When “Evil
of the Daleks” finished broadcasting on July 1st, 1967, it was originally
Terry Nation’s intention that this would be the last Doctor Who Dalek
story. Terry had hoped to ‘spin off’ the Daleks into their own television
series in America, having worked successfully on shows like “The Avengers.”
While the prospect never worked out, after ‘Evil of the Daleks,’ Terry’s
machine creatures would not appear again in Doctor Who for five years.
‘Evil’ also marked a turning point in Dalek history. After ‘Evil,’
the Daleks would never again regain their former screen glory, as budget
restrains, dilapidated props, and poor stories made their appearance seem
down right silly at times. Ambitious stories like “Planet of the Daleks,”
“Resurrection of the Daleks” and “Remembrance of the Daleks,” while attempting
to recapture the original feel of the 60's episodes, could not over shadow
the damage done in stories like “Day of the Daleks,” “Destiny of the Daleks,”
and “Revelation of the Daleks.”
Never is this poor treatment
more evident than in their much herald return story “Day of the Daleks.”
Quickly added to the original story line about time travelers from the
future returning to the 20th century to prevent the Third World War, the
handling of their inclusion added little to enhance their appearance.
The first problem occurred when it was discovered that there were only
three Dalek props in working order. With filming now being done in
color, it was decided to give the Daleks a new paint scheme. Abandoning
the 60s silver color, the production department decided to paint two of the
props a dark gray, and the final prop gold (retaining the notion of a Dalek
commander). Instead of the sensor balls on the skirt panels being
blue, black was decided for all three units. While this color scheme
made the Daleks look impressive in color, it also made it painfully obvious
that there were only three Daleks in the entire story. And although
various camera cuts tried to give the impression of a Dalek army, it became
clear (especially during the attack on Styles’ house), that only three Daleks
existed. The novelization of this story however, works much better,
with the Gold Dalek replaced by the Black Dalek and story points, such as
the way the Ogrons are depicted, developing much easier. In addition
the underground guerrilla movement is presented as a much more organized organization.
Unfortunately budget restrains were not the only reason the Daleks suffered
after the 1960's. While the next story in the Pertwee era, “Planet
of the Daleks” was a much improved story, the eventual introduction of Davros
in “Genesis of the Daleks” sealed the Daleks fate to become second fiddle.
...As the fighting continued,
humanized Daleks, converted to the “human factor” by the Doctor, pressed
home their advantage against the Emperor's forces. Desperate to regain
control, the Emperor ordered all Dalek forces on Skaro to quell the rebellion
and fighting spread across the planet. Theodore Maxtible, infected
by the Dalek-factor, is killed in the fighting, as is Edward Waterfield
saving the Doctor’s life. Free from the Daleks, the Doctor, Jamie and
Victoria headed for the TARDIS. Having gained access to the inner chamber,
Humanized Daleks made their final move to overthrow the Emperor.
Protected by his elite guard, the final battle for Skaro was played out
in the Emperor's chamber. Dalek against Dalek fired their weapons.
Dalek casings exploded in flames as Dalek mutants fell squirming, dead
on the floor. Seeing that the battle was hopeless, the Emperor's
elite guards began to retreat. No longer protected, the Emperor itself
was attacked and destroyed. All order broke down within Dalek Society,
and when the fighting was finally over, only the Doctor and his party
remained alive on Skaro. The Daleks had been totally destroyed.
Or had they…?
In space, the Earth Federation targeted the few remaining remnants of the Dalek fleet. Without directives from Skaro Control most of the Dalek ships were destroyed. Deep in the far reaches of space, on insignificant planets far off the normally traveled space lanes, a few Dalek outposts survived. These small mineral bases, occupied by no more than 100 Daleks in each, slowly shut down, the Daleks entered a state of suspension to avoid detection. Throughout the Federation, when Dalek ships were encountered floating in the void by Federation patrols, they are quickly overlooked as the relicts of a past age. For the first time in years, the galaxy was free of the Daleks.
The Thals rebuilt their civilization on Skaro with concerned modesty. Believing that the Dalek threat could never be truly over, they concentrated on developing their society in secret, building on their military skills. Raiding the ruins of the Dalek cities the Thal’s slowly revived their society. Enhancing their technologies they raced across the Skaroian surface establishing settlements wherever the soil was strong enough to support life. As their settlements multiplied, the Thals took great care to keep their activities hidden from the Earth Federation. Weary of all alien life forms, the Thals did not wish to draw attention to themselves. On Earth, the Federation's influence expanded, as more and more sections of the galaxy were explored. Skaro, with its Thal civilization hidden, was soon forgotten.
__________________________________________________________________
Having survived the attack
by the Humanized Daleks created by The Doctor, the remaining Daleks found
that their life support systems, and their power supplies were too badly
damaged to survive. Deep in the bowls of their ruined cities, discarding
their travel machines and locked in survival chambers, the Dalek mutants
waited. Driven by an even greater need to avenge themselves on
the galaxy, the surviving members of their race formed a new and more
fanatical order. Convinced that their failures were due in part
to what they now consider to be the “compassion” they’ve shown to lesser
races, the Daleks decided to never again show any type of regard towards
the lesser races. In addition, their respect for the confines of temporal
physics were also disregarded. Becoming even more fanatical than their
Dalek ancestors, the Daleks would now do whatever it took to win.
The remaining Daleks formed themselves
into a new Supreme Council, no longer content with controlling the other
races; they were now driven to exterminate them all. As the years
pass, the surviving Daleks slowly multiplied, and they soon concentrated
their efforts in creating improved weapons and enhanced travel machines (capable
of surviving the strongest attack). With most of their original Silver
travel machines destroyed, Dalek scientists developed new enhanced ways
of utilizing power. No longer dependent on static power to drive their
machines, newer and better travel machines were created. Satisfied
with their work, the Supreme Council encased themselves in Black and Gold
casings, while the worker units are given enhanced Gray units. In
addition to advanced mobility and weaponry, the new Gray units no longer
depended on manual control of the machine, the units, through their onboard
computers, directly interact with the Dalek mutant inside. After several
decades the Dalek race was ready to be reborn.
Advancing from their survival
chambers, the Daleks set off to once again claim Skaro. Although
convinced of their ultimate superiority the Daleks had to exercise caution
so as not to be discovered by the Earth Federation. Upon their reemergence,
the Daleks immediately attacked a Thal installation, which had been built
on the site of the old Dalek capital. Overwhelming the small Thal force
stationed there, the Daleks abandoned any idea of rebuilding on the surface
of the planet. Instead, they concentrated their efforts on fortifying
the underground sections of their city. The Thals countered with an
attack of their own, but the Dalek stronghold was too powerful and a stalemate
ensued. Knowing that their future was limited unless they could re-establish
new sources of supply, the Daleks transmitted their command codes to the
remaining Dalek bases hidden throughout the galaxy, reactivating them.
With Dalek units reviving throughout
space, the Daleks turned their attention towards two goals, destroying
any of the Humanized Daleks that had survived, and destroying the Earth
Federation. The first part of their plan proved relatively easy,
as they quickly discovered that few if any of the Humanized Daleks have
survived the Civil War. The second part of their plan however, would
not be so simple. Federation forces had grown strong during the time
the Daleks had been rebuilding themselves. An all out invasion of
the galaxy was sure to fail. Nor could they attempt a sneak attack
on Earth itself. Geomagnetic force released during their 2164 invasion made
re-conquest of the planet impossible. But the Daleks were no longer
concerned with the impossible and only with the means to their own ends.
Pouring over plan after plan that the scientific elite presented, the Supreme
Council settled on an extreme idea. The Daleks would alter history.
Scanning the records stolen from Earth during their occupation, the Supreme
Council discovered a tension point in the late 20th century, when human civilization
was on the brink of a total war. This would be the situation the
Daleks would take advantage of.
Preparations began immediately
to alter the course of human history. Dalek scientists develop
the means to transfer an explosive devise through a time corridor within
the vortex, which would explode at the critical moment in Earth’s history.
This would alter the course of human events, the Daleks would invade in
the 21st century, the original invasion of 2164 would never happen, and
the geomagnetic forces, which destroyed the Dalek invasion force the first
time, would never be released. But the simple re-directing of the
flow of history would not be enough if the Dalek plan were to be a success.
They first had to secure that the diversion of the timeline would not
affect Dalek history. After all, if the Daleks altered earth history,
they were also altering their own. Working on the problem, Dalek scientists
soon developed and installed temporal dampening buffers. When activated,
these devices allow the Daleks to alter certain points in history without
affecting their own time stream. Armed with their temporal devices,
the Daleks prepared to alter Earth’s past.
Editor’s Note: We know that the Daleks have temporal engineering skills similar to those of the TimeLords (the Dalek time capsule is bigger on the inside than the outside). We must also assume that any changes made to Earth’s past must ultimately effect their own timeline, therefore the presents of “time buffers” is not unreasonable. We know that the TimeLords have similar devices which prevent a TARDIS from traveling into Gallifrey’s past or future, and while these are hinted at in “Invasion of Time” it is established in “The Three Doctors,” “The Five Doctors,” and “The Two Doctors” that travel across ones own timeline requires enormous amounts of energy. Evidences of this is also provided by the fact that each time the Doctor visits his home planet it is in chronological order, with the last time he had visited being mentioned. (See, “The Doctor, and Travel Within His Own Time”).
Meanwhile,
the newly reactivated units in the Dalek outer bases began to send back to
Skaro the much needed raw materials need for the reconquest the galaxy. Operating
in secret, to avoid detection by the earth Federation, Dalek forces soon
approached the number they had been at before the Civil War. As the
daleks slowly spread across the isolated sections of the galaxy it was reported
back to Dalek Control that they had discovered of an ape-like race living
on one of the planets in the outer systems. This was a race the Daleks
could easily exploit. The Ogron race was a simple race capable of
being trained into a fighting force. Training them to act as police
guards, the Daleks would not make the same ‘robotizing’ mistakes they had
made during their first invasion of Earth. Now brute force would be
used to subjugate the humans. With all aspects of their plans in
place, with the temporal buffers switched on, the Daleks sent their explosive
device through the vortex.
__________________________________________________________________
Sir Reginald
Styles and the other delegates from Earth's major powers were sitting around
the conference table at Austerly House when an explosion ripped through
the structure. Styles and the other delegates were instantly killed,
and nation after nation began blaming each other for the disaster.
The resulting war that took place on Earth brought about a hundred
years of killing and destruction to the surface of the planet. Seven-eights
of the human population was wiped out, and Earth’s great cities were turned
to rubble. The surviving humans were reduced to the levels of animals,
living in holes in the ground, starving. Their opportunity set, the
Daleks swooped down on Earth once again. Unable to resists, most of
the population was forced to labor in the Dalek factories; those too weak
to work were exterminated. Resistance forces attempted to counter
the Dalek invasion, but were soon hunted down by the Ogron “police” force
and destroyed. Any attempt to overthrow the Daleks became futile,
as Earth was raped of its resources and mineral wealth. Transferred
back to Skaro in Dalek time ships, the Daleks began to slowly rebuild their
empire. Planets, which were protected by the Earth Federation, were
now open to Dalek invasion, as the Daleks swept across the galaxy.
Back on Earth, as the
Dalek occupation continued generation after generation, the resistance
groups became more and more fanatical. Realizing that the Daleks
have time travel technology, they seized on a plan to change history
themselves. Attacking Dalek Control and stealing their time-corridor technology,
the resistance settled on a plan to return to 20th century England and
kill the man their history books said was responsible for starting the wars,
Sir Reginald Styles.
Sitting in
his study at Austerly House, diving through the endless papers which still
littered his desk, Sir Reginald Styles wished he could do nothing more than
get some sleep. But the future of the world depended on his efforts
to quell the escalating conflicts. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows the study's
large bay windows open. Strange, Sir Reginald thinks to himself, he
sworn he had locked those doors. Rising wearily from his seat, Sir
Reginald walks over to the windows intent on shutting them again. Suddenly,
totally unexpected and without warning, a man dress in a combat uniform grabs
Sir Reginald by the throat and forces him to the floor. Picking up
a strange gun, the guerilla points the barrel at Sir Reginald’s head, then
vanishes into thin air. Alarmed by the disturbance, Styles’ secretary
Miss Paget, rushes into the room only to find Sir Reginald fumbling on the
floor, muttering something about ghost...
…UNIT (the United Nations Intelligence Task Force), is monitoring the world situation when word reaches Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart about the incident at Styles' house. Ordered to investigate, the Doctor (now exiled on Earth and in his third incarnation), and his current assistant Jo Grant, wait inside his house; while Styles is in China arranging for the Chinese delegation to attend the peace talks. The Doctor hopes to see if these “ghost” will make a second appearance. The guerillas from the 22nd century attack again, capturing Jo and the Doctor, who they mistake for Styles. Jo is accidentally transported into the 22nd century, and is lulled by the Controller, a human working for the Daleks, to gain information. Concerned over what the rebels are trying to do, the Daleks realize they must send Ogrons back in time to attack the house.
During the attack the guerillas escape, leaving one of their number, Shura (who went to contact their base camp and never returned), behind. They transport themselves back to their 22nd century world taking the Doctor with them. Captured by the Ogrons, the Doctor discovers the future is ruled by the Daleks. The Daleks however, are concerned that their greatest enemy, the "Doc-tor" is reported in the 22nd century time zone. Not recognizing his current appearance however, the Daleks submit the TimeLord to the Mind Probe machine, forcing his to reveal his past lives. Meanwhile the guerillas have learned that the Doctor is the one man the Daleks fear, and so a plan is devised to rescue him from Dalek Control. They attack the base, managing to catch the Ogrons off guard, rescuing both the Doctor and Jo. Back in the ruins if London, the guerillas explain to the Doctor that they are after Styles because in the 20th century he murdered world leaders, starting a world war, which enabled the Daleks to conquer the Earth. They want to prevent this. The Doctor realizes however, that the real murderer was a guerilla sent to kill Styles, Shura! Knowing how to repair things, The Doctor and Jo return to the 20th century, but the Daleks follow…
...Back at Austerly House, the Brigadier is arguing with Sir Reginald in the entrance hall. The Doctor and Jo had suddenly reappeared insisting that their was a bomb in the house and that the house needed to be evacuated. From the RT unit at the Brigadier’s side Sgt. Benton reports that they are unable to hold the machine creatures that have appeared by the canal. Overriding Styles' authority, the delegates are quickly rushed from the house into the waiting automobiles. Down in the old coal cellar, the Doctor tries to convince a feverish Shura that Styles was not responsible for starting the wars. Shura does not believe him, until he hears the Daleks entering the house. Convinced that there is no way of rigging a timer to the Dalek explosive, Shura insists on detonating the bomb himself. The Doctor and Jo race up the stairs from the cellar and out of the house. As the Daleks enter Styles’ house, Shura sets off the Dalek bomb. The house goes up in a traffic explosion; the Ogrons and Dalek units inside are destroyed. The Doctor informs Sir Reginald that his peace talks have been given a second chance.
Editors Note: There are many continuity questions that come up
based on this episode. The official BBC history, as presented in
John Peel’s “The Official Doctor Who and the Daleks Book,” places “Day
of the Daleks” as taking place after “Planet of the Daleks,” but before
events in “Evil of the Daleks,” which the BBC list as the last Dalek story
ever. The facts within the episode, however, contradict this order.
First, the Daleks do not recognize The Doctor in his third incarnation,
and in fact, at the end of episode three, the Daleks have The Doctor in
their Mind Probe machine trying to determine his identity. If they
had in fact encountered the Third Doctor previously in “Planet of the Daleks,”
then this scene would not have been necessary (the episode ends with images
of the Second and then the First Doctor’s face appearing on a screen).
Next, at the beginning of episode four, once convinced of his identity,
the Daleks inform the Doctor that they have used their time travel technology
to chance the past and invade Earth again. A scene was filmed but
trimmed from this sequence (for time restrictions), where the Gold Dalek
also informs The Doctor that they have exterminated all of the “humanized”
Daleks, which he had created. This statement clearly places the events
in “Day of the Daleks” after those from “Evil,” establishing that the latter
story could not be the very last Dalek story.
__________________________________________________________________
On Skaro the
Supreme Council is once again amazed by their defeat at the hands of
The Doctor. Temporal disturbance caused by the re-setting of the
time lines damaged the Daleks’ vortex controls, making Dalek time-corridor
travel, for a time, impossible. Although protected by the temporal
buffers on Skaro, the Dalek Empire established throughout the galaxy fades
into nothingness as the timeline is restored. The Supreme Council
ponders their possibilities, but with the steady supply of materials from
Earth cut off, not to mention the reappearance of the Earth Federation,
the Dalek’s choices were slim. Then while repairing the temporal
buffers, without warning, Dalek scientists picked up a disturbance in
the time vortex. A TARDIS was heading towards Skaro. This
was impossible; the Supreme Council could not believe that the Doctor would
be arrogant enough to revisit Skaro. Quickly the Dalek city was placed
on immediate alert, and as Daleks surrounded the targeted landing area,
a tall black shaped object materialized out of the vortex. The door
to the time capsule opened, and The Master stepped from his TARDIS.
Text and Concept
©1999, 2002 Visagraph Films International/John Rocco Roberto.
Revised edition © 2003/2005 John Rocco Roberto.
Doctor Who series and photographs
© 1963, 1999 British Broadcasting Company.
Original Dalek photographs
© Big Finish Productions.