1. The Daleks:

        The City of the Daleks, when the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian first saw it, was very impressive and modern looking for such a dead world as Skaro.  Of course, once inside they would realize the horror that is nuclear war and gain the knowledge that the city was not empty.  The City was built and used by the Daleks.  A race of engineers and skilled scientists, forced to live in the lower levels of the city to escape the fall out of nuclear war.  It seems that during their war or wars against the Thals, one side or the other used neutron bombs.  The Daleks of course blame the Thals, hating them.  The hate has added racism and paranoia to their otherwise logical minds.  Yet the city gives us hints of a more complex side to the Daleks.
        When the Doctor and his friends escape the lower levels of the city by way of a lift that takes them to the highest point of a
tower, they find what looks like artwork.  Abstract looking art at that.  They are too busy tossing it down the elevator shaft to block or destroy the ascending elevator with the passenger Dalek to notice.  But it brings to mind a question; did the Daleks have a need for an artistic outlet?   Even the tower brings us some interesting information and questions.  First off, the tower has a huge window, which allowed the Doctor and friends to see the Thals enter the city.  Yet glass, while letting in light also lets in radiation. It is not a material to be used if you are worrying about fall out.  So the tower may have been built before nuclear weapons were used in the war or wars.  Also, why have it at all?  Sensors and cameras allow the Daleks to scan the surrounding landscape and inform them of events within the city.  Why an observation tower?  The simplest answer would be so the Daleks, in the early years of the city, could look down on it and enjoy the view. Maybe surrounded by Dalek art?  Engineers at heart, they might felt pride at the sight of such a wonderful city that they had created.
        Now think of how it must have hurt and angered them when they had to burrow deep into the city's roots to escape the results of the war.  Maybe even a tad guilty of dropping the bombs themselves.  Yet they learned to live underground.  They grew food from artificial sunlight and created power grids within the very floors of the city so they could power their shells with static electricity.  Water was pumped in from the nearby swamp and they built underground power systems, chemical plants and everything needed for life.  Every piece of space would be needed, every bit of waste recycled and every watt of energy carefully used.  Were they vegetarians who missed the meat they could no longer have?  But that is a detour and let me get back on track. Even so deep underground, they had to develop model suits to protect them, with grippers to work controls and weapons to protect themselves.  A Dalek, in this point of their history, can't live outside the suit.  They even had a Dalek Council, who debated and decided on the best actions to take.  The Daleks believed in science and that any problem could be solved given enough time. They believed, that even without the Doctor, they could open the TARDIS and learn how to operate it.  Science had saved them. How could it fail? The Doctor, with friends and the Thals came into the city.  In the attack they smashed the city's power system. The grid was dead and so the Daleks died with it.  REALLY?  A paranoid race of engineers with no back up systems? Surly the power plants and the Daleks who operated in them would not just shut down?  How about the important Dalek-version of chemical plants and hospitals?   I myself picture the Daleks who worked with the atomic reactors trying to swiftly reconnect the important parts of the city to the reactors.  The Thals, who would have to stick to the upper levels now that lights and lifts were out of order, would not notice anything wrong while they looted the equipment and food needed to jump start their new civilization.  It might be years before the Daleks started to explore the upper levels again.  They might also create ways to explore by beaming the energy from the power plant directly to the Dalek scouts so that parts of the city could stay dead and not alert the Thals who might be assigned to watch the dead city.

2. The Dalek Invasion of Earth:

        It is the 22nd Century, Earth.  The Doctor finds it has been taken over by the Daleks.  From what one can gather, the Daleks hit the planet with meteorites.  They cause some damage, but nobody was really alarmed till the plagues started to break out all over the world.  Reason tells us that the Daleks in fact planted germ bombs onto meteorites or made germs bombs that looked like meteorites.  After a large part of the humans were dead, the Daleks invaded the Earth. Why all the fuss?  Because the Earth was very advanced before the invasion.  The humans still talk of moving sidewalks and moon stations.  Ian, while in London, sees what looks like a nuclear reactor next to an old, damaged power station.  Earth may be only ONE of the planets the Dalek have found worth taking.  They swiftly found humans useful as slaves, but also as Robomen.
        Robomen were humans with helmets attached to their head.  It is really a kind of tiny radio receiver that allowed the Daleks to give the Robomen commands from a distance.  The Daleks were mining the Earth for its core, which is iron and therefore useful to them NO MATTER what the main goal of the operations are (though there is lots of iron available in space).  The Daleks plan to replace it with a large motor, so they can drive the Earth about like a huge spaceship.  The Doctor during this visit to Earth states that the Daleks are earlier Daleks than the ones at the city yet that does not seem to fit the facts below.
        First off, the Daleks look very advanced since we last saw them.  Disks on the back allow each Dalek to get power and a
slightly higher base makes it easier to move about. Also, the Daleks have developed a new material called Dalekenium, which they now use in their casing.  It is impervious to normal weapons.  One Dalek is seen coming out of the river, showing that the Daleks can move underwater as easy as out of it.  The same one is shown lifting his eyestalk, as if using it like a radio antenna. This is a logical idea, as in the open they would need to have built-in radios to talk to other Daleks.  Later Daleks down the years will use built-in radios without lifting the eyestalk.  Maybe their shell is now the antenna?  They have also developed spacecraft in the form of flying saucers.  The Dalek City had no spaceport or any suggestion that the Daleks had developed space flight.  The saucers are used to patrol the Earth and transport slaves to the mine.  In fact, men are turned into Robomen in the ship after being selected.  The selection process is simple; the cabin, which holds prisoners, is built in such a way that people with higher intelligence can escape.  Men with high intelligence make good Robomen because they last longer.  The helmet drives men mad in the end and they end up killing themselves.  I believe the development of the Dalek shells and the development of space travel was the direct result of the Doctor's FIRST attack on them!
        First, they wanted to make sure that an enemy could never shut them down like that again.  They also took it one step farther.  They did not want to keep their eggs in one basket.  It was safer, for the Dalek race, to spread itself out into space and
colonize other planets.  Stay in the city and all it takes is a Thal with a bomb to end it, and maybe this time for keeps.  WHY they use humans only? Why not repair some of the earthmovers that seem to lay about the area of the huge mine?  It could be they are close to finishing the job or that local human labor is cheaper than importing new equipment?  It could be that the Earth's core damages electrical equipment, but than how did the bomb's timer work?  In fact, we see and hear drills and jackhammers being used.  The humans seem to be used mostly for removal of the rocks and dirt.  The impression given by the episodes is that the Daleks have been about for a long time.  London seems in ruins, animals live in the sewers and the Daleks have even put up signs for their own kind about the city.  Some humans even trade with the Daleks.  In exchange for food and freedom two women Barbara met make uniforms for the slaves in the mine as while as turn in other humans to the Daleks.  The labor camp at the mine has been around long enough to set up a system for smuggling in more food in exchange for watches and rings and such.  In fact, while a rebel said that there are not enough Daleks to completely control the Earth (which is why they developed Robomen), the streets of London are crawling with Daleks.  Poor things even get run over by Barbara at one of the crosswalks (joke).  Not only did the Daleks bring a pet from home, a Slyther, but also they brought a chain of command.  There are Saucer Commanders, with black domes and alternating black side panels and than there is the Supreme Dalek were is mostly black and is either in command of operation on Earth or in command of the whole Dalek race.
        Why make a huge planet-ship? Well, they could move it right to any area of the galaxy they wish, to supply local battle units with resources from mines, food from farms and finished goods from factories.  Manned with enslaved humans acting as workers!  The Daleks are defeated because of a flaw; the power they get has to be broadcasted and Susan and David sever the
transmitter cables.  Only the Daleks on the saucers have power at that point and the very bomb they set off destroys them!

3. The Space Museum:

        A Dalek shell is in the Morok Museum on Xeros.  Did the Moroks capture it in battle, or was it a scout exploring the end of Dalek-Known space and got kidnapped?  It suggests that the Daleks are spreading out into the universe, Doctor or no Doctor.

4. The Chase:

        The Daleks have a time travel machine and have been ordered by the Supreme Dalek to hunt down and destroy the Doctor. The time machine is bigger on the inside than the outside just like the Doctor's.  And it works better too.  The fact that they have such a machine suggests that these Daleks are much more advanced than any before (and some who come later).  They could be from a later part of Dalek history, in which the Daleks have had enough of the Time Lord and have decided to do something about it once and for all.   The Dalek's shells have a totally new power source in the form of solar panels around the middle section. No doubt batteries within the casing store any extra energy the Dalek does not use.  Also a Dalek is shown with one of his limbs having been replaced with a tracking device.  It seems to be able to detect mass and allows the Dalek to even find the TARDIS after a sand storm has buried it!  In fact, a Dalek is seen pushing up out of the sand after the same sand storm and it seems to be making lots of sounds, as if the whole thing takes effort.  Antigravity powered by a hand crank or telekinesis powered by a strong mind?  All this change shows an almost continuous effort by the Daleks to improve on the Dalek's design.
        The Daleks have also developed the technology to build robots that look like people.  They made one who looks like the Doctor (most of the time) but the Doctor in hand-to-hand combat defeats the robot.  The idea of built-in weapons for the robot must have not come up in the design meetings. The Daleks are finally destroyed by Mechonoids who like to use flame-throwers at close range, which is somewhat shocking.  The shells who should stop normal bullets and can handle having bombs tossed at it can't handle a little fire.  To be honest, at close range, the flames might have gotten into the Daleks via the wire mesh that is between the solar panels.  Some kind of filtering system for air exchange?  I mean think about it, who else but a robot would charge right up to a Dalek and use a flame-thrower?  The alien races they meet are each treated differently.  Some they kill, some they threaten and some they just ask for information.  In some cases they are in such a hurry to chase the Doctor's TARDIS they forget to carry out threats.

5. Mission to the Unknown:

        This is a pretty short plot-line, but it gives us a lot of information.  The Daleks are shown plotting with other alien races to invade and conquer the Galaxy.  They are willing to join forces to get things done.  Also, it shows that the Dalek scientists have created Varga plants.  Kind of moving plants that were released onto the planet where the meeting was taking place to act like watch dogs.

6. The Daleks' Masterplan:

        There is few records (tapes) left of what happen.  It is the year 4000 A.D. From what I have seen of the surviving episode,
the Supreme Dalek seems to be in direct control of the Master Plan and the Daleks are still using a time machine very much like the one in 'The Chase,' which shows that the Daleks did not make the first machine by accident.  This places the events either after the events in 'The Chase' or even before the events in 'The Chase.'  Maybe it is because the Doctor foiled their plans that pissed off the Supreme Dalek enough to order the 'Chase' to begin with.  Note: I am not even sure if the Supreme Dalek lives to tell the tale.  His successor might of given the order or might of decided to give up going after the Doctor all together.  With all the time traveling going on who can really tell?

7. The Power of the Daleks:

        There is not much left of the episodes.  There is a Dalek capsule found by human colonists.  It turns out to have a full Dalek
assembly line inside.  The Doctor and friends (and viewers) see their first Dalek embryos.  This is very important because it hints
that the Daleks use cloning or genetic engineering to make the organic part of the Daleks.  Otherwise, how could they keep up with the demand, as the rest of the factory pours out the casings?  Full-grown adults are needed and the three Daleks who were
found in the capsule are not going to produce the hundreds needed by normal methods like sex.
        Was the capsule an escape pod from a Dalek ship or just one of many capsules spread about the galaxy to colonize other systems?  Also, it is my understanding that the Doctor says the year is the year 2000. Which calendar is he using?  Also, while having never seen the episodes in question, I have heard that the capsule is bigger on the inside than on the outside!  This must place is right BEFORE time travel is discovered by the Dalek scientists but sometime after space travel, if true.  Maybe this is one of the earlier time machines?

8. The Evil of the Daleks:

        The Daleks, or at least the Emperor Dalek, seem to believe they can rule men by making them more like Daleks.  They try to trick the Doctor into helping them by saying they want to be more HUMAN!  By allowing him to study and try to come up with a way for Daleks to be more human, the Daleks can take the information and turn it about.  By finding out what the differences are between Humans and Daleks, the Daleks could take that OUT of the humans.
        The Daleks seem to have developed a 'Time Tunnel,' which requires time equipment at both ends to work.  The over-all impression seems to be less advanced than the Daleks with the Dalek-version TARDIS.  It might be that the Time Tunnel equipment is cheaper, uses less power or can be created using local material.  Even the Daleks have to make every penny count. The Emperor Dalek is housed in a huge, nonmoving casing.  Cables go from the Emperor to the walls of his throne room, suggesting both power and communication lines.  No doubt his shell is full of the latest in Dalek computer and life support technology.  The City of Skaro is his headquarters.  The plot backfires as the Doctor tricks THEM into making some of the Daleks more human and a civil war between normal Daleks and humanized Dalek seems to wipe out the Emperor and the race. OR at least the city is shown been destroyed.  The fate of the Thals is unknown at this point.

9. The War Games:

        The Doctor uses Daleks as an example of the dangers and evils he has combated.  Having wiped them out, I am not sure if
they are the best example.

10. Day of the Daleks:

        It's the 22nd Century (again) and Earth has been invaded by the Daleks (again) after World War III.  The Daleks, whose leader seems to be a Gold Dalek, seem to know that they have invaded the Earth for a second time.  This knowledge MIGHT be explained by the fact that the Daleks came from the future using time machines.    It seems the Daleks have developed a very compact time machine with a limited range of about 200 years.  One device seems able to carry a few Daleks/Ogrons/Humans at a time.  Even the crude rebel versions of the same time machine are small enough to be hand held. The Daleks no doubt have the machine housed in their shell.  The Daleks also have a time scoop, designed to catch people as they travel thru time using the devices.  The scoop is limited to searching one preprogrammed frequency at a time.  Daleks, from the 23rd-24th century could have leapt back into Earth history, could have invaded it again with even more advanced technology than before.
        23rd-24th century weapons used in the 21st-22nd century against humans with old 20th century guns.  The 'Day of the Daleks' is set in a time loop.  World War III allows the Daleks to invade.  The invasion produces human rebels, who go back in time to stop the war and end up starting it.  The war allows the Daleks to invade, so it goes.  Once again the Daleks are using labor instead of cheap machines. Also, they are using Ogrons as camp guards and police.  Why?  The Daleks can be produced as swiftly as General Motors can produce cars. If the empire is expanding swiftly, which was pointed out by one of the future humans, maybe the military units on the frontier need all the Daleks they can get.  So, Earth, being just another boring mining planet, gets Ogrons instead of Dalek soldiers.
        The Gold Dalek MUST be a Planetary Commander.  Why would the Supreme/Emperor Dalek run a mining planet, allowing the rest of his mighty empire to govern itself?  The Gold Dalek is a low-level government bureaucrat. The Daleks, on hearing the Doctor has come to the 22nd Century, are not reacting in fear or hate when they chant about "The Doc-tor is an enemy of the Da-leks!”  No, the reason they are so hyper is the idea that his capture will get them promotions and hopefully off the mud ball of a planet!  Not all humans are slaves.  The Controller and technicians have it a tad better than most.  The Controller even brags about coming from a long line of Controllers.  That is why the above dates are so vague.  While the date the Doctor arrives is sometime in the 22nd century, everything points to the Daleks having invaded generations before, near the middle or end of the 21st century. They would have arrived at a point when the humans were still trying to recover from the world war.

11. Frontier in Space:

    It is the 26th century. The Doctor finds out the Master is working for the Daleks to start a war between the Humans and the Draconians.  He asks for help from the Time Lords who send his TARDIS after the Daleks. Ogrons also seem to help the Master in the plot, but I am not sure if they do it out of loyalty to the Daleks or for munchies.  Why don't the Daleks take the Master's Time Machine?  Because these Daleks should HAVE time machines!

12. Planet of the Daleks:

The Doctor and Jo Grant find themselves on Spiridon, which is nasty planet that is cold at night and hot during the day.  The plants and animals there are hard to tell apart because both move and try to eat you.  The Daleks have set up a base there for many reasons.  First, the planet has ice volcanoes, which allows them to store thousands of waiting Dalek soldiers in cold storage. They have even added heat pumps and vents to remove even more of the heat.  Second, the scientists found the natives are invisible, so they are working on how to make Daleks invisible.  Many Daleks die from light ray sickness, but in they end they do seem to develop a way to keep a Dalek invisible for two work cycles.  Also, the Daleks are trying to develop a plague.  I don't know WHY, because you would think they had germ bombs already.
        We learn the Daleks are STILL improving on their equipment. The Doctor alerts the Thals to the fact that Daleks have an automatic distress signal which is triggered by the occupant's death or when the shell is opened.  They also are shown using an anti-Gravitational Disk when chasing the escaping Thals and the doctor up a mile long heat vent.  Also, we see patrols of Daleks roaming the jungle having no problems with the local animal or plant life that seems to attack everybody else.  Either they are not recognized as being food by the creatures of the planet or have developed silent 'fences', subsonic sound devices to keep animals and moving plants away.  A Supreme Dalek (a large gold and black Dalek), one of The Supreme Council, shows up near the end of the events on the planet.  He kills the Planetary Commander (or the Dalek who seems to be in charge) for failing to capture the Doctor and the Thals.
        Oh, yes, lets talk about the Thals.  The Thals have control of Skaro yet don't seem very advanced.  Their laser guns run off a huge energy cells attached to their belts and their ships look like bricks and fly just as well.  One of the Thals point out that they have just developed space travel.  Both Thal ships in fact crash while landing.  This fact puts the events BEFORE the Evil of the Daleks when the Thals are no longer on Skaro.  The Supreme Dalek is seen using a very smooth, very advanced looking saucer that uses rocket motors (to land and take off). Space Saucer one?
        This is somewhat weird, as the more backwards looking saucers of the Daleks DON'T seem to use rockets, but antigravity or some other form of engine to take off or land.  And where are the time machines?  Were they all used in the second invasion of Earth?  Could if be that the failure of the time devices have made the Daleks turn to more traditional methods; germ bombs, big armies and some kind of super weapon.  In the end the Daleks in the storage area are trapped by an ice flow, the labs where the plague is being made can never be opened because one of the rebel natives tipped over the container releasing the germs before the rest of the base could be immunized and the Thals steal the Supreme Dalek's saucer stranding him and the rest of the Daleks on the planet till a ship can be sent to pick them up.  Hey, but they still have the knowledge of turning invisible!  Or maybe they don't.  Could it be that the Supreme Dalek and the others are all shot for failing and the information is never passed on?  Or maybe the records holding the data are lost when the ice flow destroys the base?  Either way, we never see another invisible Dalek after the events seen above.
        One last remark.  One of the Dalek scientists, when trapped in the germ lab starts to panic seconds after being trapped. He really freaks out, yet still holds it together long enough to warn the other Dalek NOT to open the door.  They know they are doomed and yet still do their duty.

13. Death to the Daleks:

        The planet is Exxilon.  The reason both humans and Daleks come to it is the mineral called parrinium that is needed to cure a space plague that threatens all life on their planets.  One of the problems is the ancient Exxilon's living city, which is absorbing all the energy from their ships.  'Death to the Daleks' is a very interesting series of events showing the Daleks with flaws and merits. First off, the Daleks seem to still function even when their power is being drained.  It could be that the equipment within their shells might be protected slightly.  For example the energy weapons don't work.  It may be that the energy beam is being absorbed the second it leaves the barrel.  The fact they move at all is credited by the Doctor as a form of telekinesis. Yet, when the Daleks are shown trying to pass the first in a series intelligence tests at the city they are seen to scan the information for their computers.  IF their computers are working, than not all the power is being drained. Just to point out, this is the first time that an onboard computer is used.
        The Doctor said the Daleks could still move because they were using telekinesis. Yet, Ian in 'The Daleks' and a female Thal in 'The Planet of the Daleks' both get into and drive a Dalek shell about.  Also, at the end of 'The Daleks' when the power goes so does the ability of the Dalek to move. The Daleks are shown dealing with both humans and aliens, helping with their engineering knowledge in mining for the parrinium.  They are also shown replacing their worthless guns with pellet guns.  Slow rate of fire, but damn good guns.  They test the guns at the saucer by shooting at a tiny blue TARDIS!  They have to have a sense of humor; there is nothing else to explain why they use it.  The model even has a tiny red light on top. The Daleks don't want to cure anybody with the parrinium; they wish to use it for making very powerful bombs!  Of course, the Daleks can't have everything go their way. Before developing the new pellet guns one Dalek is shown being killed by natives using spears, clubs, bows and arrows.  In fact he explodes and burns. Also, a few Daleks have run-ins with the roots of the city.  As for the Dalek spaceship, it looks like a hand-me-down saucer, very much like the saucers used in the first invasion of the Earth.
        A few last remarks. A Dalek kills himself for allowing somebody to escape.  He just explodes.  Have they placed bombs within their housing?  I would think that would cause a great deal of problems during combat.  Just a near miss with an energy weapon and boom!  Also, one of the humans talk about his father being killed in the last war between the humans and the Daleks, suggesting that there has been a whole series of them.  The fact that both sides are still around and kicking suggests that neither side won nor, at least neither side totally lost. Also that suggests that Earth is equal to the Daleks in the area of space travel and weapons.  It could be that the Daleks have developed self-destruct mechanisms during these wars to keep from being captured when spaceships were crippled by human weapons.  COULD that be why the Dalek, when attacked by the natives explodes?  Did a blow by a club that triggered the mechanism or the Dalek trying to take a few natives with him in death cause it? The lack of a time machine makes it hard to pin down the period, but I would have to say after 'Planet of the Daleks', the Daleks may have had to fight a series of wars with the humans and other alien races just to defend themselves.  After all, the Humans and the Draconians MUST have joined up and attacked Dalek space.    One last note of interest. When the Daleks first find out their guns don't work, they seem to be both scared and a little embarrassed.  Are they embarrassed about the guns not working or the fact none of them are willing to give their life to kill the Doctor by exploding next to him?

Article © 2002 Michael James Valdivielso/Visagraph Films International.