilons are refusing to go back to work otherwise . The Daleks decide on a two - pronged plan to restore power : two Daleks are sent to infiltrate the city and hopefully destroy the controls ( and thus restore power ) , while Hamilton and Galloway are made to scale the city walls to plant bomb s on a beacon at its summit to blow it up . The Doctor and Bellal arrive at the city and the Doctor works out how to get in — a non - matching symbol . With the Daleks in hot pursuit , they get in and face their next test in a room with several skeletons — evidence of their fate if they are unable to pass the next test . The Doctor traces a maze pattern without error , opening the next door just before the Daleks enter the first room . As the Doctor and Bellal come to a corridor with a chessboard pattern , the Doctor snaps , " Stop — don ' t move ! " Part four . The pattern is an electrified trap , but the Doctor is able to negotiate it with his sonic screwdriver . The 7000 - volt electrical charge causes only minor damage to the Daleks . The next two tests are of the mind — the Doctor has to use his sonic screwdriver to stop Bellal killing him — and of their sanity — they manage to survive after the Doctor denies the reality of the mind - warping illusions . This opens the final area — the city ' s control centre , where the Doctor promptly starts tinkering with the city ' s " brain " . It responds by triggering the creation of two humanoid " antibodies " to destroy the intruders ; the Doctor orders Bellal to let him know when they ' re finished while he keeps working . At the mining camp , Sarah finds Jill Tarrant , and the pair hatch a plan to replace the Daleks ' parrinium sacks with sand - filled ones , whilst the real parrinium sacks are moved to the Earth spaceship . As dawn breaks , a Dalek guard finds that Jill has escaped and promptly self - destructs for failing in its duty , its voice rising to a maniacal pitch and then slurring away as it dies . On the city exterior , Hamilton and Galloway have finally reached the summit and plant one of the two Dalek bombs on the beacon . Galloway , however , insists on keeping the second bomb , pointing out that the Dalek guard at the base won ' t be able to see them keeping it and that one bomb will be enough to do the job . They start to descend . The Doctor has almost finished with his interference with the city ' s " brain " when the antibodies attack him and Bellal . Fortunately , the pursuing Daleks arrive and promptly fire on the creatures , causing them to turn their attention to the Daleks . The fight causes a lot of damage in the control room , and that plus the Doctor ' s tinkering causes the city to start to die ; the Doctor and Bellal escape . The Dalek bomb goes off , and power is restored . As the Doctor and Bellal escape , they join up with the other humans , only to find that the Daleks are not only about to leave , but that they really were behind the plague . As soon as their ship is in orbit , the Daleks will drop a plague bomb to wipe out life on Exxilon and prevent anyone else from coming to the planet to get more parrinium , while the large quantity they mined will allow them to hold the galaxy to ransom . However , Galloway , who hid on board before the launch while loading the parrinium , sacrifices his life to destroy the Dalek ship with his stolen bomb . Sarah and Jill Tarrant then reveal that they had replaced the Daleks ' parrinium with bags of sand , and that the real stuff is on their ship . Jill Tarrant and Peter Hamilton will now await the arrival of a rescue ship to bring the much - needed plague cure to the afflicted planets . Everyone turns to look at the city as it melts away , screaming as it is destroyed . The Doctor bemoans the city ' s destruction — now the universe has only six hundred and ninety - nine wonders . Home video and audio releases . DVD release . The restored serial was released on DVD on 18 June 2012 . Digital releases . This story is available : VHS release . " Death to the Daleks " was released on VHS in 1987 in the omnibus format , with part one being a 525 line NTSC conversion as no 625 line PAL colour videotape of the story was known to exist at the time . The story was later released in 1995 in episodic format for the UK , Australia , and the US , with part one taken from the newly recovered 625 line PAL colour videotape . Although the sleeve bore a yellow " COMPLETE & UNEDITED " flash , the release contained a couple of small edits in part two : namely , the removal of the Doctor ' s line " Myself , chiefly " in answer to Sarah ' s question " Who are you kidding ? " ; and the beginning of the scene towards the end of the episode where Sarah first encounters Bellal . This was because BBC Video had used an Australian - censored version of part two by mistake .