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{{Infobox Novel|
{{title dab away}}
image=[[Image:Prisoner of the Daleks.jpg|250px]]|
{{real world}}
novel name= Prisoner of the Daleks|
{{Infobox Story SMW
series= [[Doctor Who]] - [[BBC New Series Adventures#Tenth Doctor|BBC New Series Adventures]]|
|image       = <gallery>
number= 27 |
Prisoner of the Daleks.jpg|2009 edition
doctor= [[Tenth Doctor]]|
Dw prisoner of the daleks 600.jpg|2014 edition
companions= [[Jon Bowman|Space Major Jon Bowman]], [[Koral]]|
</gallery>
enemy= [[Dalek|The Daleks]]|
|series       = [[BBC New Series Adventures]]
year= [[Kappa Galanga Sector]]<br>[[Hurala]]<br>[[Arkheon]]<br>[[Auros]] |
|number       = 33
writer= [[Trevor Baxendale]]|
|doctor       = Tenth Doctor
publisher= [[BBC Books]]|
|companions   = [[Jon Bowman|Bowman]], [[Koral]]
release date= [[April]], [[2009]]|  
|enemy       = [[Dalek X]]
format= Hardcover book |
|setting      = [[Hurala]], [[Arkheon]], [[Auros]], c.[[2580s]]<ref>The war in the story was sparked by the events of ''[[Frontier in Space (TV story)|Frontier in Space]]'', which was set in [[2540]]. Reference to the [[First Dalek Incursion]] taking place "over forty years" before the events of the novel roughly point to the [[2580s]] as the story's time period. Curiously, the Doctor explicitly asks for the year in the novel and receives an answer, but the reader is never told what it is.</ref>
isbn=ISBN 1-846-07641-2 |
|writer      = Trevor Baxendale
previous story= [[The Slitheen Excursion]]|
|read by      = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
next story= [[The Taking of Chelsea 426]]
|cover        = [[Lee Binding]]
|}}
|publisher    = BBC Books
|release date = 2 April 2009
|format       = Hardcover, 249 pages
|isbn         = ISBN 1-84607-641-2
|prev        = The Slitheen Excursion (novel)
|next         = The Taking of Chelsea 426 (novel)
}}
'''''Prisoner of the Daleks''''' was the thirty-third novel in the [[BBC New Series Adventures]] series. It was written by [[Trevor Baxendale]] and featured the [[Tenth Doctor]].


==Publisher's Summary==
''Prisoner of the Daleks'' did not feature the [[Dalek]]s as antagonists in print for the first time in revived-era material, beaten as it was by the [[2006 (releases)|2006]] [[Quick Reads]] novella, ''[[I Am a Dalek (novel)|I Am a Dalek]]''. However, it was the first of the New Series Adventures to pit them against [[the Doctor]], and the first full-length original novel to do so since ''[[Legacy of the Daleks (novel)|Legacy of the Daleks]]'' in [[1998 (releases)|1998]].
The Daleks are advancing, their empire constantly expanding in to Earth's space. The Earth forces are resisting the Daleks in every way they can. But the battles rage on across countless solar systems. And now the future of our galaxy hangs in the balance... The Doctor finds himself stranded on board a starship near the front line with a group of ruthless bounty hunters.


Earth Command will pay them for every Dalek they kill, every eye stalk they bring back as proof. With the Doctor's help, the bounty hunters achieve the ultimate prize: a Dalek prisoner - intact, powerless, and ready for interrogation. But where the Daleks are involved, nothing is what it seems, and no one is safe. Before long the tables will be turned, and how will the Doctor survive when he becomes a prisoner of the Daleks?
The story returns the Doctor to the period of the [[Second Dalek War]], during the [[26th century]], a storyline which began in [[1973 (releases)|1973]] with ''[[Frontier in Space (TV story)|Frontier in Space]]'' and ''[[Planet of the Daleks (TV story)|Planet of the Daleks]]''. Though never thereafter revisited by the [[Doctor Who|TV series]], the conflict provided the background for ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' comic stories featuring [[Abslom Daak]] and various aspects of the [[Virgin New Adventures]]. ''Prisoner of the Daleks'' delves right into the heart of the Dalek war effort and brings the war to a climax, providing the storyline with a sense of finality and closure almost thirty-six years after it began.


'''Plot'''
== Publisher's summary ==
The [[Dalek]]s are advancing, [[Dalek Empire|their empire]] constantly expanding into [[Earth Empire|Earth's space]]. The [[Earth]] forces are [[Second Dalek War|resisting the Daleks in every way they can]]. But the [[battle]]s rage on across countless [[Star system|solar systems]]. And now the future of [[Mutter's Spiral|our galaxy]] hangs in the balance... [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] finds himself stranded on board a [[Wayfarer|starship]] near the front line with a group of ruthless [[bounty hunter]]s.


[[Earth Command]] will pay them for every Dalek they kill, every [[Dalek eyestalk|eye stalk]] they bring back as proof. With the Doctor's help, the bounty hunters achieve the ultimate prize: a [[Dalek (Prisoner of the Daleks)|Dalek prisoner]] — intact, powerless, and ready for [[interrogation]]. But where the Daleks are involved, nothing is what it seems, and no one is safe. Before long the tables will be turned, and how will the Doctor survive when he becomes a [[prisoner]] of the Daleks?


The TARDIS materialises on a forgotten world in the depths of space. The Doctor emerges, annoyed that his ship has either malfunctioned or chosen to bring him somewhere uninteresting. He is located near some empty buildings, corroded and dusty. He finds a monitor screen and uses the screwdriver to get access to the system. He is in Lodestar Station 479, a disused refuelling station. Then he notices that the computer’s sub-routines have been tampered with and decides to search out the data core. He enters the building nearest to him, it smells like an old refinery, and finds a corridor and a sign that tells him where the core is. Arriving at the door he needs the screwdriver to enter. Inside is the desiccated skeleton of a human. Before he can solve this puzzle the door closes behind him. He tries the screwdriver but this time it is ineffective. He is trapped.
== Plot ==
[[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] arrives on the [[planet]] [[Hurala]]. Whilst investigating a deserted site, the [[Tenth Doctor]] makes his way to the base's [[computer]] [[data core]] room, where he is locked inside by the [[computer]] with someone's [[corpse]] trapped inside along with him.


The Wayfarer is a converted naval patrol vessel, rescued from the scrap yards twenty years earlier. It is home to Jon Bowman, the captain, and his crew. Currently the ship is damaged after a skirmish with pirates and needs to make repairs and refuel. They are right on the edge of Earth space and the only possible salvation is a former frontier post called Hurala.
Five [[day]]s later, the [[bounty hunter]] [[spacecraft|ship]] ''[[Wayfarer]]'' lands on the planet, its crew of five hoping to use the stores to refuel their ship. They soon come across the TARDIS, and hear a repeating tapping noise. One of them, [[Scrum]], realises it's a [[Morse code]] [[SOS]] message. They trace it to the computer data core room where they find and free the Doctor, who has been sending it with a [[spoon]]. On the insistence of the Doctor and another of the bounty hunters, [[Stella (Prisoner of the Daleks)|Stella]], the group investigate the computer's systems. They discover an override which, when activated, took control of the base and trapped the Doctor. Someone had used the computer to set a trap. Who did is soon answered when the group are attacked by a [[Dalek]] patrol.


They land near some old buildings and leave the ship to explore. The crew consists of Bowman, Stella, Scrum (the computer expert) and Cuttin’ Edge (a young ex-marine).They move towards the buildings, followed at a distance by Koral, the fifth member of the crew. She is a tall, humanoid alien who seems to act as Bowman’s bodyguard. A shout from Cuttin’ Edge takes them over to the TARDIS. They are puzzled by the fact that it is humming and the lights are on but their repairs and refuelling are the priority so they move on. Scrum is using a scanner and reports an unusual signal deep underground. He is astonished when he realises it is an SOS signal.
The Doctor and the bounty hunters, who reveal that they kill Daleks for a living, race back to the ''Wayfarer'', escape to the TARDIS being blocked by Daleks. They take off but the Daleks blow up a refuelling pump, sending debris flying into the ship through the open landing ramp, badly wounding Stella. As the crew attempt to put her into cryo-freeze [[Dalek (Prisoner of the Daleks)|a Dalek]] gets into the ship through an [[airlock]] and it exterminates Stella. Before it can kill anyone else, the Doctor freezes it with the emergency [[cryo-charge]] intended for Stella. With the Dalek immobilised, Stella's [[body]] is also frozen and the crew make a course for [[Auros]], her home planet.


Eventually they trace the signal to a door at the end of a long underground corridor. When they open the door they are greeted cheerfully by the Doctor. They immediately distrust him and search him. Stella in particular finds it hard to believe his claim that he has been there for five days. The captain orders the crew to start refuelling the ship. Scrum says he, too, has noticed an unusual signal in the computers but Bowman is not interested and sends Scrum back to fuel the ship. Stella wants to know who locked the Doctor up and why. The Doctor decides to investigate the computers and finds that the new signal is an override system intended to trap visitors in the room. He suspects that the corpse is the remains of one of the installers of this system who suddenly became expendable. He has also found that once the trap has been sprung a signal is sent but he can’t find out who it is sent to. Before an answer can be found the door leading into the corridor explodes open and three Daleks stare at them, shouting “Exterminate!”
En route, the Dalek's [[Dalek Eyestalk|eye stalk]] is removed so the crew can claim the bounty for killing it, and place it in the [[cargo]] hold. Whilst talking with the crew the Doctor realises he's travelled back along the time line to before the [[Last Great Time War]]. At this point, the Daleks are locked in a [[Second Dalek War|huge galactic war]] with [[Earth]]'s [[Earth Empire|first empire]] with the outcome undertain. The Doctor also learns more about the crew. Commanding the ship is [[Jon Bowman|Bowman]], a former Earth trooper who has been fighting the Daleks for years. Scrum is the crew's technician, [[Cuttin' Edge]] is a former Space Marine who was dishonourably discharged and Stella was the ship's Medic. The other crew member, [[Koral]], is a humanoid alien whose planet and people of [[Red Sky Lost]] were destroyed by the Daleks.


As the first Dalek opens fire Cuttin’ Edge blasts it with automatic rifle bullets, enough to distract it while the humans escape up the stairs. His second attempt is a single bullet that causes a burning dent in the Dalek, a molecular dissolution virus. As they run the Doctor asks how the bullet was so effective and he is told that the Wayfarer crew are Dalek bounty hunters. Dodging and weaving through the complex the Doctor tries to lead the humans to the TARDIS but they are cut off by other Daleks and have to race to the Wayfarer. Scrum has the engines running and Koral is already aboard as the others run up the ramp. An explosion hits the ship as they lift off, injuring Stella. As the Doctor tries to help her the interior air lock door buckles and a Dalek exterminates Stella. Cuttin Edge shoots at it while the Doctor flings a cryogenic charge that he had intended to use on Stella at the Dalek, immobilizing it instantly. Bowman orders them to throw the Dalek off the ship but the airlock door is too badly damaged. The Doctor blames himself for not acting quickly enough to save Stella and the crewmembers are in agreement saying that their troubles began when they found him in the prison.
Upon arriving at Auros the Doctor and the crew discover that the planet's population are abandoning the planet as the Daleks are about to invade. Using the Osterhagen Principle, they detonate a series of nuclear bombs and destroy the planet to prevent it falling to the Daleks. The Doctor and Bowman realise the Daleks will ambush the retreating convoy. They try to warn them but the Daleks arrive, forcing the convoy to surrender and destroying its flagship as a warning to the other ships.


The Doctor examines the defunct Dalek while Cuttin’ Edge works nearby on the airlock. They talk about the molecular dissolution virus that Scrum invented. Cuttin’ Edge can’t understand why it was so effective on the planet but hasn’t damaged the Dalek on the ship. The Doctor tells him that the first damaged Dalek would have analysed the threat and transmitted new defensive protocols to other Daleks in the area. Cuttin’ Edge begins to tell the Doctor about their operation; they are employed as bounty hunters by Earth Command, getting paid for every eyestalk that they collect. The Doctor is perplexed by his own arrival at this point in history, before the Time War even started. This should be impossible but somehow he is in the middle of the first Earth Empire’s war with the Daleks. Cuttin’ Edge says that the war is finely balanced and that he is part of the generation that has never known a time when the war wasn’t in progress. He says he was discharged from the marines for being too much of a loose cannon and joined up with Bowman, a veteran of the Draconian Conflicts. Their conversation is interrupted by Scrum, informing them that they are taking Stella’s body back to her home on Auros.
Furious at the loss of Stella and her homeworld, the crew of the ''Wayfarer'' decide to interrogate the captured Dalek. With the Doctor's reluctant help they disarm it. Koral uses its claws to open the casing. They remove the creature inside and torture it, despite the Doctor's protests. They give up when the Dalek tells them nothing. After they've left the cargo hold, however, the Doctor returns and reveals to the dying Dalek who he is. The Dalek, amongst its predictable ranting, lets slip that the Daleks plan to "eliminate all humanity from its very beginnings!" Eventually the Dalek dies, and the Doctor works out what it meant.


Later in the voyage Scrum suggests taking the Dalek apart to see what can be learned from it. The Doctor warns him about all the defence systems. The Doctor makes his way to the engine room to see if he can improve their performance but is pounced on by Koral who tells him that Bowman wants to see him. In the captain’s quarters Bowman questions the Doctor about his presence on Hurala, and why the Daleks were there, too. Before the Doctor can answer they arrive in orbit around Auros, where something is terribly wrong.
He reveals to the crew that the Daleks must be looking for the [[Arkheon Threshold]], a schism in time and space which, if opened, will give the Daleks access to the [[Time Vortex]]. Deciding that the Doctor is telling the truth, Bowman orders the crew to head for the remains of the planet [[Arkheon]], destroyed at the start of the war.


The whole planet is on fire while fleet of ships evacuates. The Doctor recognises the Osterhagen Principle in action: the thousands of colonists have boarded an escape fleet and detonated nuclear devices beneath the surface to render the planet unusable for the Daleks. The Doctor is appalled that humans could do such a thing but Bowman says the planet is too far from Earth Command to be defensible. Suddenly the Doctor turns his thoughts to the events unfolding in front of him and becomes horrified for another reason. He demands that the fleet is sent a signal warning them to turn back but even as he makes contact his transmission is blocked by the Daleks. They demand that the fleet surrender. When the Leader of the fleet begs for safe passage her ship is destroyed and the rest of the fleet is taken prisoner.
They find the planet has been split in two, with the surviving half still retaining a breathable atmosphere. The ''Wayfarer'' lands and the Doctor and the crew disembark. Whilst looking round the devastated landscape they encounter dozens of mutated [[Arkheonite]]s, devolved by the radiation fallout. They chase the crew to the very edge of the planet, where they are captured by Daleks. After destroying their weapons, the Daleks force the Doctor and the crew onto a lift, which descends the side of the planet towards they core. Here the Doctor discovers that the Daleks, far from searching for Arkheon, have been on the planet for years. They have constructed a huge underground base where thousands of human prisoners from Auros mine the core, looking for the Threshold. The base also contains laboratories and the largest Dalek Prison outside of [[Skaro]].


Bowman wonders how the Doctor knew this would happen but the Doctor puts it down to guesswork. Bowman attacks the Doctor as if blaming him for these events, saying that the Doctor knows more than he is telling. The Doctor says that if it makes them feel better they can beat him up but Koral steps in and points out that they should be fighting the Daleks and not each other.
The Doctor and the crew are taken into the base where they are scanned for "suitability". Scrum is found to be of marginal use. Cuttin' Edge and Koral are sentenced to work in the mines. When Bowman is scanned it is discovered he is in fact "Space Major Jon Bowman", the designer of Earth's defence system and high on the Dalek's list of wanted people. The commander is alerted. Upon being told by the [[Command Dalek (Prisoner of the Daleks)|Command Dalek]] that Bowman will be taken for brain excoriation, which will kill him, Koral, who is secretly in love with Bowman, lashes out at the nearest Dalek. In retaliation the Daleks kill Scrum, the weakest member of the group. As the Daleks prepare to take Bowman away, the Doctor stops them and whispers something to the Command Dalek. The Command Dalek, suddenly terrified, orders two of its minions to scan the Doctor. They immediately identity him and prepare to exterminate him. The Doctor persuades them to interrogate him first. News of the Doctor's capture is sent to the [[Supreme Dalek (Prisoner of the Daleks)|Supreme Dalek]] on Skaro, who sends the Primary Intelligence Unit, led by the [[Dalek Inquisitor General]], to interrogate the Doctor.


Bowman and Scrum decide to see if their captive Dalek can answer their questions. They all go to the cargo chamber where the Dalek is stored. It is beginning to thaw out. Using a stethoscope the Doctor discovers that the creature is still alive. Scrum suggests that they open it up and ask it some questions. The Doctor asks why they don’t take it back to Earth command but Bowman says it is too far. When the Doctor says that Bowman doesn’t understand the Daleks he is contradicted by the captain. Bowman says that he know that Daleks deliberately reduce the power of their weapons so that it takes a few seconds to kill humans, making sure that they die in agony. The Doctor says that he knows that but he still thinks they want revenge for Stella’s death. Bowman merely agrees.
Cuttin' Edge and Koral are sent to work in the mines. The Doctor is placed in the same cell as Bowman, who reveals to him that the Dalek Inquisitor General, called "[[Dalek X]]" by the Earth authorities, is second in command to the Supreme Dalek and is described as being "the Devil in Dalek form". Dalek X arrives at Arkheon aboard the ''[[Exterminator (ship)|Exterminator]]'', the [[Dalek Empire]]'s most advanced ship, containing five hundred Daleks and accompanied by a small fleet of [[Dalek flying saucer|Dalek saucers]]. Dalek X takes over command of the base, and exterminates one of its mining Daleks for failing to meet its target. He orders that every hour the weakest group of workers will be exterminated. Soon after, the Doctor is brought to the interrogation room. Dalek X measures the Doctor's capacity for physical pain with a [[mind probe]], simply out of curiosity. After an unknown length of time in pain, the Doctor is released from the mind probe and shown around the base by Dalek X. Meanwhile, the ''Wayfarer'' is destroyed by an [[Aggressor class|''Aggressor''-class starship]], and Bowman is taken to have his brain removed.


Cuttin’ Edge uses a cargo loader to turn the Dalek upside down and then prepares to open it up. Despite his objections the Doctor helps them to remove the Dalek’s gun. He says it is because he doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt. When they prepare lasers to cut the casing the Doctor objects again, telling them that they are committing murder. Koral then steps in and produces razor-like claws from her fingers. With precision and strength she opens the casing up to reveal the creature inside. Scrum and Cuttin’ Edge use staves to remove the creature from the casing but it catches inside and hangs, suspended. Its eye opens.
Dalek X reveals to the Doctor that once the planetary core has been extracted, the Daleks will locate the Threshold with a [[Large Chronon Collider]]. They will open it, access the time vortex and defeat the [[Time Lord]]s. There is a chance that the collider won't work properly, however. To ensure success the Daleks need a control element; the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor refuse to co-operate, but the Daleks threaten to exterminate a woman and her daughter from Cuttin' Edge's and Koral's work force if he doesn't comply Finally, the Doctor agrees to help, but on the condition that Cuttin' Edge, Koral and Bowman come with them to help him operate the TARDIS. The Daleks agree and Bowman is released, just before he is about to be killed.


When the Dalek refuses to speak in response to Bowman’s questions he orders his crew to use torture. The Doctor tries to stop them but the three men threaten to kill him. Powerless, the Doctor leaves. He determines to gain access to the ship’s systems to stop them but Koral finds him and says she has been sent to stop him doing anything silly. A scream is heard from the cargo bay as the torture begins. The Doctor tries to go back but Koral tells him on her home planet, Red Sky Lost, her people used their claws to hunt and kill koogah beasts. The Doctor asks if they tortured the beasts first but Koral does not reply. Instead she tells him that the Daleks destroyed her planet and she is the last of her people. The Doctor tells her that he understands. More screaming follows. The Doctor tells her he can get information from the Dalek. Just then Bowman emerges, announcing that the Dalek is dead and that it never said a word. Scrum and Cuttin’ edge follow him, their faces etched with distaste at what they have done.
The ''Exterminator'' and its escort fleet head for Hurala, with the Doctor, the surviving ''Wayfarer'' crew members and the Dalek [[Temporal Research Team]] on board. When they reach the TARDIS, the Doctor claims to have lost the key, saying it is in the room he was held in. As they head for it, Cuttin' Edge recognises the identification symbol on one of the Daleks. It is the same one that killed Scrum. He lashes out at it and is exterminated by Dalek X, though he pulls another Dalek into the ray, destroying it. The Doctor, Koral and Bowman use the distraction to escape into a maintenance duct.


The Doctor enters the cargo bay. The remains of the Dalek lie on the floor. As the Doctor crouches beside it he eye twitches. The Doctor whispers to the Dalek, telling it that he is the Oncoming Storm. The Dalek calls him “Doctor” in return. They converse briefly, during which the Dalek lets slip that the Humans can never win the war and that the Daleks will be the masters of Time and Space. As the Dalek dies the Doctor suddenly realises why they were on Hurala and rushes away, leaving Koral in the shadows, unseen.
After escaping, the Doctor reveals his plan. There is still enough astronic energy fuel on the planet to cause a huge explosion. If they can detonate it, they can destroy Dalek X, the Temporal Research Team and the orbiting Dalek fleet. They make their way to a silo that still contains fuel. The Doctor starts to rig it to explode. Dalek X, enraged by the Doctor's escape, catches them and prepares to exterminate the Doctor. Dalek X is attacked by Koral and Bowman, who disable him and then push him over the edge of the gantry they are standing on. The Doctor is nearly finished, but realises he can't stop the safety override by remote control. Someone will have to stay behind and hold the manual override lever down until the silo reaches critical. Bowman volunteers to stay behind, refusing to leave despite protests from Koral. He knocks out the protesting Koral so the Doctor can take her back to the TARDIS and safety. The Doctor and Koral make it into the TARDIS just as the Daleks arrive. In the silo, Bowman holds the lever as the Daleks approach. As the base begins to shake, the Daleks retreat. The silo reaches critical mass and Bowman prepares to face death. He is saved at the last second by the Doctor, who materialises the TARDIS on the gantry. Bowman leaps into the TARDIS just as the Command Dalek tries to exterminate him. A second later the silo explodes, killing the Daleks on Hurala, as well as destroying the ''Exterminator'' and its escort fleet.


The Doctor finds the three men in the galley and asks what they know of the Arkheon Threshold. He tells them of his conversation with the Dalek but they don’t believe him until Koral confirms the truth. The Doctor tells them that the Daleks must have been on Hurala looking for information about the planet Arkheon. Scrum tells him that the planet was destroyed forty years earlier but the Doctor says that it doesn’t matter; the Threshold will still be there.
Back on Earth Bowman and Koral report to the Earth authorities. They learn the Dalek fleet is in complete disarray thanks to them, and a task force is preparing to attack the Dalek base on Arkheon and release the prisoners. The Doctor leaves as Bowman and Koral prepare to go and meet Bowman's parents.


He tells them that Arkheon was known as the Planet of Ghosts due to temporal anomaly creating spectral visions. Deep inside the planet was a chronic schism, a small tear in time and space called the Arkheon Threshold. The Daleks could use it to control Time and wipe humanity from history. The crew reluctantly comes to agree with the Doctor’s speculations and allow him to pilot them to the Arkheon system. In order to get there quicker he tunes up the Wayfarer’s engines. When they get there they find only half of a planet with its molten core exposed to space. Scrum reports that there are no other space ships in the vicinity as they come in to land. They pass over a snowy landscape of ruined cities and land near the outskirts of a former metropolis.
The Doctor travels to Hurala, which has been sealed off for five thousand years due the radiation fallout. There he finds Dalek X, badly damaged but still alive. The Doctor informs him that Arkheon has been taken by the Earth forces, the Daleks are in full retreat on all fronts and that he has sealed off the Threshold. Regardless of the Doctor's revelations, Dalek X rants that the Daleks are never defeated. The Doctor replies that the Daleks are always defeated, because they can never accept that every other form of life in the Universe is better than they. To prove this the Doctor points out that there is no form of life in the Universe that would volunteer to be a Dalek. As the Doctor prepares to leave, Dalek X vows to hunt him down. The Doctor responds by stating that he'll be waiting. The Doctor finally departs Hurala, leaving Dalek X trapped on the planet, alone.


They make their way through the frozen landscape, gradually becoming aware of movement around them. The Doctor leads them on towards the source of chronon activity. Suddenly, he is thrown to the floor by a humanoid shape in a shroud. Bowman and Cuttin’ Edge kill it instantly. The Doctor inspects the corpse and declares it to be a devolved native of the planet, reduced to scavenging. Bowman says it won’t be alone. Instantly, a pack of the creatures attack forcing the Doctor and the Wayfarer crew up into the rocks. As they reach the top of the crags they realise that they have reached the edge of the world and are looking down a cliff that falls to the molten centre of the world. The Doctor’s excitement at the spectacular view is barely tempered by the closing forces of their new enemy until a sudden thought hits him. Before he has time to apologise, a party of Daleks rise up in front of them, exclaiming that the crew are now all prisoners of the Daleks.
== Characters ==
* [[Tenth Doctor]]
* [[Jon Bowman|Space Major Jon Bowman]]
* [[Stella (Prisoner of the Daleks)|Stella]]
* [[Scrum]]
* [[Koral]]
* [[Cuttin' Edge]]
* [[Jenifa]]
* [[Kuli]]
* [[Vanessa Lakestaad]]
* [[Dalek X]]
* [[Command Dalek (Prisoner of the Daleks)|Command Dalek]]
* [[Dalek (Prisoner of the Daleks)|Dalek prisoner]]


They are herded onto a platform that descends to the mouth of an enormous caver and then moves inside. The cavern is full of criss-crossing walkways and landing areas. Hundreds of Daleks are going about their business. The Doctor is full of self recrimination; he realises that the Daleks must have been there for years in order to create something so vast. Bowman says that there have been rumours of a secret Dalek base where prisoners are taken to be interrogated and experimented on. Its nickname is ‘the Black Hole’ because nothing ever came back out. The prisoners are scanned for their ability to work in the mines. As Bowman is scanned the Daleks detect that he has had a subcutaneous transmitter removed, revealing him to be a high ranking Earth Command officer. A brain scan tells them that he is Space Major John Bowman and they order him to be taken for interrogation. Koral tries to attack the Daleks but is pulled away. In punishment the Dalek’s kill the weakest member of the party: Scrum. Cuttin’ Edge tries to stop them but the Daleks paralyse his legs.
== Worldbuilding ==
=== Daleks ===
* [[Temporal Research Team]] was a team of Dalek scientists.
* The Daleks have visual records of all the Doctor's pre-[[Time War]] incarnations.


Cuttin’ Edge tries to force the Daleks to kill him but they pick him up and order him to report to the mines. As Bowman is being led away Koral pleads with the Doctor to intervene. The Doctor asks the Daleks if they know who he is. He whispers to the nearest Dalek and it scans him, recognising him immediately. Agitation spreads through the Daleks in the cavern which impresses Cuttin’ Edge. The Doctor is marched away to a security room and scanned again. The Command Dalek tells the Doctor that the Dalek Inquisitor General has been ordered to attend the Doctor’s interrogation.
=== The Doctor ===
* The Doctor was able to prevent himself growing a [[beard]] during his five-day incarceration through sheer concentration.


The mines are incredibly hot. Survivors from the Auros fleet are being forced to labour in teams of four. There is an hourly audit by the Dalek supervisors, after which the weakest labour team is exterminated. Despite being barely able to stand, Cuttin’ Edge knows he must work hard to prevent his team (Koral, a woman and her twelve year old daughter) being next to die.
=== Organisations ===
* The [[Shadow Proclamation]] is mentioned.


In a cell deep inside the complex, Bowman and the Doctor discuss their situation. The Doctor surmises that they have been caught in a trap. The Dalek they tortured on the Wayfarer used its last moments to hint at the Arkheon Threshold to fool the crew into going there. Bowman confesses that he was less than enamored when he was given a desk job by Earth Command so he cut out his chip and went on the run, setting himself up as a Dalek hunter. The problem is that the Daleks know the Earth defence system is wired into his brain. The Doctor asks if he has heard of the Dalek Inquisitor General and Bowman replies that it is known as Dalek X (his Space Service security designation), the most feared Dalek in the war.
=== Planets ===
* The planet [[Auros]] is blown up by [[Osterhagen Project|Osterhagen]] technology.
* [[Skaro]] is still in existence.
* The Auros [[population]] tries to find the [[Inner Worlds]].
* The Arkheon Threshold is a chronic schism (i.e. a time rift) located in the centre of the planet Arkheon.


Even the Inquisitor has adopted the name Dalek X because of the fear it inspires in humans. His sole purpose is the extermination of the human race and his only superior is the Supreme Dalek on Skaro. He rides into the Arkheon system aboard an Exterminator class warship, the first of its kind and the ultimate Dalek space craft, armed to the teeth and containing five hundred crew members. Its purpose in coming from Skaro is to interrogate the Dalek’s definitive enemy, the Doctor. Dalek X is black and gold, as opposed to the bronze of the other Daleks. Arriving at the base on Arkheon, Dalek X is less than pleased at the mining operation running behind schedule and orders the mine leader Dalek exterminated. He orders the humans in the mine to be made to work faster.
=== Species ===
* [[Draconian]]s are mentioned, along with the [[Human-Draconian War|Draconian war]].
* [[Koogah Beast]]s are native to [[Red Sky Lost]].


The Doctor and Bowman are moved out of their cell: Bowman to have his brain removed and the Doctor to be interrogated. The Doctor is led into a dark room and secured against a wall by metal bands around his ankles, wrists and head. Dalek X explains that it is a mind probe machine. Power runs through the machine and into the Doctor, causing him great physical pain. Through a foggy mind the Doctor starts to put a pattern together of why the Daleks slaughtered the Auros fleet and why they are so determined to break through the Arkheon Threshold. He realises that the Daleks are in danger of losing the war. Dalek X says that defeat will not happen because they are going to change history. The Doctor says that there isn’t enough power to do this but Dalek X taunts him by showing him the molten core of Arkheon and saying that there is a way through it into the Time Vortex; they will use it to gain mastery of Time and Space.
=== TARDIS ===


Before Bowman is opened up he is shown a view screen of the Wayfarer being destroyed on the planet’s surface
* The TARDIS is protected by a temporal force field
* The doorlock of the TARDIS is a triple-curtain trimonic lock, with 27 different tumblers in 4 separate dimensions, hence a key is essential for unlocking


The Doctor is taken on a guided tour of the cavern, ending at a massive machine (five storeys high): the large chronon collider that will break open the Threshold. The Doctor agrees that it might work but says it will need to be stabilised, and only a TARDIS could do that. When Dalek X suggests the Doctor’s TARDIS, the Doctor refuses point blank. No form of coercion seems likely to work until Koral, Cuttin’ Edge and their two workmates, Jenifa and her daughter Kuli, are brought before him. As the Daleks prepare to exterminate them, the Doctor consents to let them have his TARDIS. However, he adds that the TARDIS needs a crew of six people. He demands the four in front of him and Major Bowman. Dalek X tells him he cannot take the mother and daughter; he will have to make do with a crew of four.
=== Technology ===
* Scrum invented a molecular dissolution virus (MDV) that infects and eats through a Dalek armour plating
* The ''Wayfarer'' uses an astronic propulsion system, which is prone to sudden catastrophic ion implosion
* The ''Exterminator'' ship is powered by a neutronic reactor and propelled by 10 antigravity impeller engines powerful enough to cause a trail of time distortion. It is equipped with particle-beam weapons, missiles, energy-shield repulsors and inertia-dampening fields.
** Amidst flight, the ion thrusters warp the space around the ship to temporarily condense time. Space warps back to normal after arrival.
* Daleks used antigravity disks to tranport prisoners, equipment or even broken Daleks
* The Daleks built a Large Chronon Collider, bombarding chronons at supralight speed, and use the resulting huon shower to trace the temporal profile of the Arkheon Threshold. But this needs a control element for stability, such as the Doctor's TARDIS
* A magnetronic condenser is a discus-shaped object. When attached to a Dalek, generates a localised magnetic field that crushes it.


As Bowman is summoned the Doctor tells the Daleks that his TARDIS is disabled with a broken spatial motivator. He says it will do what the Daleks need it for but the time rotor needs to be removed.
== Notes ==
* This story was released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store on [[2 April (releases)|2 April]] [[2009 (releases)|2009]], two weeks before the hardcover's release on [[16 April (releases)|16 April]].
* ''Prisoner of the Daleks'' was also released as a paperback novel in a collection pack, which also included paperback versions of the novels ''[[The Many Hands (novel)|The Many Hands]]'' and ''[[Shining Darkness (novel)|Shining Darkness]]''.
* Dalek X's colour scheme is vastly similar to the colour scheme of the [[Dalek Supreme (Planet of the Daleks)|Supreme Dalek]] from ''[[Planet of the Daleks (TV story)|Planet of the Daleks]]'', though lacking a [[gold]] [[dome]]. This is known because it is based on the [[Character Options]] black and gold RC Dalek from the battle pack released in 2005.
* The Daleks in this book are pre-[[Last Great Time War|Time War]] due to the Doctor crossing the Dalek timeline. It specifically takes place during the [[Second Dalek War]] of the [[26th century]]. A specific year isn't given (Cuttin' Edge tells the Doctor but it is not revealed to the reader), though evidence points to the approximate decade of the [[2580s]].
* While initially intended as a standalone novel, ''Prisoner of the Daleks'' can also function as a prequel to ''[[Dalek Universe (audio series)|Dalek Universe]]''. A limited 2021 audio series that also features the Tenth Doctor stranded in a period of history prior to the [[Last Great Time War]]. Distinctively, the audio series also depicts the Doctor's return to his post-War timestream, a detail which is left ambiguous in Baxendale's novel.


The Doctor and the three Wayfarer survivors are taken aboard the Dalek flag ship, Exterminator, and within the hour are back on Hurala. Soon, they are standing outside the TARDIS with a party of Daleks. The Doctor pretends that he has lost the TARDIS key and says he probably dropped it when he was trapped in the underground cell after he first arrived on the planet. Dalek X, some elite guards, the Command Dalek and a group of assault Daleks lead the Doctor and his companions down a flight of stairs towards the cell. Cuttin’ Edge uses the narrowness of the stairs to his advantage. He wraps a chain round one of the Daleks and tips some machinery that the chain is fastened to down a stair well. The Dalek plummets, colliding with others. In the confusion the Doctor, Bowman and Koral make their escape into some service hatches, but Cuttin’ Edge is exterminated.
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor suspects that he has jumped a [[time track]] when he realises that these Daleks are pre-Time War. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Space Museum (TV story)|The Space Museum]]'') He later mentions the Last Great Time War and how the Daleks will go on to view him as "the Oncoming Storm" during that conflict. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'') The reason for his unexplained ability to journey into the past becomes apparent during his travels with [[Anya Kingdom]] and [[Mark Seven]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Buying Time (audio story)|Buying Time]]'')
* [[Osterhagen]] technology is utilised. The [[Osterhagen Project]] was capable of destroying the Earth. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'' / ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'')
* The Doctor edges away from some of the larger [[spider]]s' [[web]]s on Hurala, showing that he still has his [[Arachnophobia|fear of arachnids]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]'')
* The Doctor says that just touching the frozen Dalek case could make it absorb DNA and regenerate. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'')
* When searched by Bowman, the Tenth Doctor is revealed to be carrying a stethoscope, ([[TV]]: ''[[Evolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Evolution of the Daleks]]'', ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'') psychic paper, ([[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' ect. al) spectacles ([[TV]]: ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)|The Girl in the Fireplace]]'', ''[[Daleks in Manhattan (TV story)|Daleks in Manhattan]]'') and a teaspoon. ([[TV]]: ''[[Robot of Sherwood (TV story)|Robot of Sherwood]]'')
* The Doctor mentions that [[Fourth Doctor|he]] was there when the Daleks were [[Creation of the Daleks|born]] during the [[Kaled]] [[Thousand Year War|conflict]] with the [[Thal]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]'')
* The Doctor was present at the origin of the [[Second Dalek War]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Frontier in Space (TV story)|Frontier in Space]]'', ''[[Planet of the Daleks (TV story)|Planet of the Daleks]]'')
* The Doctor mentions his mistrust of satnav. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]''/''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'')
* The Doctor mentions the [[Cardiff Space-Time Rift]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Boom Town (TV story)|Boom Town]]'', ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'', ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'')
* The Doctor remarks that time travel is 'wibbly wobbly, timey wimey'. ([[TV]]: ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'', ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]'')
* The Doctor recalls travelling with Martha Jones ([[TV]]: ''[[Smith and Jones (TV story)|Smith and Jones]]'') and Donna Noble ([[TV]]: ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'') and how he lost them recently. ([[TV]]: ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'')
* The Doctor struggles to gain the trust of strangers because he lacks a companion. ([[TV]]: ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'')
* The Doctor recommends Bowman and his team shoot at the Dalek's eyestalk to cause damage. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'', ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'') When one is damaged, the Doctor notes the Daleks refer to it as "vision impaired". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'')
* When the Doctor is scanned, the scan reveals his binary vascular system. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'', ''[[The Power of Three (TV story)|The Power of Three]]'')
* Dalek X is a [[Black Dalek]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'', ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'', ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'', ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)|Resurrection of the Daleks]]'', ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'', ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]'' / ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'', ''[[Daleks in Manhattan (TV story)|Daleks in Manhattan]]'' / ''[[Evolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Evolution of the Daleks]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Dalek Empire (audio series)|Dalek Empire]]'', ''[[The Apocalypse Element (audio story)|The Apocalypse Element]]'', ''[[Jubilee (audio story)|Jubilee]]'', ''[[The Juggernauts (audio story)|The Juggernauts]]'', ''[[The Davros Mission (audio story)|The Davros Mission]]'', ''[[Enemy of the Daleks (audio story)|Enemy of the Daleks]]'')
* Dalek X is accompanied by [[Emperor's Personal Guard|black-domed guards]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)|The Evil of the Daleks]],'' ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'') and [[Assault Dalek]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'')
* Dalek X exterminates another Dalek for incompetence. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'', ''[[Planet of the Daleks (TV story)|Planet of the Daleks]]'')
* Humans torture a Dalek in an attempt to learn information about it. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'')
* Daleks make Bowman kneel and surround him to use their suction arms to scan his brain for information. ([[TV]]: ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'')
* When the Eleventh Doctor first encounters the Daleks, ([[TV]]: ''[[Victory of the Daleks (TV story)|Victory of the Daleks]]'') he states that he has not met them since ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]''. However, he may be referring to Davros's Daleks, not Daleks in general; or he may be speaking in terms of the Daleks' own timeline.


The Doctor leads the two bounty hunters to the astronic fuel silos. He tells them that the return to Hurala was just a ruse to achieve this objective and that the fuel residue ion the silos is enough to destroy the Exterminator. While Bowman holds off the Daleks by using the confined space, and by employing various pieces of heavy machinery as weapons, the Doctor improvises a huge bomb. Dalek X, arrogant in its belief that it can resolve this situation alone, tracks the Doctor down. Koral has been lying in wait and ambushes Dalek X from beneath, holding it still long enough for Bowman to fire a succession ion bolts into the casing. He then tips the blazing Dalek into the darkness of a huge silo.
== Releases ==
* This novel was reprinted and re-released as an ebook by [[BBC Books]] on [[6 March (releases)|6 March]] [[2014 (releases)|2014]] as part of ''[[The Monster Collection (series)|The Monster Collection]]''.
* This novel was reprinted in hardcover with ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' by Barnes & Noble on [[29 July (releases)|29 July]] [[2016 (releases)|2016]].


The Doctor finishers his bomb but realises it will have to be detonated manually. Bowman volunteers to stay behind, saying he always felt that this was a suicide mission. Koral is horrified and declares her love for Bowman. Bowman replies that he loves her, too, which is why he wants her to escape. He then uses a nerve grip to knock her out. The Doctor carries Koral back up through the complex and into the Hurala night. They sprint to the TARDIS and make it inside before the Dalek guards are aware of them.
== Additional cover images ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
Dw prisoner of the daleks 600.jpg|2014 edition. Cover by [[Two Associates]].
Remembrance of the Daleks Prisoner of the Daleks (B&N).jpg|2016 edition. Cover by Barnes & Noble.
</gallery>


A party of Daleks closes in on Bowman just as he pulls the lever, starting a chain reaction in the fuel silo beneath the ground. As the Daleks flee Bowman prepares to die. Instead he sees the TARDIS materialise in front of him and Koral reaching out to pull him inside. As the TARDIS dematerializes again the fuelling station and the town around it are vapourised. The fleets of Dalek ships, including the Exterminator, are destroyed in the blast.
== Editions published outside Britain ==
* Published in Brazil by Suma de Letras in 2015 as a paperback edition.
* Published in Russia by AST in 2016 as a hardback edition.
* Published in Germany by Cross Cult in 2020 as a paperback edition.
* Published in China by New Star Press in 2020 as a paperback edition.
* Published in Spain by Dolmen Editorial in 2021 as a paperback edition.


The Doctor takes Bowman and Koral to Earth where they report on the events leading up to the destruction of the Dalek fleet. Afterwards Bowman tells the Doctor that he is giving up active service and intends to take Koral to meet his parents.
<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" >
BrazilianPrisonerOfTheDaleks.jpg|Brazilian edition
RussianPrisonerOfTheDaleks.jpg|Russian edition
GermanPrisonerOfTheDaleks.jpg|German edition
ChinesePrisonerOfTheDaleks.jpg|Chinese Edition
Prisionero de los Daleks.jpg|Spanish edition
</gallery>


Beneath the crater where the Lodestar station stood on Hurala are caves and crevices. In the darkness and silence lies the wreckage of Dalek X’s casing and, nearby, the twitching remains of the creature itself. The TARDFIS materialises nearby. The Dalek asks if the Doctor located its transmission. The Doctor says he did, but no one else ever will. He tells the Dalek that the Arkheon Threshold has been sealed forever. He adds that there is a five thousand year quarantine around the radioactive planet of Hurala. Dalek X says that the astronic radiation will keep it alive long enough for it to find a way out. It says that the Doctor’s failure to kill it will prove his downfall. The Doctor steps back into the TARDIS and leaves the Dalek in the darkness.
== Audiobook ==
* This novel was released as an audiobook on [[3 September (releases)|3 September]] [[2009 (releases)|2009]] by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Nicholas Briggs]].
* This novel was released again as an audiobook in [[August (releases)|August]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]] by Chivers Audiobooks and read again by Nicholas Briggs. The audiobook was only available through the [[AudioGO]] website.


==Characters==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
*[[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]]
Bbcnewaudio30-1.jpg|BBC Audiobook cover
*[[Jon Bowman|Space Major Jon Bowman]]
Prisoner of the Daleks Second Audiobook.jpg|Chivers Audiobook cover
*[[Stella]]
</gallery>
*[[Scrum]]
*[[Koral]]
*[[Cuttin' Edge]]
*[[Dalek X]]
*[[Dalek]]s


==References==
== External links ==
* Koral's unique ability, of being able to extend blades from her fingers, may be a reference to the "Razorgirls" of the sci-fi novel ''Neuromancer''. (''It might also be a reference to ''X-Men'' as Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike among other characters can also do this.'')
{{dwrefguide|whobb933.htm|Prisoner of the Daleks}}
*The planet [[Auros]] is blown up by Osterhagen technology.
* {{whoniverse|ns33|Prisoner of the Daleks}}
*The Daleks in this book are pre-Time War due to the Doctor crossing the Dalek timeline. It specifically takes place during the [[Second Dalek War]] of the [[26th century]] (see ''[[History of the Daleks#Galactic War (first attempt)|History of the Daleks]]), though a specific year isn't given.'')
* [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/prisonerdaleks.htm The Cloister Library: '''Prisoner of the Daleks''']
*[[Skaro]] is still in existence due to being pre-Time War and end of Dalek civil war, and mention of a Supreme Dalek.
* The planet "Gauda Prime" is a reference to [[Blake's 7]]; this is the name of the planet on which the last episode of that series was set. ("Auros" may be another such reference, being similair to "Auron", Cally's home planet from B7.)
* The Daleks' speech is printed using a similair font to that used in [[The Dalek Chronicles]] and other comic strips.


===[[:Category:Locations|Locations]]===
== Footnotes ==
*[[Hurala]]
{{reflist}}
*[[Auros]]
*[[Arkheon]]
*[[Tenten 10]]
*[[Jalian 17]]
*[[Gauda Prime]]
*[[Red Sky Lost]]
*[[Blenhorm Ogin]]


==Timeline==
{{NSA}}
*Prisoner of the Daleks occurs after: [[NSA]]: ''[[The Slitheen Excursion]]''
{{Dalek prose stories}}
*Prisoner of the Daleks occurs before: [[NSA]]: ''[[The Taking of Chelsea 426]]''
{{TitleSort}}


==Continuity==
[[Category:Tenth Doctor NSA novels]]
*[[Dalek|The Daleks]] last appeared on television in ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' and ''[[Journey's End]]''. The last novel the Daleks appeared in was ''[[I am a Dalek]]'', a Quick Read novella.
[[Category:2009 novels]]
*Osterhagen technology is a reference to the [[Osterhagen Project]], capable of destroying the Earth, as featured in [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' and ''[[Journey's End]]''.
[[Category:Dalek novels]]
*This book, as the Doctor is travelling alone, occurs during the specials.  It is hard to distinguish actually where, but it is presumably between [[Planet of the Dead]] and [[The Waters of Mars]] as the Doctor is wearing a brown suit, while he is wearing a blue suit in [[The Waters of Mars]], and is companionless in this novel
[[Category:Stories set in the 26th century]]
* The Doctor suspects that he has jumped a 'time track' when he realises that these Daleks are pre-Time War (cf. [[The Space Museum]]).
[[Category:E-books]]


==External Links==
[[fr:Prisoner of the Daleks]]
*{{dwrefguide|whobb931.htm|Prisoner of the Daleks}}
[[ru:Пленник далеков]]
 
{{TDA}}
[[Category:Dalek novels]]
[[Category:BBC Tenth Doctor Adventures]]
[[Category:2009 novels]]
[[Category:Tenth Doctor novels]]

Latest revision as of 18:19, 25 June 2024

RealWorld.png

Prisoner of the Daleks was the thirty-third novel in the BBC New Series Adventures series. It was written by Trevor Baxendale and featured the Tenth Doctor.

Prisoner of the Daleks did not feature the Daleks as antagonists in print for the first time in revived-era material, beaten as it was by the 2006 Quick Reads novella, I Am a Dalek. However, it was the first of the New Series Adventures to pit them against the Doctor, and the first full-length original novel to do so since Legacy of the Daleks in 1998.

The story returns the Doctor to the period of the Second Dalek War, during the 26th century, a storyline which began in 1973 with Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks. Though never thereafter revisited by the TV series, the conflict provided the background for Doctor Who Magazine comic stories featuring Abslom Daak and various aspects of the Virgin New Adventures. Prisoner of the Daleks delves right into the heart of the Dalek war effort and brings the war to a climax, providing the storyline with a sense of finality and closure almost thirty-six years after it began.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Daleks are advancing, their empire constantly expanding into Earth's space. The Earth forces are resisting the Daleks in every way they can. But the battles rage on across countless solar systems. And now the future of our galaxy hangs in the balance... The Doctor finds himself stranded on board a starship near the front line with a group of ruthless bounty hunters.

Earth Command will pay them for every Dalek they kill, every eye stalk they bring back as proof. With the Doctor's help, the bounty hunters achieve the ultimate prize: a Dalek prisoner — intact, powerless, and ready for interrogation. But where the Daleks are involved, nothing is what it seems, and no one is safe. Before long the tables will be turned, and how will the Doctor survive when he becomes a prisoner of the Daleks?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Hurala. Whilst investigating a deserted site, the Tenth Doctor makes his way to the base's computer data core room, where he is locked inside by the computer with someone's corpse trapped inside along with him.

Five days later, the bounty hunter ship Wayfarer lands on the planet, its crew of five hoping to use the stores to refuel their ship. They soon come across the TARDIS, and hear a repeating tapping noise. One of them, Scrum, realises it's a Morse code SOS message. They trace it to the computer data core room where they find and free the Doctor, who has been sending it with a spoon. On the insistence of the Doctor and another of the bounty hunters, Stella, the group investigate the computer's systems. They discover an override which, when activated, took control of the base and trapped the Doctor. Someone had used the computer to set a trap. Who did is soon answered when the group are attacked by a Dalek patrol.

The Doctor and the bounty hunters, who reveal that they kill Daleks for a living, race back to the Wayfarer, escape to the TARDIS being blocked by Daleks. They take off but the Daleks blow up a refuelling pump, sending debris flying into the ship through the open landing ramp, badly wounding Stella. As the crew attempt to put her into cryo-freeze a Dalek gets into the ship through an airlock and it exterminates Stella. Before it can kill anyone else, the Doctor freezes it with the emergency cryo-charge intended for Stella. With the Dalek immobilised, Stella's body is also frozen and the crew make a course for Auros, her home planet.

En route, the Dalek's eye stalk is removed so the crew can claim the bounty for killing it, and place it in the cargo hold. Whilst talking with the crew the Doctor realises he's travelled back along the time line to before the Last Great Time War. At this point, the Daleks are locked in a huge galactic war with Earth's first empire with the outcome undertain. The Doctor also learns more about the crew. Commanding the ship is Bowman, a former Earth trooper who has been fighting the Daleks for years. Scrum is the crew's technician, Cuttin' Edge is a former Space Marine who was dishonourably discharged and Stella was the ship's Medic. The other crew member, Koral, is a humanoid alien whose planet and people of Red Sky Lost were destroyed by the Daleks.

Upon arriving at Auros the Doctor and the crew discover that the planet's population are abandoning the planet as the Daleks are about to invade. Using the Osterhagen Principle, they detonate a series of nuclear bombs and destroy the planet to prevent it falling to the Daleks. The Doctor and Bowman realise the Daleks will ambush the retreating convoy. They try to warn them but the Daleks arrive, forcing the convoy to surrender and destroying its flagship as a warning to the other ships.

Furious at the loss of Stella and her homeworld, the crew of the Wayfarer decide to interrogate the captured Dalek. With the Doctor's reluctant help they disarm it. Koral uses its claws to open the casing. They remove the creature inside and torture it, despite the Doctor's protests. They give up when the Dalek tells them nothing. After they've left the cargo hold, however, the Doctor returns and reveals to the dying Dalek who he is. The Dalek, amongst its predictable ranting, lets slip that the Daleks plan to "eliminate all humanity from its very beginnings!" Eventually the Dalek dies, and the Doctor works out what it meant.

He reveals to the crew that the Daleks must be looking for the Arkheon Threshold, a schism in time and space which, if opened, will give the Daleks access to the Time Vortex. Deciding that the Doctor is telling the truth, Bowman orders the crew to head for the remains of the planet Arkheon, destroyed at the start of the war.

They find the planet has been split in two, with the surviving half still retaining a breathable atmosphere. The Wayfarer lands and the Doctor and the crew disembark. Whilst looking round the devastated landscape they encounter dozens of mutated Arkheonites, devolved by the radiation fallout. They chase the crew to the very edge of the planet, where they are captured by Daleks. After destroying their weapons, the Daleks force the Doctor and the crew onto a lift, which descends the side of the planet towards they core. Here the Doctor discovers that the Daleks, far from searching for Arkheon, have been on the planet for years. They have constructed a huge underground base where thousands of human prisoners from Auros mine the core, looking for the Threshold. The base also contains laboratories and the largest Dalek Prison outside of Skaro.

The Doctor and the crew are taken into the base where they are scanned for "suitability". Scrum is found to be of marginal use. Cuttin' Edge and Koral are sentenced to work in the mines. When Bowman is scanned it is discovered he is in fact "Space Major Jon Bowman", the designer of Earth's defence system and high on the Dalek's list of wanted people. The commander is alerted. Upon being told by the Command Dalek that Bowman will be taken for brain excoriation, which will kill him, Koral, who is secretly in love with Bowman, lashes out at the nearest Dalek. In retaliation the Daleks kill Scrum, the weakest member of the group. As the Daleks prepare to take Bowman away, the Doctor stops them and whispers something to the Command Dalek. The Command Dalek, suddenly terrified, orders two of its minions to scan the Doctor. They immediately identity him and prepare to exterminate him. The Doctor persuades them to interrogate him first. News of the Doctor's capture is sent to the Supreme Dalek on Skaro, who sends the Primary Intelligence Unit, led by the Dalek Inquisitor General, to interrogate the Doctor.

Cuttin' Edge and Koral are sent to work in the mines. The Doctor is placed in the same cell as Bowman, who reveals to him that the Dalek Inquisitor General, called "Dalek X" by the Earth authorities, is second in command to the Supreme Dalek and is described as being "the Devil in Dalek form". Dalek X arrives at Arkheon aboard the Exterminator, the Dalek Empire's most advanced ship, containing five hundred Daleks and accompanied by a small fleet of Dalek saucers. Dalek X takes over command of the base, and exterminates one of its mining Daleks for failing to meet its target. He orders that every hour the weakest group of workers will be exterminated. Soon after, the Doctor is brought to the interrogation room. Dalek X measures the Doctor's capacity for physical pain with a mind probe, simply out of curiosity. After an unknown length of time in pain, the Doctor is released from the mind probe and shown around the base by Dalek X. Meanwhile, the Wayfarer is destroyed by an Aggressor-class starship, and Bowman is taken to have his brain removed.

Dalek X reveals to the Doctor that once the planetary core has been extracted, the Daleks will locate the Threshold with a Large Chronon Collider. They will open it, access the time vortex and defeat the Time Lords. There is a chance that the collider won't work properly, however. To ensure success the Daleks need a control element; the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor refuse to co-operate, but the Daleks threaten to exterminate a woman and her daughter from Cuttin' Edge's and Koral's work force if he doesn't comply Finally, the Doctor agrees to help, but on the condition that Cuttin' Edge, Koral and Bowman come with them to help him operate the TARDIS. The Daleks agree and Bowman is released, just before he is about to be killed.

The Exterminator and its escort fleet head for Hurala, with the Doctor, the surviving Wayfarer crew members and the Dalek Temporal Research Team on board. When they reach the TARDIS, the Doctor claims to have lost the key, saying it is in the room he was held in. As they head for it, Cuttin' Edge recognises the identification symbol on one of the Daleks. It is the same one that killed Scrum. He lashes out at it and is exterminated by Dalek X, though he pulls another Dalek into the ray, destroying it. The Doctor, Koral and Bowman use the distraction to escape into a maintenance duct.

After escaping, the Doctor reveals his plan. There is still enough astronic energy fuel on the planet to cause a huge explosion. If they can detonate it, they can destroy Dalek X, the Temporal Research Team and the orbiting Dalek fleet. They make their way to a silo that still contains fuel. The Doctor starts to rig it to explode. Dalek X, enraged by the Doctor's escape, catches them and prepares to exterminate the Doctor. Dalek X is attacked by Koral and Bowman, who disable him and then push him over the edge of the gantry they are standing on. The Doctor is nearly finished, but realises he can't stop the safety override by remote control. Someone will have to stay behind and hold the manual override lever down until the silo reaches critical. Bowman volunteers to stay behind, refusing to leave despite protests from Koral. He knocks out the protesting Koral so the Doctor can take her back to the TARDIS and safety. The Doctor and Koral make it into the TARDIS just as the Daleks arrive. In the silo, Bowman holds the lever as the Daleks approach. As the base begins to shake, the Daleks retreat. The silo reaches critical mass and Bowman prepares to face death. He is saved at the last second by the Doctor, who materialises the TARDIS on the gantry. Bowman leaps into the TARDIS just as the Command Dalek tries to exterminate him. A second later the silo explodes, killing the Daleks on Hurala, as well as destroying the Exterminator and its escort fleet.

Back on Earth Bowman and Koral report to the Earth authorities. They learn the Dalek fleet is in complete disarray thanks to them, and a task force is preparing to attack the Dalek base on Arkheon and release the prisoners. The Doctor leaves as Bowman and Koral prepare to go and meet Bowman's parents.

The Doctor travels to Hurala, which has been sealed off for five thousand years due the radiation fallout. There he finds Dalek X, badly damaged but still alive. The Doctor informs him that Arkheon has been taken by the Earth forces, the Daleks are in full retreat on all fronts and that he has sealed off the Threshold. Regardless of the Doctor's revelations, Dalek X rants that the Daleks are never defeated. The Doctor replies that the Daleks are always defeated, because they can never accept that every other form of life in the Universe is better than they. To prove this the Doctor points out that there is no form of life in the Universe that would volunteer to be a Dalek. As the Doctor prepares to leave, Dalek X vows to hunt him down. The Doctor responds by stating that he'll be waiting. The Doctor finally departs Hurala, leaving Dalek X trapped on the planet, alone.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Daleks[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor was able to prevent himself growing a beard during his five-day incarceration through sheer concentration.

Organisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The planet Auros is blown up by Osterhagen technology.
  • Skaro is still in existence.
  • The Auros population tries to find the Inner Worlds.
  • The Arkheon Threshold is a chronic schism (i.e. a time rift) located in the centre of the planet Arkheon.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The TARDIS is protected by a temporal force field
  • The doorlock of the TARDIS is a triple-curtain trimonic lock, with 27 different tumblers in 4 separate dimensions, hence a key is essential for unlocking

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Scrum invented a molecular dissolution virus (MDV) that infects and eats through a Dalek armour plating
  • The Wayfarer uses an astronic propulsion system, which is prone to sudden catastrophic ion implosion
  • The Exterminator ship is powered by a neutronic reactor and propelled by 10 antigravity impeller engines powerful enough to cause a trail of time distortion. It is equipped with particle-beam weapons, missiles, energy-shield repulsors and inertia-dampening fields.
    • Amidst flight, the ion thrusters warp the space around the ship to temporarily condense time. Space warps back to normal after arrival.
  • Daleks used antigravity disks to tranport prisoners, equipment or even broken Daleks
  • The Daleks built a Large Chronon Collider, bombarding chronons at supralight speed, and use the resulting huon shower to trace the temporal profile of the Arkheon Threshold. But this needs a control element for stability, such as the Doctor's TARDIS
  • A magnetronic condenser is a discus-shaped object. When attached to a Dalek, generates a localised magnetic field that crushes it.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This story was released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store on 2 April 2009, two weeks before the hardcover's release on 16 April.
  • Prisoner of the Daleks was also released as a paperback novel in a collection pack, which also included paperback versions of the novels The Many Hands and Shining Darkness.
  • Dalek X's colour scheme is vastly similar to the colour scheme of the Supreme Dalek from Planet of the Daleks, though lacking a gold dome. This is known because it is based on the Character Options black and gold RC Dalek from the battle pack released in 2005.
  • The Daleks in this book are pre-Time War due to the Doctor crossing the Dalek timeline. It specifically takes place during the Second Dalek War of the 26th century. A specific year isn't given (Cuttin' Edge tells the Doctor but it is not revealed to the reader), though evidence points to the approximate decade of the 2580s.
  • While initially intended as a standalone novel, Prisoner of the Daleks can also function as a prequel to Dalek Universe. A limited 2021 audio series that also features the Tenth Doctor stranded in a period of history prior to the Last Great Time War. Distinctively, the audio series also depicts the Doctor's return to his post-War timestream, a detail which is left ambiguous in Baxendale's novel.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

Additional cover images[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 2014 edition. Cover by Two Associates.

    2014 edition. Cover by Two Associates.

  • 2016 edition. Cover by Barnes & Noble.

    2016 edition. Cover by Barnes & Noble.

Editions published outside Britain[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Published in Brazil by Suma de Letras in 2015 as a paperback edition.
  • Published in Russia by AST in 2016 as a hardback edition.
  • Published in Germany by Cross Cult in 2020 as a paperback edition.
  • Published in China by New Star Press in 2020 as a paperback edition.
  • Published in Spain by Dolmen Editorial in 2021 as a paperback edition.
  • Brazilian edition

    Brazilian edition

  • Russian edition

    Russian edition

  • German edition

    German edition

  • Chinese Edition

    Chinese Edition

  • Spanish edition

    Spanish edition

Audiobook[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This novel was released as an audiobook on 3 September 2009 by BBC Audio and read by Nicholas Briggs.
  • This novel was released again as an audiobook in August 2011 by Chivers Audiobooks and read again by Nicholas Briggs. The audiobook was only available through the AudioGO website.
  • BBC Audiobook cover

    BBC Audiobook cover

  • Prisoner of the Daleks Second Audiobook.jpg

    Chivers Audiobook cover

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ The war in the story was sparked by the events of Frontier in Space, which was set in 2540. Reference to the First Dalek Incursion taking place "over forty years" before the events of the novel roughly point to the 2580s as the story's time period. Curiously, the Doctor explicitly asks for the year in the novel and receives an answer, but the reader is never told what it is.
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