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The Two Histories of the Daleks – The “Second” History

The Two Histories of the Daleks
An alternative look at Dalek history after the TimeLord’s intervention
by
Sean Dobson

PART TWO
The “Second” History of the Daleks

 

enesis of the aleks

The Doctor, along with his companions, was transported to Skaro at the point where Davros’ Daleks were about to be created. Concerned that the Doctor might regard their strategy as cynical in the extreme, the Time Lords decided that the Doctor should not be told that Yarvelling’s Daleks were to be allowed to emerge unimpeded.The Doctor was instructed to attempt to prevent the emergence of the Daleks; or at least manage to alter their time line and lessen their malign impact on future worlds. The Doctor was captured by the Kaled military and taken to the secret bunker facility some miles from the domed Kaled city. There he witnessed the first trials of the prototype Daleks.

Davros did not enjoy the full support of all the scientific elite based in the bunker. A number of them were repelled by the program that was being pursued and were resolved to frustrate the ambitions of Davros to create the new Dalek species. With their assistance, the Doctor was able to escape and reached the main Kaled city. Granted an audience with senior members of the Kaled government, the Doctor was able to persuade them to mount a full investigation into the activities of Davros.

With contacts within the Kaled government, Davros was alerted to the emergent threat to the Daleks. Davros was determined that the Daleks would continue and supplant the Kaled race he regarded as genetically doomed to mutation.

The Thals were desperate to win the war. They, in similar fashion to the Kaleds, had constructed a domed city, impervious to all orthodox weaponry. But they believed that a missile with a sufficiently powerful warhead would be sufficient to pierce the Kaled dome and destroy the city beneath it. The Thal plan was no secret. The Kaled leaders were confident that it would fail for the simple reason that their dome was constructed from a formula devised by Davros himself.

It never occurred to them that Davros would betray them in order to safeguard the Dalek project.

Virtually unaccountable to any higher authority, Davros travelled to the Thal city where he offered the Thal government a new chemical formula that would critically weaken the Kaled dome. His only request was that he be allowed to assist with the post-war reconstruction of Skaro.

The Thal leaders accepted the offer. After an intensive artillery bombardment, utilising the formula provided by Davros, the missile strike devastated the Kaled city.

From his bunker, Davros unleashed the small army of Daleks already produced onto the Thal city. Celebrating their apparent victory, the Thals had allowed their guard to drop. The prototype Dalek army entered the Thal city and engaged in a systematic extermination of those Thals they encountered

The Doctor returned to the bunker, using a ventilator shaft. By simple misfortune, he was captured by Davros and a squad of elite security troops. Davros interrogated the Doctor. Davros was fascinated by the Doctor’s claims to be a Time Lord capable of travel through time, as well as space. More importantly, Davros was concerned to learn of the future history of the Daleks.

The interrogation yielded substantial volumes of information about future Dalek history. The sheer irony horrified the Doctor. He had been sent to lessen the impact of the Daleks; his forced testimony could enable them to avoid future defeats and indeed achieve the utter predominance predicted by the Time Lords.

Even at this stage, it seemed as if Davros might be prevented from launching his Daleks into history. A coalition of concerned scientists and security troops were determined to remove him from power. Confronting Davros after a brief insurrection it seemed as if the deformed scientist would give in to their demands. The Doctor had been released as a result and was able to destroy the tape recording of his interrogation.

Using stolen explosives, the Doctor was able to destroy the incubation chamber where the Kaled / Dalek mutations were being created. At the same time, surviving Thal troops had regrouped and were determined to destroy the Daleks by blowing up all entrances to the bunker and sealing them underground.

Davros had recalled the Daleks from the Thal city. Once the rebel scientists had made their positions clear, he brought the Daleks into the control room. There they exterminated the disloyal scientists. It was not readily apparent, but the Daleks were on the brink of developing autonomous decision making powers.

Davros became aware that a production line had restarted without his express order. Furiously, he demanded to know which of the ‘loyal’ scientists had given the order. After a few moments, a Dalek explained that it had given the order. This moment was critical in Dalek history. They were evidently capable of independent thought processes and had reached the conclusion that as Davros was not a Dalek, he was not to be obeyed.

Davros attempted to reassert his lost authority but was exterminated by the Daleks. Their emergent ‘leader’ addressed the Dalek cohort, stating that they would eventually emerge and embark on a program of universal conquest.

The Doctor left Skaro knowing that his mission had failed but was confident that the Daleks had been delayed for perhaps a millennium.

In the aftermath, the Thals migrated to previously unsettled parts of Skaro. Disgusted at their role in the near destruction of Skaro’s environment, they resolved to be pacifists and farmers.

On Gallifrey, the High Council observed as the Daleks’ timeline adjusted. Davros would not mastermind the Dalek rise to galactic ‘superpower’ status. Without his genius, the Daleks would not be able to master the laws of space-time and threaten Gallifrey. Instead, the Daleks would develop into little more than a technologically advanced ‘robber baron’ species.

Of course, there were minor disadvantages to the alteration of Dalek history. Yarvelling’s Daleks would still conquer 22nd Century Earth. Davros’ Daleks would no longer create a temporal paradox to supplant that conquest; but this meant that the original invasion would happen. However, the first Doctor’s intervention would defeat that invasion.

Studying the Matrix, the Time Lord hierarchy observed the eventual emergence of Davros’ Daleks from the Bunker. But in the altered Dalek timeline, they did not stop to build a capital city on Skaro. Instead, under the leadership of the Supreme Dalek, they took abandoned Thal space-flight technology, altered it and launched themselves into space.

There were wars over the following centuries. Wars were fought with the Thals, the Draconians and the Earth Federation. The Daleks did win a few battles; but they lost every war with any of the major space powers. Without Davros’ strategic foresight or supreme genius, the Daleks were no threat to 26th Century Earth let alone Gallifrey.

The Daleks opted for astrategy of invading previously unknown regions of space.  By the early 27th Century they encountered the Movellans.

There was a mystery surrounding the origins of the Movellans. They were humanoid robots with ruthless fighting capabilities. Their space fleet was the equal of that of the Daleks in every sense. For decades, the two fleets confronted each other in deep space. Both sides were reliant on advanced battle computers. Both computers dictated that no shots should be fired until a clear tactical advantage had been secured.

The Supreme Dalek was the sole survivor of the original prototype Daleks developed by Davros in the Kaled bunker. It realised that the only prospect of victory lay with resurrecting Davros and seeking his help in devising a strategy for victory over the Movellans.

estiny of the aleks

The nature of the impasse with the Movellans was that neither side could afford to withdraw any significant forces from the respective space fleets. To do so would risk giving a tactical advantage to the other side.

The Supreme Dalek decided to send one scout ship to Skaro with twelve Daleks on board. They had engineering equipment and were sent captured humans as slave labourers. They started to excavate the remains of the Kaled bunker.

The Doctor arrived on Skaro shortly before a Movellan scout ship landed. Discovering Davros, he attempted to prevent the Daleks from finding him. Realising that the Movellans were equally ruthless and aggressive, the Doctor assisted by some escape slaves, managed to outmanoeuvre both the Daleks and the Movellans.

The slaves captured the Movellan ship and Davros was put on board. Before cryogenic freezing, Davros was informed he would stand trial on Earth for his crimes. Some ninety years later, in the late 27th Century, the Movellans inflicted a decisive defeat upon the Daleks. Having devised a virus that could penetrate Dalek spacecraft and casings, the Movellans launched their attack and wiped out virtually the entire Dalek fleet. There were isolated Dalek colonies across corners of the galaxy but, as a challenger for galactic power, the Daleks were finished.

In something akin to desperation, the Supreme Dalek ordered an operation that was aimed to restore Dalek power.

esurrection of the aleks

Davros had, for almost a century, been held in a prison ship in deep space. Its location was no secret but the Supreme Dalek had chosen not to launch any rescue attempt.

The squad leader on Skaro had informed it that Davros disputed the very notion of a supreme leader, other than himself, of the Dalek race. Consequently, for as long as the war with the Movellans remained a stalemate, the Supreme Dalek considered that it was better that Davros be a prisoner of Earth.

Defeat at the hands of the Movellans changed these considerations. The Supreme Dalek realised that being usurped by Davros was a possibility that would have to be countered if it ever arose. But it was essential that Davros be released if the Daleks were to have any prospect of recovering their former power

The assault on the prison ship was an easy victory. Davros was recovered. What became apparent was that Davros remained determined to supplant the Supreme Dalek. Davros was enraged that the Movellans had defeated the Daleks. The Dalek cruiser maintained a time-corridor to Earth in February 1984. The Daleks were once more hoping to conquer Earth. However the Doctor, in his fifth incarnation, was able to intervene and defeat the Daleks’ ambition.

At the same time, Davros had decided that it was time to build a new Dalek race guaranteed to acknowledge him as undisputed supreme leader. He released some of the Movellan virus with the intention of eliminating the Supreme Dalek. Before the virus could take its effect, however, a human prisoner from the prison ship was able to explode a bomb on board the Dalek ship. Davros escaped in a life pod. However the Supreme Dalek was destroyed.

The Daleks had virtually disappeared from the galaxy. It was rumoured that some survived. But without leadership, they posed no threat to Earth or Draconia at the start of the 28th Century. Davros had managed to pilot his life pod until rescued by a morgue ship bound for the planet Necros. Necros had the galaxy’s leading undertakers known as the Tranquil Repose. Davros succeeded in persuading its staff that he should be allowed to assist. From there, Davros was able to start the creation of a new breed of Daleks.

evelation of the aleks

The Doctor, now in his sixth incarnation, arrived on Necros where he found Davros at work. Known as the ‘Great Healer’, Davros was able to avoid any scrutiny because he was supplying many hungry planets with genetically engineered food. However, Davros was using the sick and dying brought to necros as the genetic ingredients for a new Dalek race. Devoid of the original Kaled DNA structures, these new Daleks were the first to have no ancestral link with Skaro.

However, a number of surviving Daleks had returned to Skaro where they were attempting to create a Dalek Empire. A new Supreme Dalek had been engineered. This new leader became aware of Davros’ activities on Necros. A squad was sent to Necros to arrest Davros and prevent his creation of a new Dalek race

Davros was arrested. He attempted to have the Doctor arrested but the Dalek squad informed him that the humanoid he referred to did not correspond with their records. Davros was taken to Skaro for trial

On Skaro, Davros was able to manipulate the situation to his advantage. The Supreme Dalek could not dispute his claim to be able to engineer a Dalek army at a greater rate than the Daleks could. Davros was pardoned and set to work

Davros engineered a new breed of Dalek utterly loyal to him. In a sudden coup he seized control of the new Dalek city. The Supreme Dalek and its followers used time corridor technology to escape to another world. Now Davros felt able to realise his ultimate ambitions. His new Daleks possessed qualities absent in previous types of Dalek. They could, for example, float up a staircase utilising anti-gravitational technology

Davros had learnt from previous experience. Determined to avoid his previous fate, he engineered a new casing for himself that concealed his humanoid form entirely. He assumed the title of Emperor Dalek and set about planning galactic conquest

ememberance of the aleks

Davros had developed scanning technology that enabled him to observe events throughout both space and time. It came to his attention that the Doctor, in his first incarnation, had left a supremely powerful item of Time Lord technology, the Hand of Omega, in London in November 1963

Realising the potential of the Hand of Omega, Davros was determined to acquire it. He ordered that all new Daleks, now called Imperial Daleks, should return to Skaro in preparation for the final conquest of the galaxy

Davros took a deep space cruiser to a position above London in November 1963. A detachment of Imperial Daleks was sent to London where they operated from within the Coal Hill secondary school

Davros was unaware of the precise location of the Hand of Omega. Surveillance systems would locate it as soon as it was disturbed. The Supreme Dalek was aware of Davros’ plan and led a squad of Daleks through a time / space corridor to the London of November 1963.

By this stage the British Ministry of Defence was concerned at a number of unexplained phenomena in the Coal Hill district. A special unit of the RAF Regiment was sent along with a scientific adviser from Cambridge University

The Doctor, in his seventh incarnation, arrived with the apparent intention of removing the Hand of Omega to a safe resting-place. He arrived at the undertakers where, in his first incarnation, he had left the Hand of Omega within a coffin. A burial was arranged for the coffin

The Supreme Dalek identified the location of the Hand of Omega. A former follower of Sir Oswald Mosley, the 1930’s fascist, was working for the Supreme Dalek. He sent a group of his employees to dig up the grave where the Hand of Omega was buried. The disruption involved alerted Davros on board his cruiser. A detachment of Imperial Daleks was immediately sent to recover it

The Doctor persuaded Group Captain Gilmore, the RAF officer in charge, that his forces would stand no chance in a confrontation with the Daleks. Instead the competing Dalek factions were left to battle for possession of the Hand of Omega. The Imperial Daleks had superior firepower and rapidly defeated the Supreme Dalek’s faction. The Hand of Omega was taken back to Davros

The Doctor contacted the Dalek cruiser to demand that the Hand of Omega be returned. The Emperor Dalek revealed itself to be Davros. The Doctor taunted Davros in a calculated attempt to provoke him. Davros went into a rage and announced that he would immediately deploy the Hand of Omega to destroy the planet Earth

The Doctor pretended to be frightened and begged Davros not to use the Hand of Omega. Davros, believing himself to be triumphant, launched the Hand of Omega. The Doctor had foreseen that the Daleks would get the Hand of Omega. He had programmed it to travel to Skaro’s sun and turn it super-nova annihilating the Daleks.

Davros was horrified as this unfolded and realised that the Hand of Omega was about to return to destroy his cruiser. He boarded his escape pod and left seconds before the Hand of Omega destroyed the Dalek cruiser.

The Supreme Dalek was now isolated in the London of 1963. All its subordinates had been destroyed in the battle with the Imperial Daleks. Cornered by the Doctor and the RAF unit, the Supreme Dalek was informed that Skaro had been destroyed. The Supreme Dalek had lost its time corridor equipment and had no means of return to the rest of its cohort elsewhere in the galaxy. Its only response was to self-destruct.

The Daleks had finally been defeated. Davros was alone in an escape pod. The surviving Dalek colonies now lacked leadership. Never again would the Daleks be able to threaten the peace & stability of the galaxy. The great irony was that it was their creator, Davros, whose genius had made the Daleks’ bid for supremacy possible, who had made the spectacular miscalculation about the Hand of Omega that proved the Daleks’ nemesis.


Article © 2004 Sean Dobson/Visagraph films International.