Defence Drone

Defence Drone
Biological type:	Dalek
Place of origin:	Earth
Notable individuals:	Reconnaissance Dalek Transmissions Dalek
First appearance:	Incoming Transmission
Appearances:	WC: The Defence Drones TV: Revolution of the Daleks

The Defence Drones, (WC: The Defence Drones), security drones or Robertson's Daleks, were robots created on Earth by Leo Rugazzi and Jack Robertson, based on the destroyed metal casing of the Reconnaissance Dalek defeated by the Thirteenth Doctor on 1st January 2019. However, after Rugazzi cloned the original Reconaissance Dalek mutant from genetic traces inside the metal casing, the cloned Dalek used him to clone an army of Dalek mutants from its own template, which later inhabited the robots and became the New Dalek Army and commenced an invasion of Earth on 1st January 2021. As they shared the human-derived flaws and genetic alterations that Rugazzi had added to their genome when recreating the Reconnaissance Dalek, the Defence Drones were ultimately wiped out by the Death Squad Daleks, summoned to Earth by the Thirteenth Doctor, for their "impurity", classing them as primary rogue Dalek impurities. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

Characteristics

A cloned Dalek mutant. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

The Defence Drones had very similar casings to the metal casing created by the Reconnaissance Dalek and were predominantly black and silver in colour. The Defence Drones were adorned with blue lights, including a blue eyestalk lens, as well as a blue light within their grating sections. In addition, the Defence Drones' base units featured less sense globes than the Reconnaissance Dalek's scrap casing, as their casings had black layered panelling around the bottom of their base units.

Originally purely robotic in nature, the Defence Drones were initially harmless, and were designed to function as assistance to police and security services; this was reflected in their weapons platforms, which featured a gunstick that shot water, and a gas emitter in place of the traditional manipulator arm. They could also emit a sound wave at a high frequency, used to irritate rioters and force them to disperse.

However, when the clone of the Reconnaissance Dalek modified them, the Defence Drones gained the more traditional functions of a Dalek casing; they became hospitable for the cloned Reconnaissance scout Dalek mutants, their gunsticks could exterminate humans, and they possessed flight capabilities. In addition, their blue lights and the lights of their grating section turned red. The Defence Drones' gunstick blasts were coloured red, unlike the blue blasts of traditional Daleks, and their victims were enveloped in a bright red light when exterminated. Their casings had limited resistance to the firepower of Death Squad Daleks. The original Defence Drone demonstrated the ability of spatial shift, allowing it to transport aboard a Dalek ship. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

History

A day to come

Through the projections of the Matrix, the Time Lords foresaw the creation of this "new strain" of Dalek. It came to their concern that the Reconnaissance Dalek was able to create a new Dalek army without the advanced skills of the Cult of Skaro, the Emperor or Davros, and so research was undertaken into the genetic make-up of Reconnaissance Daleks to further understand the extent of their abilities. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual)

Creation

A drone is 3D printed (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

Leo Rugazzi built the first Defence Drone himself in the United Kingdom, after which Jack Robertson bought his company. The drones used Artificial Intelligence to predict the best choice to make from many different scenarios. During a fake riot organised by Robertson to show MP Jo Patterson his drones, a drone shot a high speed jet of water and fake tear gas from its two arms. It later emitted an high frequency sonic wave, causing the "rioters" to flee in irritation. Robertson, Patterson, and Leo had to wear earphones to protect themselves from the screech.

Robertson 3D printed thousands of drones over the course of a year, which were rolled out across the nation at borders and national landmarks. Although the drones were not intended to be able to kill, the Reconnaissance Scout, controlling Leo, made him change the plans so that the new casings could fly, kill, and house a Kaled mutant. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

Attack on the United Kingdom

Main article: 2021 Dalek civil war

According to one account, some time before 1 January 2021, one Defence Drone Dalek prematurely made a broadcast to humanity, claiming that the Daleks had taken control of Earth and that this day of victory would henceforth be celebrated as Dalek Day. However, after an unidentified incarnation of the Doctor interfered with the broadcast, the Dalek relented, though claiming that its kind would return on New Year's Day. (AUDIO: Incoming Transmission)

A squad of Defence Drones make contact with the Dalek Death Squad. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

A few hours after Patterson won a general election, she had Robertson distribute the Drones around the country. After the Drones were brought online, Dalek mutants transported themselves into the casings using ultra violet light and began exterminating nearby humans, officially launching their revolution. However, the Thirteenth Doctor then attracted the Death Squad Daleks to Earth, knowing their first priority would be to exterminate impure Daleks and that the Defence Drones' cloning process had left them with slightly mutated DNA.

When making contact with the Death Squad Daleks, the Defence Drones insisted that they were also Daleks, while the Death Squad Daleks deemed them impure. The Death Squad Daleks thus began attackng the Defence Drones. By the time the original Reconnaissance Dalek transmatted into the Death Squad's ship, the Death Squad claimed that they had succeeded in destroying all of the cloned Daleks. The Reconnaissance Dalek begged to be left alive even if its race was purged, as it had originally been a pure Dalek before its death and resurrection, and believed it deserved to have its genetic material purified rather than destroyed. However, the Death Squad denied it this chance and destroyed it.

The Death Squad Daleks and their ship were subsequently destroyed by Team TARDIS and Jack Harkness by being tricked into a "spare TARDIS", which the Doctor then set to materialise into the heart of the Void, a counterfactual instruction which led the TARDIS to crumple on itself with the Daleks inside. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

Behind the scenes

Props

Only two props were constructed to represent the Defence Drone Daleks, with CGI being used for crowd shots.

Merchandise

• A figurine of this weaponised Security Drone Dalek was released with issue 207 of Doctor Who: Figurine Collection magazine.