When Doctor Who first broadcasts in the early 1960s, no one associated with the production could have foreseen the program continuing for almost 40 years.  It is important to remember that writers of the various stories presented in the program during that time were only concerned with following continuity up until that point.  With that in mind, we come to a section of Dalek history that there are no television stories to draw from, and most of what I've written is drawn from simple conjecture about said history.  Certain facts we can easily assume based upon the changes in physical design of the Daleks.  As the Daleks evolved from “The Dead Planet” through “Dalek Invasion” through “The Chase,” Raymond Cusick (who had not worked on the previous Dalek story), needed a way to increase the mobility of the Daleks without having the rather poor looking radar dish stuck to their backs.  Thus the current design of Daleks featuring the shoulder slats was invented.  If the program had only run a few more years then simply assuming that Dalek scientists simply improved on the "radar dish" design to the "shoulder slats" design would have been natural.  But the program did not end in the 1960s and by the mid 1970s we are faced with the events in “Genesis of the Daleks” featuring first generation Daleks currently fitted with shoulder slats.  This of course creates one of the greatest continuity points within the programs history; had the Daleks evolved backwards being completely mobile but then loosing their ability to travel anywhere?  Were Davros' Daleks, the ones described by the 4th Doctor as "primitive, but unmistakably a Dalek," originally designed with the shoulder slats and then, over time, eventually lost them?  The latter makes on sense.  This is why I’ve chosen to "fill-in" some of the finer points of this time period in Dalek history and depict the opening of the Bunker (containing Davros’ body, and his final version of the Daleks).  By placing this event as occurring after the events in “Dalek Invasion of Earth,” we can account for the change in Dalek design while connecting the original origin story with that presented in “Genesis.”

        The Dalek invasion of Earth was nearing completion.  After ten years of labor the bomb, which would extract the Earth's magnetic core, was about to be lowered into the mine shaft, and released.  Unfortunately the Daleks had not counted on the interference of The Doctor, and in fact at this point in their history his presence was hardly known to them. 

        Attempting to return Ian and Barbara to their own time the TARDIS lands in 2174 London.  The time travelers find the city abandoned, and soon are surprised to find that the Earth has been invaded by Daleks.  The Doctor and Ian are captured while Barbara and Susan hook up with a resistance group.  The Doctor is almost robotised, but is freed when the resistance attack the Dalek ship, using an new type of explosive.  The "bombs" prove useless against Dalek casings but during the attack Susan and a resistance fighter named David manage to get the Doctor away.  Ian however is unable to escape, and finds himself trapped aboard the Dalek ship.   Barbara is separated from Susan and makes her way across the horrors of occupied London with the help of Jenny, a resistance fighter, and Dortmun, the crippled head of the resistance.   

       The Doctor in the meantime has decided to head for the Dalek's vast mining complex in Bedforshire, hoping to find the secret of the Dalek invasion there.  The Doctor, Susan and David barely escape London before the Daleks destroy it.  Barbara, guessing that the Doctor would head for the Dalek mine, begins to trek across the devastated English landscape, with Jenny in tow (Dortmun having sacrificed himself so they could get away).  They seek refuge in an old farm house, only to be turned over to the Daleks by the houses occupants.

        At the Dalek mine, Ian, having escaped from the Dalek ship, stumbles through the Dalek tunnels and into the operation room where the Daleks are preparing their explosive device.  On the outskirts of the mine workings the Doctor, Susan, David and Tyler, another resistance fighter, survey the Dalek base.  The Doctor quickly works out the means in which the Daleks are powering themselves (when not drawing power from the floors of their base).  He sends Susan and David to destroy the Dalek's transmitting unit, and once destroyed, the Daleks on Earth become helpless, as static power is no longer transmitted to their machines. 

        Though alarmed by the loss of it's forces on Earth, the Dalek Supreme is content with the knowledge that soon the entire Earth will be theirs to populate.  But the Dalek plan is about to crumble.  Having diverted the Dalek explosive device down an old mine shaft that adjoins the Dalek shaft, Ian joins Barbara (who had started a RoboMan revolt against the Daleks), The Doctor, Susan, David and Tyler on the hilltop over looking the Dalek's mine workings.  The device, upon it's detonation, releases the Earth's magnet force and the Daleks still on the surface are pulled into the center of the mine shaft causing a massive explosion.  The Dalek Saucers, unable to break free from the magnetic field created, are destroyed as their entire base is engulfed in a volcanic explosion.  Turning towards Tyler, the Doctor comments on a once in a lifetime event, a volcanic explosion in England!  In Earth orbit, on board the Dalek mother ship, the Dalek Supreme watches in disbelief. 

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        The Daleks were severely weakened by their losses on Earth.  Not only were their plans to occupy the Earth ruined, but also the steady supplies of raw materials from Earth ended.  They were further hampered by continuous Thal attacks.  Having deployed most of the Dalek force on Earth, the Thals took the opportunity to strike back at the Daleks again and again.  Over the next few years raids on several of the Dalek outposts caused great delays in the shipment of Dalek raw materials, and a raiding party was able to destroy an entire Dalek weapons storehouse.
        Deciding to address the Thal issue once and for all, the Supreme Council began to formulate a plan to once again increase the radiation levels of the planet, which had been steadily decreasing over time.  Construction of a neutron bomb began again, but just as their plans were nearing completion, the unthinkable happened.  Skaro was invaded! 

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        The Morok’s were a race of warriors, not unlike the Thals had originally been.  But unlike the events which had played out on Skaro (where Thal aggression caused the destruction of the planet), the Morok’s had conquered their world, and were now conquering space.  Their space fleets had cut a path across the galaxy that no force could stop, and Skaro was the next system in their path.  Although limited in natural resources, Skaro presented a strong strategic outpost for the Morok Empire.  And so they attacked.  Conquest of the planet was swift.  The Thals met the invaders valiantly, defending themselves with every man, women and child.  In the first wave nearly seventy percent of the Thal population perished during the fighting.  The survivors were forced to work as slave labor.  And soon, the entire Thal nation was subjugated.
        The Dalek feared even worse.  Severely weakened by their defeat on Earth, the few reaming Daleks were no match for Morok technology.  Armed with the single mindedness of Dalek supremacy, the Daleks did not understand the concept of surrender.  Wave after wave of Dalek forces attacked the Morok beachhead, only to be crushed by superior weapons.  Within three Skardoian months most of the Daleks were completely wiped out, and the hand full that had survived sealed themselves off in the deepest recesses of the planet.  The only indication that the Dalek race had ever existed were the several empty Dalek casings that were shipped off to the Morok Space Museum on Xeros.  In their hidden survival chambers, the few remaining Daleks waited, but for all practical purposes the Dalek race had ceased to exist.

Editor's Note: Most of this can be considered conjecture, but the evidence is there if one looks for it.  It is established in "The Space Museum" that the Moroks once controlled a great empire, and that no system stood in their path.  We are also shown a Dalek casing in their museum, indicating that the Moroks, at the very least, encountered the Daleks at one time.  Now if we are to assume that the Daleks would not easily allow one of their numbers to be captured, it is not unreasonable to assume that while blazing a path across the galaxy, the Moroks encountered Skaro and conquered it.  This would also explain the disappearance of the original Dalek design, as they are replaced by the current versions that were trapped in the Bunker.

        The Morok’s took full advantage of the old Dalek cities, occupying and rebuilding them one by one.  The surviving Thals acted as servants and Skaro soon became a thriving spaceport for the alien conquerors.  As the years passed, the Thals slowly begin to understand the functions and design of Morok technology.  Soon they became accepted in Morok society as a servant class.  But as it had always been with all great empires, the Morok race grew lazy and content.  As economic strains caused them to give up more and more of their empire, Skaro’s importance began to diminish.  The population of Morok’s stationed on Skaro slowly dwindled.  After 200 years of submission, and armed with the technology of their captors, the Thals turned upon their masters, and drove them off the planet.  Skaro was finally in the hands of the Thals, and the Thals alone. 

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        The Thals took full advantage of their situation.  Re-occupying the Dalek cities, utilizing the technologies left behind by the Moroks, a new Golden Age graced the Thal people.  Art, science and music all advanced under the rein of he Thals.  Sickness and famine, all are stamped from the face of Skaro.  Soon their scientists discovered the fundamental components of propulsion drive and the Thals began exploring outer space.  For the Thal people there had been no better time, and the memory of the Daleks faded into the realm of myth.  For 300 years the Thals knew perfect peace, and the society that The Doctor had predicated so many years ago outside the Dalek City came to pass.  But it was all about to come to a sudden and terrible end.
        An earthquake in the southern Skardoian dessert unearthed a pair of large metal doors and Thal scientist dated the structure at being close to 2500 years old.  This sent a tremor of excitement throughout the Thal world.  Finally, a link to their past, lost in the confines of time, could be explored.  With great fanfare the great doors in the dessert were opened.  Scientists, as well as politicians and media personal, crammed into the small chamber that had remained sealed for so long.  The chamber itself was empty, a small bare room, with no lights, no windows and no real artifacts were found.  All the furnishings, if there ever were any, had long since decayed.  Scattered around the floor were some remains of papers and documents, most of the writing on their pages long since faded.  But what interested the scientists the most, soon becoming the very center of attention, were the large set of doors directly across from the main entrance.  The room contained an inner chamber!  Specialized equipment was brought in to determine the layout of the chambers.  They indicated that the chambers beneath are vast and buried deep within the Skardoian surface.  However the connecting corridor just beyond the second set of doors had caved in, making it impossible to gain access. 
        Obsessed with discovering a link to their past a plan was quickly formulated to excavate the tunnel in hopes of reaching the hidden chambers inside, as a debate began in the Thal government on what exactly to do with the treasures inside.  Based on carbon dating, scientists discovered that the chambers were sealed over 2000 years ago.  They quickly proclaimed that they have found the Tomb of the Daleks, and predict unimaginable technology waited for them inside.  Great teams of engineers and government officials were assembled as the excavation began.
        Week after week passed as hundreds of Thals worked to remove the debris from the caved in access tunnel.  As the wreckage was brought up, some scientists commented that the debris appeared to have been deliberately caused, and that explosion fractures could be found in the structure of the rubble.  But the promise of reconnecting with their ancestral past drove the Thals on, and soon a large trench, ever widening and deepening, cus across the landscape.  After several months of excavations the inner most doors of the “tombs” were reached.  The Thals were about to open the Bunker!  With the entire planet watching, the great doors of the bunker were slowly slid open.
        Like the explorers of the Egyptian tombs on Earth in the 1920's, the Thals swarmed into each chamber of the bunker, examining and recording every detail of what they found.  Where sections of the complex were blocked by rock falls, they brought in excavating equipment.  Where the light were too dim to work by, they set up temporary work lights on tripods.  Days turn into weeks as they penetrated ever deeper, down one level to another.  An intricate system for cataloging each artifact was set up in a central staging center, and the Thals slowly became aquatinted with their rich past.  Debates abounded on what should be done with their new found information, as the Thal people experienced a cultural reawakening.  But as the Thals slowly explored each level of the Bunker, each penetration brought them come closer and closer to disaster.  As exploration of the third level was completed, the Thals unsealed the access doors to the fourth level.  A captive audience watched as the lift panels slowly began to slide open, when suddenly they exploded in a rain of fragments.  Pouring out of the fourth level, blasters blazing, were the Daleks!  The excited mood of the Thals quickly turned to alarm, as more and more people were killed. 

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        When the Thal army had sealed the bunker 2000 years before, the surviving Dal scientists continued experimenting on the mutations their race was evolving into.  But the elite guard, formed by Davros and comprised mostly of enhanced mutants in Dalek casings, wanted to avenge their race, and had little patience for scientific study.  Turning on the scientist and destroying most of them (including Davros), they turned the bunker into a Dalek factory, producing and improving on the Dalek machines.  Fitted with the experimental static collectors around the machines shoulder section, these Daleks were no longer confined to the metal surface of their cities.  For years, unable to clear the access tunnel, which held them prisoner, and cut off from contact with their Dalek counterparts on the surface, the Daleks planned and improved themselves.  Eventually they came to realize that if they were ever to rejoin the surviving Daleks on the surface, they needed to conserve their energy supplies.  And so the Daleks ceased activity and settled down for the long wait.
     In unsealing the outer doors of the Bunker, the Thals had awakened the surviving Daleks, and these Daleks, like their ancestors, wanted Skaro for their own.  Before the stunned watchers of the entire planet, the scientists, politicians and media personal, were all exterminated on mass.  Within weeks of the opening of the Bunker the Thals and Daleks were once again at war, only this time the Daleks had the upper hand.  After years of fighting the Thals were driven off the surface of Skaro. 

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        Occupying the Dalek cities, the Daleks quickly began reacquainting themselves with the events of the past 2000 years. They discovered their defeat at the hands of the Thals outside their old capital city.  They discovered their their defeat on Earth, and the invasion of Skaro by the Moroks.  They learned of the few remaining Daleks which had hid themselves away after the Morok invasion, and they learned of the technological advances made by the Thals.  They learned everything they could learn about their past, and it was while examining this data that the Dalek Prime, one of the original scientist who had worked along side Davros, noticed an oddity within the Dalek records.  Recorded in their history, both during their defeat in the old Dal capital and on the planet Earth, reference was made to a person known only as “Doctor.”  These records also made some reference to this “Doctor” having created and built a time machine.  Totally illogical the Dalek Supreme though to itself.  Time travel was impossible!  And yet this “Doctor” was there, both when the Thals defeated the Daleks on Skaro, and on Earth.  As hundreds of years had passed between these two events, and as the records from the Earth expedition indicated that humans only had a life span of about 80 years, this “Doctor’s” claims of time travel must be true.  Armed with the arrogance that if this “human” could do it so could the Daleks, the Dalek Prime ordered the experimentation in temporal distortions.  If the Daleks were ever going to conquer the Universe, this Doctor would have to be eliminated.

Text and Concept © 1999, 2002 Visagraph Films International/John Rocco Roberto.
Revised version © 2003/2005 John Rocco Roberto.
Doctor Who series © 1963 British Broadcasting Company.

Special thanks to Robert Moore for providing the video captures from "Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD," "The Space Museum," "The Chase," and "Genesis of the Daleks."