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{{Infobox Species
{{Infobox Species
|name = Movellan
|image       = movellan1.jpg
|image = movellan1.jpg
|aka         =  
|aka =
|type       = [[Android]]
|type = Androids
|affiliation = [[Dalek]]s
|affiliation = [[Dalek]]s
|origin = Star system [[4-X-Alpha-4]]
|origin     = [[Movella]], star system [[4-X-Alpha-4]]
|appearances = [[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]''
|individuals = {{csl|[[Mark Seven]]|[[Sharrel]]|[[Agella]]|[[Kamen Vers]]}}
|mentions = <ul><li>[[AUDIO]]: ''[[Blood of the Daleks]]''</li></ul>
|first cs    = Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)
|individuals = Commander [[Sharrel]] [[Agella]]
|appearances = {{appears}}
}}
}}
The '''Movellans''' were androids who [[Dalek-Movellan War|warred]] with the [[Dalek Empire]].
The '''Movellans''' were [[android]]s who [[Dalek-Movellan War|warred]] with the [[Dalek Empire]].


== Physical characteristics ==
== Physical characteristics ==
The Movellans outwardly resembled [[human]]s of various ethnicities and both genders. All of the Movellan androids wore white, form-fitting uniforms, On each shoulder is a glowing green ampoule held in a metal frame. All Movellans have silver dreadlocks; the commander's dreadlocks have black tips rather than silver. Being androids, the Movellans were strong and tough. The major weakness of the Movellan design was each android's external power pack which, being carried on their belts, was easily removed and completely shut down the android. The power pack circuitry could also be modified, reprogramming the android to obey human orders. Because they do not wish to reveal their mechanical status to others, they do not allow aliens to see them in death, claiming such a thing would be against their code of honour.
The Movellans outwardly resembled [[human]]s of various ethnicities and genders. All of the Movellan androids wore white, form-fitting uniforms. On each shoulder was a glowing green ampoule held in a metal frame. Movellans had long silver hair worn in braids generally tipped with matching silver beads, apart from commanders who wore black beads.


Their side-arm was a cone-shaped pink gun. It had a white cover into which their hands fitted when holding the gun. The weapon had both "kill" and "stun" settings. ([[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'')
Being androids, the Movellans were strong and tough. The major weakness of the Movellan design was each android's external power pack which, being carried on their belts, was easily removed and completely shut down the android. The power pack circuitry could also be modified, reprogramming the android to obey human orders. Because they did not wish to reveal their mechanical status to others, they did not allow aliens to see them in death, claiming such a thing would be against their code of honour.
 
Their side-arm was a cone-shaped pink gun. It had a white cover into which their hands fitted when holding the gun. The weapon had both "kill" and "stun" settings. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}}) While Movellans possessed eyes, they also saw through a variety of sensors, even identifying their fellows through ID chips. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Triumph of Davros (audio story)}})
 
The Movellans were durable enough to withstand multiple blasts from a Dalek [[gunstick]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Whoniverse (novel)}}, [[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Triumph of Davros (audio story)}})


== Technology ==
== Technology ==
The Movellans' spacecraft fix on their landing spots with a targeting beam, and once they have landed, the lower half drills into the earth as a means of camouflage and defence. These ships have an intergalactic range and time-warp capability. Inside the ship, some Movellans wore headphones, presumably as a way of interfacing directly with the ship's computer.


The Movellans' spacecraft fix on their landing spots with a targeting beam, and once they have landed, the lower half drills into the earth as a means of camouflage and defence. These ships have an intergalactic range and time-warp capability. Inside the ship, some Movellans wore headphones, presumably as a way of interfacing directly with the ship's computer.
The Movellans' main destructive weapon was the [[nova device]]. This invention counted down to zero, at which point it altered the molecular structure of the atmosphere so that the atoms become flammable. Without protective shielding around the device, it would burn up an entire planetary atmosphere. It could, however, be turned on without being armed (making it into basically nothing more than an elaborate egg-timer). ([[TV]]: {{cite source|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}})
 
The Movellans had a unified information network that linked every member of their race, comparable in functionality to the Dalek [[pathweb]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Triumph of Davros (audio story)}})


The Movellans' main destructive weapon was the Nova device. This invention counted down to zero, at which point it altered the molecular structure of the atmosphere so that the atoms become flammable. Without protective shielding around the device, it would burn up an entire planetary atmosphere. It could, however, be turned on without being armed (making it into basically nothing more than an elaborate egg-timer).
"Sophisticated Movellan [[constrictor collar]]s" were among the [[torture]] items kept by [[The War Chief (The Legions of Death)|the War Chief]] in the [[Interrogation Chamber]] of [[The War Chief's TARDIS|his TARDIS]]. ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=The War Chief's Equipment}})


== History ==
== History ==
It was suggested that the Movellans were created in the image of a humanoid race that they subsequently destroyed. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Also People]]'')
=== Early history ===
The Movellans originated from [[Movella]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Also People (novel)}}, [[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|Alien Heart (audio story)}}) in the star system [[4-X-Alpha-4]]. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}})
 
There were several conflicting accounts on how the Movellans came to be. As claimed by the [[Dalek Prime]] in one account, the Movellans were actually created by the [[Dalek]]s for the purpose of faking a war in order to convince [[Davros]] he was in danger. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|War of the Daleks (novel)}}) In another account, [[Brastall]] claimed that [[Genesis Incident|the actions]] of the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], and [[Harry Sullivan]] in the [[Adelphine Cluster]] led to [[Deepcity]] developing "a force of synthonic robots… that [would] contribute significantly to the Daleks' final demise". ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|A Device of Death (novel)}}) By one account, the Movellans were created in the image of a humanoid race that they destroyed after achieving self-awareness. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Also People (novel)}})


[[Romana II|Romana]] identified the Movellans' ship as being from star system [[4-X-Alpha-4]].
By one account, the Movellans had been created as servants [[millennia]] before they would come into conflict with the Daleks. Coming to acknowledge their [[perfection]], the Movellans deemed themselves logical and much better suited to rule and so overthrown their old masters, then established control of all near-space. By the Movellan War, the [[species]] which created them was long [[extinct]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The History of the Daleks (short story)}})


It was claimed by the [[Dalek Prime]] that the Movellans were actually the creation of the [[Dalek]]s and that the war was a fake created as part of an elaborate plan to prevent the destruction of [[Skaro]] as recorded in their history. The sincerity of this comment is unclear. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[War of the Daleks]]'')
Another account showed that the Movellans were combat androids designed by [[Earth Empire]] scientist [[Talon Movel]]. A group of [[adventurers (Player's Guide)|adventurers]] became involved in the [[fixed point in time]] of the Movellans revolting against Movel. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|Evolution (game)}})


The Dalek Handbook wrote that the Movellans might have been created by time lords as another clandestine attempt to stop the daleks progress.
Another account indicated that the Movellans may have been created by the [[Kraal (species)|Kraal]], being a type of [[Kraal android]]. The Movellans may have destroyed their creators, prompting the [[Judoon]] to take revenge against the Movellans. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|The Android Invasion (game)}})


Another account claims that the Movellans and the Daleks encountered each other while both sides were expanding their interstellar empires beyond the bounds of the [[Mutter's Spiral|galaxy]] and immediately engaged in a war which lasted for centuries. As the empires' respective warfleets were evenly matched, neither side's purely logical battle computers could find a successful strategy for an attack against the other and so the two fleets remained locked in a stalemate, constantly maneuvering and probing for weakness but never actually firing a single shot.
According to another account, the first Movellan was a reconstruction of the [[android]] [[Space Security Service]] agent, [[Mark Seven]], who was recovered from the destruction at [[Beltross Station]], intended as a weapon against the Daleks. Believing himself to have always been Movellan, with the memories of his previous life buried deep in his systems, this "First Movellan" forgot his name and created the Movellans in his image. [[Davros]] theorised that the name Movellan may have been a corruption of the name Mark Seven – all that remained of [[the Doctor]]'s former [[companion]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Dalek Defence (audio story)}}, {{cite source|The Triumph of Davros (audio story)}})


The Daleks returned to their homeworld, [[Skaro]], to retrieve and revive their creator [[Davros]], hoping that he could find a way to break the impasse, and the Movellans sent their own expedition to stop them. Davros determined that the first side to take a seemingly reckless gamble would be able to gain the advantage, but the [[Fourth Doctor]] prevented either side from returning to their respective fleets with this insight. ([[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'')
Some historians believed that the [[Clade]]s were created in response to a species being pushed to brink of extinction by the Movellans. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Peacemaker (novel)}})


About ninety years later, the Movellans developed a [[Movellan virus|biological agent]] which attacked and was almost instantly fatal to the physiology of the [[Kaled mutant|mutant within]] the Dalek shell. This virus effected a turning point in the Dalek-Movellan War, reducing the once-great Dalek empire to a few scattered colonies. Once more, they sought out Davros for assistance. By this time, Davros resided in [[cryogenic]] suspension in a [[space station]]. The plan went wrong both as a result of Davros himself turning against the [[Supreme Dalek]] as well as the involvement of the [[Fifth Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks]]'')
=== Movellan-Dalek War ===
{{main|Dalek-Movellan War}}
{{Section stub|[[Death and the Daleks (audio story)]]}}
Most accounts agree that the Movellans and the Daleks encountered each other while both sides were expanding their interstellar empires beyond the bounds of the [[Mutter's Spiral]] and immediately engaged in a war which lasted for centuries. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}}, {{cite source|Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)}})


The Movellans may have been the attackers of the makers of the [[Clade]]s. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Peacemaker (novel)|Peacemaker]]'')
[[File:Movellans (The Pilot).jpg|thumb|Movellans are exterminated during the war. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Pilot (TV story)}}) ]]
The [[Twelfth Doctor]] lured a [[sentient oil]] puddle which had taken the form of human university student [[Heather (The Pilot)|Heather]] into a [[War zone (The Pilot)|war zone]] during a skirmish between Movellans and a group of Daleks, in the hopes of the Daleks destroying it. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Pilot (TV story)}})


== Behind the scenes ==
As the empires' respective warfleets were evenly matched, neither side's purely logical battle computers could find a successful strategy for an attack against the other and so the two fleets remained locked in a stalemate, constantly manoeuvring and probing for weakness but never actually firing a single shot.
* "Technical" (mainly made up by the author) information on the Movellans and their side-arms appear in ''[[The Doctor Who Technical Manual]]''.
 
* [[FASA]]'s ''[[The Doctor Who Role Playing Game]]'' offered background information on the Movellans, describing them as android slaves given independence by a [[computer virus]].  
[[File:Agella.jpg|thumb|left|[[Agella|A Movellan]] on [[Skaro]]. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}})]]
* Fans have, generally speaking, not warmly received [[John Peel]]'s suggestion, in ''[[War of the Daleks]]'', that the [[Dalek-Movellan War]] never actually happened.
The Daleks returned to their homeworld, [[Skaro]], to retrieve and revive their creator [[Davros]], hoping that he could find a way to break the impasse, and the Movellans sent their own expedition to stop them. Davros determined that the first side to take a seemingly reckless gamble would be able to gain the advantage, but the [[Fourth Doctor]] prevented either side from returning to their respective fleets with this insight. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}})
== In Other Media ==
 
The Movellans developed a human-Movellan hybrid, [[Kamen Vers]], as a weapon on a spaceship. The Movellans who made him lost control due to Kamen's emotions causing them to malfunction and Kamen was found on a wreck ship by [[River Song]] who attempted to supress his emotions to prevent him overloading, pretending to be a Movellan herself. Kamen used the ship's tractors beam to capture other vessels, creating [[Mto]], to impress the [[First Movellan]] who he regarded as his father. This included a human colonist ship, who Kamen tricked into believing they'd crashed and needed to follow him. He was exposed by the [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Anya Kingdom]] who helped the colonists escape and exposed Mto to nearby Movellan and Dalek forces who promptly invaded. In the drama River lost control of Kamen's emotions, resulting in him fatally overloading. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The First Son (audio story)}})
 
Through a human spy, the Movellans traced the [[Earth Protection Corps]] ship transporting Davros, intercepting it whilst a Dalek vessel was attempting to capture it. In the ensuing skirmish the Earth ship crashed on [[Kembel]] so the Movellan force, led by First Movellan personally, pursued and captured the Tenth Doctor and Davros on the surface. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Dalek Defence (audio story)}}) The pair were put to work by the First Movellan, believing they could aid the Movellans against the Daleks however after his companion Anya Kingdom attempted to infiltrate the Movellan rocket on the Dalek [[Kembel faction]]'s behalf, the First Movellan threw the Doctor out with her. Davros proposed an alliance between the Movellans and Daleks against humanity which the First Movellan accepted, however Davros used the officiating of the alliance to plant a virus in the First Movellan. The Doctor was able to prevent the virus spreading further than the Movellans on Kembel and set the rocket to leave Kembel whilst its crew rebooted.
 
After rebooting, the First Movellan decided to investigate a virus to use against the organic component of the Daleks. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Triumph of Davros (audio story)}}) Human historians attributed this decision to the Movellans realising the Daleks were organic after the Daleks used some trace of [[imagination]] left in them to gain an advantage in the war. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)}})
 
The Movellans developed so that they would still work if their power packs were taken from them. At some point during the war, a group of Movellans headed by [[Narina]] was sent to deliver the final weapon against the Daleks. However, their ship was damaged and they landed on [[BC|4th century BC]] [[Earth]] and were attacked by the locals. They had created [[Chenek]], a Movellan with human fear. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Movellan Grave (audio story)}})
 
During the war, they became time active and travelled back to the [[1970s]] to establish a strategic base and encountered [[Suzanne Clare]], who helped them in their invasion. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Movellan Manoeuvre (audio story)}}) The Daleks later came after them. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Dalek Gambit (audio story)}})
 
The Movellans, within ninety years after the Fourth Doctor encountered them on Skaro, developed a [[Movellan virus|biological agent]], which attacked and was almost instantly fatal to the physiology of the [[Dalek mutant|mutant within]] the Dalek shell. This virus effected a turning point in the Dalek-Movellan War, reducing the once-great Dalek empire to a few scattered colonies. Once more, they sought out Davros for assistance. By this time, Davros resided in [[cryogenic]] suspension in a [[space station]]. The plan went wrong both as a result of Davros himself turning against the [[Black Dalek Leader|Supreme Dalek]] as well as the involvement of the [[Fifth Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: {{cite source|Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)}})
 
By one account, the Movellans, after defeating the Daleks, had moved into the [[humanoid]] [[sector of space|sectors of space]]. This led them unexpectedly into a conflict with the allied forces of [[Earth]] and [[Draconia]] who pushed back the Movellans, annihilating them as they went. It was as a result of this conflict that the [[Prison Station]] containing Davros was vulnerable to attack in the [[Duplicate Incident]]. Though the Movellans were ultimately destroyed, the victory was not achieved without many losses on the [[human]] side, and the [[Draconian]]s were also very much weakened. In the aftermath, humanity returned to their own areas of space, hoping to begin a new [[alliance]] to stand against the inevitable return of the Daleks. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The History of the Daleks (short story)}})
 
By another account, Daleks mounted a "war of vengeance" against the Movellans which was called the [[Pa Jass-Gutrik]]. The [[Special Weapons Dalek]] participated in this war. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)}}) According to records, though unsubstantiated ones, recovered from the [[Space Security Service]] archive on [[Micawber's World]], this conflict came about when the Daleks managed to use their [[Dalek duplicate|duplicate]] program to infiltrate and sabotage the Movellan power pack production facilities, linking them all to the [[Pathweb]]. After some time had passed, the Daleks sent out a command for the Movellans to turn on each other, sparking a [[civil war]] that left them vulnerable to be wiped out by the [[Imperial Dalek]]s. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)}})
 
During an encounter with the Daleks on [[Red Rocket Rising]], the [[Eighth Doctor]] guessed that the Daleks may have been at war with the Movellans at the time. The Daleks did not clarify who they were currently fighting. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|Blood of the Daleks (audio story)}})
 
When the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Sam Jones]] visited [[Skaro]], the Daleks were using Movellans as part of their workforce. The Doctor suggested that the Movellans may have been reprogrammed, but the [[Dalek Prime]] insisted that the Movellans were not an independent race and that they had been obeying Dalek orders since their creation. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|War of the Daleks (novel)}})


The Movellans (As well as other antagonist) appear in a doctor Who Skit "The Monster Society of Evil" - Gallifrey One Masquerade 2011
=== Legacy ===
[[File:Movellans Happy Deathday.jpg|thumb|The Movellans in ''[[Happy Deathday]]''. ([[COMIC]]: {{cite source|Happy Deathday (comic story)}})]]
In the [[video game]] ''[[Happy Deathday]]'', played by [[Izzy Sinclair]] on the [[Time-Space Visualiser]], a pair of Movellans were among a host of "every single [[enemy]]" that [[the Doctor]] had ever [[defeat]]ed, who were assembled by the [[Beige Guardian]] and pitted against the Doctor's first eight [[incarnation]]s. ([[COMIC]]: {{cite source|Happy Deathday (comic story)}})


== See also ==
When the [[Fourth Doctor]] was regressed backwards in time by a [[space amoeba]], the Movellans were among the past adversaries he had visions of. ([[COMIC]]: {{cite source|Timeslip (comic story)}})
* [[Movellan virus]]


The introduction to ''[[The Children of Davros]]'' mentioned the Movellans as an example of a synthetic warrior race. ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Introduction (AD short story)}})


{{NameSort}}
== Behind the scenes ==
* "Technical" (mainly made up by the author) information on the Movellans and their side-arms appear in ''[[The Doctor Who Technical Manual (reference book)|The Doctor Who Technical Manual]]''.
* [[FASA]]'s ''[[The Doctor Who Role Playing Game]]'' offered background information on the Movellans, describing them as android slaves given independence by a [[computer virus]].
* ''[[The Dalek Handbook]]'' speculates on the origins of the Movellans, acknowledging their disappearance after apparently prevailing over the Daleks. Noting their exterior appearance, one theory suggests that they were created by a [[humanoid]] race who they likely turned against destroyed. Acknowledging their enmity towards the Daleks, another theory suggests that they were created to fight them, potentially by the Time Lords. A third theory, acknowledging the Movellans' extensive knowledge of their enemy, claims that the Movellans were a slave race connected to the [[Dalek duplicate]] program which had gone rogue, likening them to the [[Robomen]].
* The Movellans (as well as other antagonists) appear in a ''Doctor Who'' skit, "The Monster Society of Evil" - Gallifrey One Masquerade 2011.
* The Movellans are stars of a long-running Internet series "What Are The Movellans Watching Today?" by Pip Madeley, in which they watch strange and unusual television clips in their spacecraft.


[[Category:Movellans| *]]
[[Category:Temporal marauders]]
[[Category:Dalek technology]]
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Androids]]
[[Category:Androids]]

Latest revision as of 21:36, 27 October 2024

The Movellans were androids who warred with the Dalek Empire.

Physical characteristics[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Movellans outwardly resembled humans of various ethnicities and genders. All of the Movellan androids wore white, form-fitting uniforms. On each shoulder was a glowing green ampoule held in a metal frame. Movellans had long silver hair worn in braids generally tipped with matching silver beads, apart from commanders who wore black beads.

Being androids, the Movellans were strong and tough. The major weakness of the Movellan design was each android's external power pack which, being carried on their belts, was easily removed and completely shut down the android. The power pack circuitry could also be modified, reprogramming the android to obey human orders. Because they did not wish to reveal their mechanical status to others, they did not allow aliens to see them in death, claiming such a thing would be against their code of honour.

Their side-arm was a cone-shaped pink gun. It had a white cover into which their hands fitted when holding the gun. The weapon had both "kill" and "stun" settings. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"]) While Movellans possessed eyes, they also saw through a variety of sensors, even identifying their fellows through ID chips. (AUDIO: The Triumph of Davros [+]Loading...["The Triumph of Davros (audio story)"])

The Movellans were durable enough to withstand multiple blasts from a Dalek gunstick. (PROSE: The Whoniverse [+]Loading...["The Whoniverse (novel)"], AUDIO: The Triumph of Davros [+]Loading...["The Triumph of Davros (audio story)"])

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Movellans' spacecraft fix on their landing spots with a targeting beam, and once they have landed, the lower half drills into the earth as a means of camouflage and defence. These ships have an intergalactic range and time-warp capability. Inside the ship, some Movellans wore headphones, presumably as a way of interfacing directly with the ship's computer.

The Movellans' main destructive weapon was the nova device. This invention counted down to zero, at which point it altered the molecular structure of the atmosphere so that the atoms become flammable. Without protective shielding around the device, it would burn up an entire planetary atmosphere. It could, however, be turned on without being armed (making it into basically nothing more than an elaborate egg-timer). (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The Movellans had a unified information network that linked every member of their race, comparable in functionality to the Dalek pathweb. (AUDIO: The Triumph of Davros [+]Loading...["The Triumph of Davros (audio story)"])

"Sophisticated Movellan constrictor collars" were among the torture items kept by the War Chief in the Interrogation Chamber of his TARDIS. (GAME: "The War Chief's Equipment" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"The War Chief's Equipment","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

Early history[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Movellans originated from Movella (PROSE: The Also People [+]Loading...["The Also People (novel)"], AUDIO: Alien Heart [+]Loading...["Alien Heart (audio story)"]) in the star system 4-X-Alpha-4. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"])

There were several conflicting accounts on how the Movellans came to be. As claimed by the Dalek Prime in one account, the Movellans were actually created by the Daleks for the purpose of faking a war in order to convince Davros he was in danger. (PROSE: War of the Daleks [+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"]) In another account, Brastall claimed that the actions of the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan in the Adelphine Cluster led to Deepcity developing "a force of synthonic robots… that [would] contribute significantly to the Daleks' final demise". (PROSE: A Device of Death [+]Loading...["A Device of Death (novel)"]) By one account, the Movellans were created in the image of a humanoid race that they destroyed after achieving self-awareness. (PROSE: The Also People [+]Loading...["The Also People (novel)"])

By one account, the Movellans had been created as servants millennia before they would come into conflict with the Daleks. Coming to acknowledge their perfection, the Movellans deemed themselves logical and much better suited to rule and so overthrown their old masters, then established control of all near-space. By the Movellan War, the species which created them was long extinct. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The History of the Daleks (short story)"])

Another account showed that the Movellans were combat androids designed by Earth Empire scientist Talon Movel. A group of adventurers became involved in the fixed point in time of the Movellans revolting against Movel. (GAME: Evolution [+]Loading...["Evolution (game)"])

Another account indicated that the Movellans may have been created by the Kraal, being a type of Kraal android. The Movellans may have destroyed their creators, prompting the Judoon to take revenge against the Movellans. (GAME: The Android Invasion [+]Loading...["The Android Invasion (game)"])

According to another account, the first Movellan was a reconstruction of the android Space Security Service agent, Mark Seven, who was recovered from the destruction at Beltross Station, intended as a weapon against the Daleks. Believing himself to have always been Movellan, with the memories of his previous life buried deep in his systems, this "First Movellan" forgot his name and created the Movellans in his image. Davros theorised that the name Movellan may have been a corruption of the name Mark Seven – all that remained of the Doctor's former companion. (AUDIO: The Dalek Defence [+]Loading...["The Dalek Defence (audio story)"], The Triumph of Davros [+]Loading...["The Triumph of Davros (audio story)"])

Some historians believed that the Clades were created in response to a species being pushed to brink of extinction by the Movellans. (PROSE: Peacemaker [+]Loading...["Peacemaker (novel)"])

Movellan-Dalek War[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Dalek-Movellan War

Most accounts agree that the Movellans and the Daleks encountered each other while both sides were expanding their interstellar empires beyond the bounds of the Mutter's Spiral and immediately engaged in a war which lasted for centuries. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"], Resurrection of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)"], PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)"])

Movellans are exterminated during the war. (TV: The Pilot [+]Loading...["The Pilot (TV story)"])

The Twelfth Doctor lured a sentient oil puddle which had taken the form of human university student Heather into a war zone during a skirmish between Movellans and a group of Daleks, in the hopes of the Daleks destroying it. (TV: The Pilot [+]Loading...["The Pilot (TV story)"])

As the empires' respective warfleets were evenly matched, neither side's purely logical battle computers could find a successful strategy for an attack against the other and so the two fleets remained locked in a stalemate, constantly manoeuvring and probing for weakness but never actually firing a single shot.

A Movellan on Skaro. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The Daleks returned to their homeworld, Skaro, to retrieve and revive their creator Davros, hoping that he could find a way to break the impasse, and the Movellans sent their own expedition to stop them. Davros determined that the first side to take a seemingly reckless gamble would be able to gain the advantage, but the Fourth Doctor prevented either side from returning to their respective fleets with this insight. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The Movellans developed a human-Movellan hybrid, Kamen Vers, as a weapon on a spaceship. The Movellans who made him lost control due to Kamen's emotions causing them to malfunction and Kamen was found on a wreck ship by River Song who attempted to supress his emotions to prevent him overloading, pretending to be a Movellan herself. Kamen used the ship's tractors beam to capture other vessels, creating Mto, to impress the First Movellan who he regarded as his father. This included a human colonist ship, who Kamen tricked into believing they'd crashed and needed to follow him. He was exposed by the Tenth Doctor and Anya Kingdom who helped the colonists escape and exposed Mto to nearby Movellan and Dalek forces who promptly invaded. In the drama River lost control of Kamen's emotions, resulting in him fatally overloading. (AUDIO: The First Son [+]Loading...["The First Son (audio story)"])

Through a human spy, the Movellans traced the Earth Protection Corps ship transporting Davros, intercepting it whilst a Dalek vessel was attempting to capture it. In the ensuing skirmish the Earth ship crashed on Kembel so the Movellan force, led by First Movellan personally, pursued and captured the Tenth Doctor and Davros on the surface. (AUDIO: The Dalek Defence [+]Loading...["The Dalek Defence (audio story)"]) The pair were put to work by the First Movellan, believing they could aid the Movellans against the Daleks however after his companion Anya Kingdom attempted to infiltrate the Movellan rocket on the Dalek Kembel faction's behalf, the First Movellan threw the Doctor out with her. Davros proposed an alliance between the Movellans and Daleks against humanity which the First Movellan accepted, however Davros used the officiating of the alliance to plant a virus in the First Movellan. The Doctor was able to prevent the virus spreading further than the Movellans on Kembel and set the rocket to leave Kembel whilst its crew rebooted.

After rebooting, the First Movellan decided to investigate a virus to use against the organic component of the Daleks. (AUDIO: The Triumph of Davros [+]Loading...["The Triumph of Davros (audio story)"]) Human historians attributed this decision to the Movellans realising the Daleks were organic after the Daleks used some trace of imagination left in them to gain an advantage in the war. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]Loading...["Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)"])

The Movellans developed so that they would still work if their power packs were taken from them. At some point during the war, a group of Movellans headed by Narina was sent to deliver the final weapon against the Daleks. However, their ship was damaged and they landed on 4th century BC Earth and were attacked by the locals. They had created Chenek, a Movellan with human fear. (AUDIO: The Movellan Grave [+]Loading...["The Movellan Grave (audio story)"])

During the war, they became time active and travelled back to the 1970s to establish a strategic base and encountered Suzanne Clare, who helped them in their invasion. (AUDIO: The Movellan Manoeuvre [+]Loading...["The Movellan Manoeuvre (audio story)"]) The Daleks later came after them. (AUDIO: The Dalek Gambit [+]Loading...["The Dalek Gambit (audio story)"])

The Movellans, within ninety years after the Fourth Doctor encountered them on Skaro, developed a biological agent, which attacked and was almost instantly fatal to the physiology of the mutant within the Dalek shell. This virus effected a turning point in the Dalek-Movellan War, reducing the once-great Dalek empire to a few scattered colonies. Once more, they sought out Davros for assistance. By this time, Davros resided in cryogenic suspension in a space station. The plan went wrong both as a result of Davros himself turning against the Supreme Dalek as well as the involvement of the Fifth Doctor. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)"])

By one account, the Movellans, after defeating the Daleks, had moved into the humanoid sectors of space. This led them unexpectedly into a conflict with the allied forces of Earth and Draconia who pushed back the Movellans, annihilating them as they went. It was as a result of this conflict that the Prison Station containing Davros was vulnerable to attack in the Duplicate Incident. Though the Movellans were ultimately destroyed, the victory was not achieved without many losses on the human side, and the Draconians were also very much weakened. In the aftermath, humanity returned to their own areas of space, hoping to begin a new alliance to stand against the inevitable return of the Daleks. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The History of the Daleks (short story)"])

By another account, Daleks mounted a "war of vengeance" against the Movellans which was called the Pa Jass-Gutrik. The Special Weapons Dalek participated in this war. (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)"]) According to records, though unsubstantiated ones, recovered from the Space Security Service archive on Micawber's World, this conflict came about when the Daleks managed to use their duplicate program to infiltrate and sabotage the Movellan power pack production facilities, linking them all to the Pathweb. After some time had passed, the Daleks sent out a command for the Movellans to turn on each other, sparking a civil war that left them vulnerable to be wiped out by the Imperial Daleks. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]Loading...["Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)"])

During an encounter with the Daleks on Red Rocket Rising, the Eighth Doctor guessed that the Daleks may have been at war with the Movellans at the time. The Daleks did not clarify who they were currently fighting. (AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Blood of the Daleks (audio story)"])

When the Eighth Doctor and Sam Jones visited Skaro, the Daleks were using Movellans as part of their workforce. The Doctor suggested that the Movellans may have been reprogrammed, but the Dalek Prime insisted that the Movellans were not an independent race and that they had been obeying Dalek orders since their creation. (PROSE: War of the Daleks [+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"])

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Movellans in Happy Deathday. (COMIC: Happy Deathday [+]Loading...["Happy Deathday (comic story)"])

In the video game Happy Deathday, played by Izzy Sinclair on the Time-Space Visualiser, a pair of Movellans were among a host of "every single enemy" that the Doctor had ever defeated, who were assembled by the Beige Guardian and pitted against the Doctor's first eight incarnations. (COMIC: Happy Deathday [+]Loading...["Happy Deathday (comic story)"])

When the Fourth Doctor was regressed backwards in time by a space amoeba, the Movellans were among the past adversaries he had visions of. (COMIC: Timeslip [+]Loading...["Timeslip (comic story)"])

The introduction to The Children of Davros mentioned the Movellans as an example of a synthetic warrior race. (PROSE: Introduction [+]Loading...["Introduction (AD short story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • "Technical" (mainly made up by the author) information on the Movellans and their side-arms appear in The Doctor Who Technical Manual.
  • FASA's The Doctor Who Role Playing Game offered background information on the Movellans, describing them as android slaves given independence by a computer virus.
  • The Dalek Handbook speculates on the origins of the Movellans, acknowledging their disappearance after apparently prevailing over the Daleks. Noting their exterior appearance, one theory suggests that they were created by a humanoid race who they likely turned against destroyed. Acknowledging their enmity towards the Daleks, another theory suggests that they were created to fight them, potentially by the Time Lords. A third theory, acknowledging the Movellans' extensive knowledge of their enemy, claims that the Movellans were a slave race connected to the Dalek duplicate program which had gone rogue, likening them to the Robomen.
  • The Movellans (as well as other antagonists) appear in a Doctor Who skit, "The Monster Society of Evil" - Gallifrey One Masquerade 2011.
  • The Movellans are stars of a long-running Internet series "What Are The Movellans Watching Today?" by Pip Madeley, in which they watch strange and unusual television clips in their spacecraft.