War of the Daleks

War of the Daleks was the fourth story of Season 28. It was written by John Peel, and featured Richard Griffiths as the Eighth Doctor and Lisa Bowerman as Katie.

## War of the Daleks

### Director

Nicholas Mallett

Synopsis

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 Katie 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

Part 1

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.

Part 2

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.

Part 3

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.

Cast

The Doctor - Richard Griffiths

Katie - Lisa Bowerman

Davros - Terry Molloy

Dalek Prime - Roy Skelton

Ayaka - Hillary Ryan

Ayaka's father - John Banks

Rebec - Margot Van der Burgh

Balatan - Christopher Tranchell

Chayn - Louise Jameson

Red Dalek - Royce Mills

Black Dalek - Brian Miller

Gold Dalek - John Leeson

Mechons - Roy Skelton, Royce Mills

References

Daleks

Skaro means "home" in the original Kaled language.

Davros still has Dalek supporters on Skaro. They started to appear shortly after word of their creators' survival after the original Daleks shot him, and believe that because Davros is their creator he should be in command.

Davros used the Hand of Omega, which destroyed what he thought of as Skaro.

Several types of Daleks appear: Strider Daleks, Spider Daleks, Marine Dalek.

Movellans, it is suggested, are of Dalek manufacture. They were designed to fool Davros into thinking his creations were in trouble several times.

The Daleks are always on the lookout for new sources of metals and chemicals for their war effort.

Dryn Faber notes the Daleks are paranoid and cautious.

One of the Daleks' motives for the safety of Skaro was because the planet has a number of industrial facilities and war factories. Losing them would have only hampered the Daleks plans.

When Sam enters the war room, she is taken by surprise by the number of Daleks currently deployed in all their wars.

The Doctor says the Daleks "have no interest in anything but conquest and war. Art, decoration, poetry, music - it's all irrelevant to them." [1]

At Davros's (or the Dalek Race's, depending on how you see it) trial the Daleks play a recording of Professor Rachel Jensen concerning Coal Hill School and the battle that took place there.

The Dalek Prime is one of the original Daleks. It is the leader of all the Daleks and it is the ancestor of many Daleks currently around.

The Doctor's items

The Doctor has another sonic screwdriver, which he uses to kill the Daleks with high frequency shock waves.

Foods and beverages

Katie orders French toast and orange juice from the TARDIS food machine - though all its food looks like a mars bar and a glass of carrot juice. She also eats half of a Mars bar.

Individuals

Katie cries out, "I'm too young to die!", before breaking into hysterical giggles that turn into odd laughter. She's been in the TARDIS for around six months.

The Doctor, Katie, the Thals and the crew of the Quetzel are taken by the Daleks to Skaro.

Space Security Service agents are trained to be one-man armies; Marc Cory is mentioned by Dryn Faber after he's destroyed a Dalek facility which was attempting to mine precious metals.

Planets

It is suggested that the Seventh Doctor destroyed a planet called Antalin rather than Skaro.

Terakis is destroyed by a Thal bomb in order to wipe out half of the Dalek Eighth Fleet. Terakis was inhabited by a primitive society, and were considered expendable by the Thals.

Species

Mechons have fought the Daleks on more than one occasion.

A Slyther makes a brief appearance.

Some Draconians make an appearance. They die in battle against Dalek Killcruisers.

Varga plants are mentioned briefly as the crew of the Quetzel consider what could be within the pod.

TARDIS

The Doctor refers to the TARDIS as a "Type 40 TT capsule" when he and Katie arrives on the Quetzel.

Vehicles

The Quetzel has a Bussard Ram Jet which Katie learnt from reading Jane's Spaceships.

Story notes

The meaning of Dalek colours is revealed in this Story: Grey Daleks are the foot soldiers with limited intelligence; the Blue Daleks serve as corporals and sergeants; the Red Daleks have some intelligence and autonomy from the Dalek command structure; Black Daleks are smarter still; the Gold Daleks are the elite; and at the top is the Dalek Prime.

This story was the first to feature a Dalek inside the TARDIS.

Every single Dalek story is referenced in some way (except Death to the Daleks).

The Dalek Prime looks like the Dalek Emperor from The Dalek Chronicles.

The Dalek Prime previously appeared in John Peel's Dalek novelisations The Chase, The Mutation of Time, The Evil of the Daleks (as the Dalek Emperor) and was mentioned in Mission to the Unknown. This is the Dalek Prime's first role in an original story.

There are two planets called Antalin. One appears in the Human Space Interlude and the other is a decoy for Skaro, which is a main story element of the story.

This story takes place circa 4000, as Dryn Faber mentions Marc Cory's death in Mission ot the Unkown, indicating the destruction of Skaro occurred circa 3970.

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.