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[[file:mo dv01.jpg|thumb|[[Davros]], the creator of the [[Dalek]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'')]]
{{Rename|Given there are many valid sources that refer to this event as the "genesis of the Daleks", shouldn't we rename this page to reflect that?}}
Several different seemingly conflicting accounts of the '''Creation of the Daleks''' exist, with the largest body of information centering around the [[Kaled]] scientist, [[Davros]].
The '''creation of the [[Dalek]]s''', ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}}) also known as the '''genesis of the Daleks''', ([[WC]]: {{cs|Who Are The Daleks? (webcast)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)}}, {{cs|Sevrin (short story)}}, [[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}}) was the subject of many seemingly-contradictory accounts, from [[the Doctor]]'s first-hand witnessing of the "genesis" of the creatures ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}}) to one of the [[story-cube]] of Dalek history [[Daleks in popular culture and mythology|available on Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Dalek Chronicles Found! (short story)}})


==Main account==
The largest body of information, though not by far the only, centred on the [[Kaled]] [[scientist]] [[Davros]], hailed by the Daleks as "the Creator"; ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Witch's Familiar (TV story)}}) all accounts concurred, at any rate, that the Daleks had not arisen through ordinary [[evolution|natural selection]], instead coming into being as [[mutation]]s of a preexisting [[humanoid]] [[species]].


===Conceptual origins of the Daleks===
Looking back to the Daleks' beginning after the [[Last Great Time War]], some [[human]] historians foregrounded the story of Davros but granted that other potential origins for the Daleks might have "become" true at one point or another of the War due to its [[paradox]]ical nature. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)}}) Nevertheless, [[Post-Time War universe|after the War had ended]], the story of Davros was still regarded as the origin of the Daleks. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Stolen Earth (TV story)}}, {{cs|Journey's End (TV story)}}, {{cs|The Magician's Apprentice (TV story)}}, {{cs|The Witch's Familiar (TV story)}})
On the [[planet]] [[Skaro]], during the final days of the [[Thousand Year War]] , in the year [[15th century|1450]] ([[REF]]: [[Doctor Who: The Dalek Handbook|''Doctor Who: The Dalek Handbook'']]), between the [[Thal]]s and Kaleds, both sides began to suffer mutations caused by the use of [[nuclear weapon|nuclear]], biological and chemical agents. Some of the mutant survivors, the [[muto]]es, managed to survive in the wastelands ([[DW]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]''). [[Shan]], a young Kaled scientist, authored a paper that theorized that with both Kaleds and Thals competing for resources, she called the only way out of this dilemma "the Dalek Solution". Davros took the paper and presented it to the [[Kaled Council]] as his own ([[BFA]]: ''[[Davros (audio story)|Davros]]''). Another account says that Davros had found a prophecy in the forbidden ''[[Book of Predictions]]'' which stated that one day mortals would transcend into gods. The last word, said aloud, sounded like ''dal ek''. ([[BFD]]: ''[[Guilt]]'')


===The first Daleks===
Beyond the [[N-Space]] Daleks, however, many different Dalek races across numerous [[alternate timeline]]s ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Ripple Effect (short story)}}, [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Master's Dalek Plan (audio story)}}, {{cs|Shockwave (TWM audio story)}}) and [[parallel universe]]s ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Dalek War: Chapter One (audio story)}}, {{cs|Masters of War (audio story)}}) had unique origin accounts.
Later, Davros, now crippled,became one of the Kaled [[Scientific Elite]]. He had begun experiments on living subjects and hoped to deify the Kaled race. Davros pushed through legislation enabling authority (and ownership) of all Kaled infants under the age of five years old and to be delivered to [[Pediatric Facility K99]], which he used as a laboratory to do surgical experiments. Davros transplanted the brain from [[Baran]], a captured Thal spy, into a [[Mark I Travel Machine]]. ([[BFD]]: ''[[Guilt]]'')


[[file:Genesisofthedaleks.jpeg|left|thumb|[[Davros]] first public presentation of the [[Dalek]] to the [[Kaled]] [[Scientific Elite]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'')]]
== On Skaro ==
=== Davros ===
==== Conceptual Origins and Name ====
On the [[planet]] [[Skaro]], during the later part of the [[Thousand Year War]] between the [[Thal]]s and Kaleds, both sides suffered mutations caused by [[nuclear weapon|nuclear]], [[Biology|biological]] and [[chemical]] agents. Some of the mutant survivors, known as [[muto]]es, survived in the wastelands. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}}) The Daleks would ultimately arise from the mutated form of the Kaled race. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}}, et. al) By most accounts, the scientist [[Davros]] was injured in a [[Davros's accident|Thal bombardment]] before the creation of the Daleks. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Davros (audio story)}}, {{cs|Corruption (audio story)}}, {{cs|From the Flames (audio story)}}; [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Davros Genesis (short story)}}, et. al) However, the ideas of what would eventually become the Dalek [[casing]] were already starting to form in his mind. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|From the Flames (audio story)}}) A dissenting account, one which the [[Fourteenth Doctor]] believed was rupturing "the [[timeline]]s and [[canonicity|canon]]", held that Davros was not yet injured by the time Dalek development had neared its end. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)|timestamp=03:41}})


===Davros reveals the Daleks===
By one account, [[Shan]], a young Kaled scientist, authored a [[paper]] which formulated a solution to the threats of perpetual [[war]] or [[mutually assured destruction]]. With both Kaleds and Thals competing for resources, she claimed that the only way out of this dilemma was through a process she called "[[the Dalek Solution]]". Davros presented the paper to the [[Kaled Council]] as his own, though he omitted several of Shan's more controversial conclusions, such as the fact that the Kaled race would be completely replaced by the new species. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Davros (audio story)}})
Davros did not immediately show the results of his Dalek experiments to the Kaled Scientific Elite. He had improved and developed the shell for the organic components of the Daleks, housing them in tank-like and armed [[Mark III Travel Machine]]s similar to those like his own life support chair. He maintained a nursery of embryonic Dalek young. As well as nurturing the physical form of his creations, Davros shaped their minds. The Daleks did not understand concepts such as pity. It did not exist in their "vocabulary banks".  


[[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] was sent on a mission by the [[Time Lord]]s to prevent the creation of the Daleks in the first place, or at the very least lessen the damage they would do in future. Many other members of Kaled Scientific Elite attempted to shut down the Dalek project. To prevent this, Davros arranged for the Thals to aim a missile at the [[Kaled Dome]] where his people resided. ([[DW]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'')
However, the scientist [[Ronson (Genesis of the Daleks)|Ronson]] later said the word "Dalek" had never been publicly uttered by a Kaled before Davros unveiled the already-complete Daleks. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}}) Indeed, another account had it that the name Davros gave his creations came from a prophecy found in the forbidden ''[[Book of Predictions]]'', written in the [[Dal language|extinct language]] of the [[Dal (species)|Dals]], which stated "...and on that [[day]], men will become as [[god]]s". In the original [[language]], the final word was pronounced "Dal-ek". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Guilt (audio story)}})


:''Though he did not say so, the Time Lord representative who had approached the Doctor with this mission may very well have worked for the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]]. ([[NA]]: [[Lungbarrow]])''
Another account held that as the Dals had long ago renamed themselves the Kaleds after the first letter in their [[alphabet]] to demonstrate supremacy over the Thals, Davros took the name "Dalek" from the final letter of the alphabet, since he saw them as the ultimate life form and final stage of the Kaled race. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The History of the Daleks (short story)}}) In yet another account, information from [[the Matrix]] on [[Gallifrey]] stated that Davros created the word Dalek as an [[anagram]] of the word Kaled, to represent the reconfigured Kaled life form within. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Dalek Combat Training Manual (reference book)}}) Yet another account credited Davros with changing the name of his creations to "Dalek" because he was focused on "marketing potential," believing Dalek was a "snappier" name than [[Mark III Travel Machine]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Brief History of the Daleks (short story)}})


===The Daleks revolt against their creator===
In another account, the aforementioned example that the Doctor feared was in violation of "timelines and canon", the name Dalek came as a result of a [[bootstrap paradox]]. In this telling, it was Davros's assistant [[Castavillian]] who decided the next form of the Kaled race should take on an anagram of their own name, but Davros did not like his suggestions, which included [[Klade]]. When Davros departed, the Fourteenth Doctor happened to crash into the room and recognise the prototype before them as a "Dalek," which Castavillian loved the sound of. The Doctor soon departed due to his fears about what influence his presence could have in that stage of Dalek history. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}})
The Daleks were then sent to exterminate the Thals, supposedly in retaliation for the attack on the Kaled Dome. They later turned on Davros, as they were not programmed to recognize any creature was superior to them, which included him, and apparently killed him. Accidentally, whilst attempting to stop the Doctor, a Dalek triggered an explosion which destroyed the embryo room, before the Thals sealed the bunker entrance and trapped the Daleks there. In the aftermath, the Doctor believed that he had only held back their progress by about a thousand years or so, and that they would return ([[DW]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]''). Davros survived his "death" in a state of [[suspended animation]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'')


:''The Daleks would later consider the Time Lords' act of trying to prevent their creation as the start of the [[Last Great Time War]]. For more details on this and on the objectives of the Doctor's mission, see separate article.''
==== The first Daleks ====
{{Simplequote|Then allow me to show you the future of our beloved Kaled race. Behold, my Mark III Travel Machine. The war has caused the Kaled race to mutate, but, within this casing, we can evolve. We can start anew. We can become stronger than ever.|Davros|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}}
Later, Davros, by most accounts crippled, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Davros (audio story)}}; [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Davros Genesis (short story)}}, et. al) became one of the Kaled [[Scientific Elite]]. He concluded that the Kaled race would have to evolve into a new species, not only to survive but thrive in the ever-worsening conditions of the planet e.g. able to breathe the poisoned air and eat irradiated food. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Davros (audio story)}}) It was Davros's view that although the resultant species need not be aesthetically pleasing, they would require a strong intelligence and survival instinct. He also held the view that natural selection and evolution would logically conclude with one species in total control of the world, with all other life-forms gone. Although other Kaleds did not relish the idea of such a world, Davros would later instil this belief into his creations on a universal scale. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}})


==Other accounts==
He had begun experiments on living subjects to ensure the survival of, and later deify the Kaled race. Davros and [[Nyder]] discovered that in the Kaled cities destroyed with [[neutron bomb]]s, the radiation mutated some survivors instead of killing them. Davros took and dissected and experimented upon them, discovering how to use radiation to cause mutations. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The History of the Daleks (short story)}})
===Historical account===
Subsequent to their creation, the Daleks confined to their [[Dalek City|city]] believed that the war was a quick [[neutronic war]] and also believed that both sides of the war were horribly mutated from their original [[near-Human]] forms. However, the latter part was not the case, as the Thals were almost exactly like how they were before the war. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'')


:''Whether this account was real history mixed with legend or a more accurate account of a subsequent war is unclear, although the former seems more likely.''
According to Ronson, Davros produced "the ultimate creature" their race would become by treating living cells with chemicals and accelerating the mutations. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}}) The earliest Dalek creatures were also created from Kaled infants ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Guilt (audio story)}}) and "undesireables" within the Kaled Dome, such as artists. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Lights of Skaro (audio story)}})


===Possibly apocryphal account===
In the former case, due to the radiation and chemical pollutants in the atmosphere, infant mortality rates and still-births were rising in the Kaled domes. Davros pushed through legislation enabling authority (and ownership) of all Kaled infants under five [[year]]s of [[age]] to be delivered to [[Pediatric Facility K99]], which he used as a [[laboratory]] for [[Surgery|surgical]] experiments. Davros later transplanted the irradiated [[brain]] from [[Baran]], a captured Thal [[spy]], into a [[Mark I Travel Machine]], ironically meaning that the very first functional Dalek was technically Thal, rather than Kaled in origin. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Guilt (audio story)}})
Another account states tells of short blue [[humanoid Dalek]]s whose warlord, [[Zolfian]] plotted to use neutron bombs against the Thals. Zolfian employed [[Yarvelling]], a scientist to develop war machines against the survivors and ordered the factories to mass-produce more of them. Two weeks later, a [[meteorite]] strike destroyed both the factories and the neutron bomb stores. After two years, Zolfian and Yarvelling climbed out of a [[fallout shelter]] to find that a mutated Dalek which Yarvelling described to Wolfian as having "a brain a thousand times superior to ours", had crawled inside one of the war machines and used it a shell. Before they died of radiation sickness, the "machine Dalek" forced the two survivors to make more war machines. ([[TV21]]: ''[[Genesis of Evil]]'')


:''This account implies that this same Dalek called itself the later [[Dalek Emperor]]. We do not know what became of the Thals after the destruction of the humanoid Daleks. Possibly, the Kaleds first mutated into the short humanoids, called Daleks, before mutating further. Yarvelling may also have re-created the plans originally made by Davros.''
In the latter case, during the last days of the war, Kaled artists were deemed "not necessary" and forcibly recruited for a "special project". They too were forcibly mutated, requring multiple implants to stop their screams of pain. According to [[Klinus]], the pain was ever-present even after being installed into their travel machines, but obeying orders marginally lessened the pain, though only temporarily.([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Lights of Skaro (audio story)}})


==Behind-the-scenes history==
[[File:Mark III Destination Skaro.jpg|thumb|right|The Dalek prototype shown to Castavillian ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}})]]
As far as the vast bulk of continuity is concerned, Davros created the Daleks and the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Sarah Jane|Sarah]] and [[Harry Sullivan|Harry]] nearly stopped it before it started. ([[DW]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'') 
In a dissenting account where Davros was not yet injured, Davros showcased one of the first Dalek prototypes to Mr [[Castavillian]], heralding the yet to be named beings as the future of their race. The Dalek, in turn, declared that its species would become the supreme beings of the universe. The two began to discuss what to name the creatures, only for Davros to briefly leave so as to approve an upcoming bombardment. At that time, the [[gunstick]] was accompanied by a [[multi-dextrous claw]], only for the [[Fourteenth Doctor]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}}) — himself fresh out of a [[2323 Dalek invasion of Earth|Dalek invasion of Earth]] ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Liberation of the Daleks (comic story)}}) — to come crashing into the room in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]], taking off the claw arm in his crash. The Doctor recongised the prototype before him as a "Dalek" and expressed his amazement that he had not been "exterminated", both of which were terms Castavillian loved. The Doctor soon realised he was present for "the genesis of the Daleks", another phrase Castavillian loved, and quickly realized he had to leave such a moment in Dalek history, understanding that "the timelines and the canons" were "rupturing".


However, prior to the writing of that story, [[Terry Nation]], the real-life creator and copyright holder of the Daleks, elected to allow at least three separate origin stories for his creations. The reason for the multiplicity of origins is unclear, but it likely had something to do with the time in which they were written. In the [[1960s]] and early [[1970s]], Nation and the rest of the ''Doctor Who'' team didn't really believe they were creating "permanent" works. Written long before the advent of home video, the internet, or even the existence of a robust market for reprinted comic strips, the various origins told during the first decade of ''Doctor Who'' were likely considered [[Missing episodes|as disposable as the episodes themselves]] turned out to be. Hence, Nation contradicted not just other writers, but himself, when positing various origins for the Daleks.
Ordering Castavillian to not mention his arrival and replacing the severed claw with a plunger, the Doctor departed, with his presence in Dalek history having cemented a [[bootstrap paradox]]: ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}}) the plunger-like [[manipulator arm]], the name "Dalek", the battle cry "exterminate," ([[TV]]: {{cs|Dalek (TV story)}}, et. al) and the term "Genesis of the Daleks" ([[WC]]: {{cs|Who Are The Daleks? (webcast)}}) were all parts of Dalek history the Doctor had previously encountered, and now had caused in the first place. Davros soon returned to the room to explain the claw-like arm, only to notice the plunger and fall in love with the design. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destination: Skaro (TV story)}})


===''The Daleks''===
The Daleks believed, at a later much stage in their history when they were led by the [[Dalek Prime]], that although he took credit for the travel machines' designs, Davros had actually stolen them from other Kaled scientists. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|War of the Daleks (novel)}}) Alternatively, a [[Book (The Whoniverse)|historical chronicle]] stated Davros based the Dalek travel machine design off his own [[Davros' chair|life support system]], which it credited him with designing, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Whoniverse (novel)}}) whereas another account stated Davros had designed a new chair after noting the fear an early Dalek struck in General [[Ravon]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Davros Genesis (short story)}})
The first Dalek story, [[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'', gave viewers a tiny sliver of an idea of where the creatures came from.  Far from a full-fledged origin, ''The Daleks'' tells us that the Daleks came from a race called "the Dals" who had survived an atomic war. This narrative "plank" was certainly incorporated into ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'', although the name of the parent race wasn't. As it's relatively easy to explain away the difference in the two names, many fans don't necessarily see this as diverging far enough away from ''Genesis'' to be considered a truly "separate" origin. Some are happy just to consider "Dal" an alternate name for "Kaled" and skip over the inherent cultural differences between the two. Others see the Dals as substantively different from the Kaleds, because the characterization of the Dals as "teachers, artists and scientists" does not fully mesh with what we see of the Kaleds in ''Genesis of the Daleks''. ''The Daleks'' is also seen as contradicting ''Genesis of the Daleks'' because the original, Mark III Daleks from ''Genesis'' are more advanced than those seen in ''The Daleks'', which occurs centuries afterward.<ref>[http://www.historyvortex.org/DalekOrigins.html Roberto, John Rocco. "Davros, Daleks and the Question of Their Origins".]</ref>
 
===''TV Century 21'' comic strips===
Nation allowed writers [[David Whitaker]] and [[Alan Fennell]] to tell a Dalek origin in their [[1965]] ''[[TV Century 21]]'' comic strip, "[[Genesis of Evil]]". This was the first published attempt to tell a more-or-less complete origin, and it posited that the Daleks were mutated from a race also known as the Daleks. There is no reference at all to any part of "Genesis of Evil" within televised ''Doctor Who'', and very little more than an occasional, sly reference in other forms of ''Doctor Who'' fiction.


Nevertheless, "Evil"' made such an impression upon young readers in the [[1960s]] that Nation's televised account was seen as an inferior creation myth by a significant portion of its original audience.  ''Genesis of the Daleks'' is still eschewed by some [[21st century]] fans.<ref>[http://www.geocities.com/georgianesther/daleks.html George's Dalek page]</ref>  Moreover, "Evil", and other parts of the ''Dalek Chronicles'', have been unofficially adapted on video by the amateur CGI production company, Altered Vistas. Comments left by those who have viewed the adaptation support the notion that not every ''Doctor Who'' fan considers Davros canonical.<ref>[http://www.alteredvistas.co.uk/html/dalek_chronicles.html Altered Vistas' review and product page for ''Dalek Chronicles'' adaptations]</ref>
==== Davros reveals the Daleks ====
{{main|Genesis Incident}}
[[File:Genesisofthedaleks.jpeg|left|thumb|[[Davros]] first public presentation of the [[Dalek]] to the [[Kaled]] [[Scientific Elite]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}})]]
Davros did not immediately show the results of his Dalek experiments to the Kaled Scientific Elite. He improved and developed the shell for the organic components of the Daleks, housing them in tank-like and armed [[Mark III Travel Machine]]s similar to his own life support chair. He maintained a nursery of embryonic Dalek young. As well as nurturing the physical form of his creations, Davros shaped their minds. The Daleks did not understand concepts such as [[pity]]. It did not exist in their "vocabulary bank[s]".


===''Radio Times'' short story===
The [[Fourth Doctor]] was sent on [[Genesis Incident|a mission]] by the [[Time Lord]]s to prevent the creation of the Daleks in the first place, or at the very least lessen the damage they would do in future. Arriving on Skaro, he discovered that many other members of Kaled Scientific Elite were opposed to the project. To prevent the interference of his detractors, Davros arranged for the Thals to aim a missile at the [[Kaled Dome]] where his people resided. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}})
The ''TV Century 21'' version went unchallenged by any other story for eight years until Nation himself was commissioned to write a short prose story for the ''[[Radio Times]]'' in [[1973]]. Entitled "[[We are the Daleks!]]", the piece substantively contradicted "Genesis of Evil" and ''The Daleks'', and the later ''Genesis of the Daleks''. Perhaps the most unique feature of this piece was the notion that Daleks were actually evolved from future [[human]]s.


This story was written to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ''Doctor Who'', and it probably never occurred to Nation that he would have to take it seriously. He likely thought that it was just something for a TV programs listing and would be thrown out when the new one came in the next week. Written so close to when he produced the scripts for ''Genesis of the Daleks'', however, it might well have served as a sort of rejected first draft of the script he would soon be required to deliver.
==== The Daleks revolt against their creator ====
[[File:Daleks turn on davros.jpg|thumb|The Daleks turn on their creator. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}})]]
The newly christened Daleks, whose name was publicly revealed by Davros, were sent by Davros to [[Extermination|exterminate]] the Thals, supposedly in retaliation for the attack on the Kaled Dome. They turned on Davros, as they were not programmed to recognise any creature as superior to them, apparently [[Murder|killing]] him. Accidentally, whilst attempting to stop the Doctor, a Dalek triggered an [[explosion]] which destroyed the [[embryo]] [[room]] before the Thals sealed the [[bunker]] entrance and trapped the Daleks inside. In the aftermath, the Doctor believed he had only held back their progress by about [[Millennium|a thousand years]] or so, and that they would return. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}})
 
[[The Doctor's TARDIS]] recorded the events of the mission as the ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TARDIS data log)|Genesis of the Daleks]]''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Press Play (short story)}}) Davros survived his "[[death]]" in a state of [[suspended animation]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}}) The same Dalek that [[Gunstick|fired]] on Davros later became the [[Dalek Prime]] and eventually proclaimed itself to be the [[Dalek Emperor (The Evil of the Daleks)|Dalek Emperor]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)}}, {{cs|War of the Daleks (novel)}})
 
==== The Doctor's further statements ====
In [[2025]], the Doctor attributed the creation of the Daleks to "a near lethal cocktail of [[war]], [[Hate|hatred]] and [[technology]]". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Energy of the Daleks (audio story)}})
 
When the [[Fifth Doctor]] visited [[Riften 5]] and looked at several of its research paper, he learned that genetic tests performed on [[Dalek mutant]]s recovered from the "[[War of Sharpened Hearts]]" had all been grown from the DNA of male Kaleds. Thinking back on this knowledge, the [[Seventh Doctor]] pondered if Davros had rejected all female DNA for use in the Daleks. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Christmas on a Rational Planet (novel)}}) As the Fifth Doctor learned during a brief visit into the [[Last Great Time War]], however, female Kaleds had also been used as genetic material for the Daleks by Davros. Talking with Kaleds [[Kelleher]], [[Milal]], [[Sandar]], [[Maran]], he also realised all four of them were Kaleds who only existed because his TARDIS had crashed into a [[DARDIS|Dalek time ship]] and caused [[temporal distortion]], creating Kaled copies of who the four Daleks aboard the ship would have been if not for Davros changing the destiny of his race. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Effect and Cause (audio story)}})
 
==== Aftermath of the Doctor's intervention ====
{{Main|Last Great Time War}}
 
The Time Lords considered the Doctor's mission a [[failure]], at least in the immediate term. One account did hold that the fallout of the mission created changes to the [[timeline]] had freed thousands of [[world]]s from the tyranny of the Daleks, but not the millions the Time Lords had hoped for. Following the Doctor's subsequent actions in the [[weapon]]s [[research]] facility of [[Deepcity]], however, the Time Lords foresaw the rise of a race of [[robot]]s that would challenge the Daleks and lead to the fall of the [[Dalek Empire]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Device of Death (novel)}}) However, other accounts suggested the Doctor's mission had made no changes to the Dalek timeline from his perspective; effectively a [[bootstrap paradox]], the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]]'s writings held that the Doctor's actions on Skaro had only created the version of Dalek history he was already living through. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Dalek Problem (novel)}})
 
As the Time Lords predicted, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Device of Death (novel)}}) the Daleks engaged in a [[Dalek-Movellan War|destructive war]] against the [[Movellan]]s. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}}) Although the [[Dalek Prime]] later claimed the war had been staged, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|War of the Daleks (novel)}}) the Daleks sought [[revenge]] on the Time Lords in the aftermath of the Movellan conflict and the [[Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War|subsequent Dalek civil war]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)}}, {{cs|Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)}})
 
The [[Eternity Circle]] later considered the Time Lords' act of trying to prevent their creation to be the beginning of the [[Last Great Time War]]. Inspired by the Time Lords' methods, the Daleks conducted further experiments on their own race in [[alternate timeline]]s. The result was the creation of the unstable and unpredictable [[Skaro Degradations]], which the Daleks deployed as a weapon of war. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Engines of War (novel)}})
 
[[Rojan]] saw the incident as an early event of the Time War before hostilities escalated ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Stranger (short story)}}) while the [[Eleventh Doctor]] called it the "first shot". ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)}})
 
=== Historical accounts ===
Subsequent to their creation, the Daleks, confined to [[Dalek City|their city]], believed the war was a quick [[neutronic war]] and that the Thals were horribly mutated from their original [[humanoid]] forms. The Daleks' "forefathers" [[retire]]d into their city and were protected by their machines. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks (TV story)|namedep=The Survivors (2)}}) The [[First Doctor]] speculated from the Thals' historical records that these forefathers, the [[Dal (species)|Dals]], had also mutated during the war. Additionally, the Doctor believed the Thals' mutation had come full circle and "refined itself" back into [[humanoid]] form within five hundred years; the mutation of the Daleks, as they were now called, had not. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks (TV story)|namedep=The Ambush (4)}})
 
The [[Third Doctor]] recalled the Daleks as arising from a race who had been "one of the greatest species of the galaxy" before they turned to nuclear war. Claiming that the Daleks' forefathers realised only their brains would remain as they began to decay under the weight of their mutations, he explained they created metal travel machines for their new forms, while their anger at their fate turned them into "the most vicious, ruthless creatures ever to live in Space". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Space War (novelisation)}}) The [[Seventh Doctor]]'s recollection of the Daleks' origin was that the Kaleds and the Thals had fought "a dirty nuclear war" in which the Kaleds mutated. The afflicted had their mutations accelerated by Davros, who then placed them in the travel machines. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)}})
 
Research by later [[historian]]s suggested that the Daleks who had fought in the [[Thal-Dalek battle]] had been the direct descendants of Davros' first creations. In the immediate aftermath of the Thousand Year War and the sealing of the [[Kaled bunker]], the Daleks had erected their city only for it to be targeted by the Thals, the Daleks detonating a [[neutron bomb]] that would be misremembered as a neutronic war centuries later. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)}})
 
=== Yarvelling and the Dalek Emperor ===
Another account told of short, [[blue]], [[humanoid Dalek]]s whose [[Warlord (title)|warlord]], [[Zolfian]], plotted to use [[neutron bomb]]s against the Thals. Zolfian employed a scientist, [[Yarvelling]], to develop war machines against the survivors and ordered the [[Factory|factories]] to mass-produce them. Two [[week]]s later, a [[meteorite]] strike destroyed the factories and the neutron bomb stores. After two years, Zolfian and Yarvelling climbed out of a [[fallout shelter]] to find a mutated Dalek had crawled inside one of the war machines and used it a shell. Yarvelling described to the new creature to Zolfian as having "a brain a thousand times superior to ours". Before the two survivors died of [[Radiation poisoning|radiation sickness]], the "machine Dalek" forced them to construct more war machines. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Genesis of Evil (comic story)}})
 
The [[Dalek Prime]] remembered the Daleks' origin as direct consequences of the neutron war, unaided by any scientist, and accused [[Davros]] of having "interfered" in the Daleks' destiny, causing them to come into being at an accelerated rate so that he could then style himself their creator and thereby take control of them. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|War of the Daleks (novel)}}) However, Davros had once recalled that he had made the Daleks in his own image. In fact, he said this was where their belief in their superiority came from. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Innocence (audio story)}}) [[Lareen]] also suspected Dalek arrogance was inherited from their creator, which Davros did not deny. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Davros Mission (audio story)}}) Even [[the Doctor]] himself flippantly referred to Davros as the Daleks' father, noting that the Daleks were made in the Kaled's image. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Davros Genesis (short story)}}, {{cs|Father of the Daleks (short story)}}, [[TV]]: {{cs|The Witch's Familiar (TV story)}})
 
According to one account, the purported two origins were actually distinct events within a single history. After Davros's Daleks were buried for a thousand years by the Doctor's efforts, the Kaleds evolved into the humanoid Daleks, with the Thousand Year War having come to an end. However, after the neutronic exchange that wiped out the "humanoid Dalek", or [[Dal (species)|Dal]], civilisation, the Dalek Prime created by Davros reemerged from underground, and, passing itself off as a new mutation, directed the new, "natural" mutant Daleks to climb into Dalek casings, seeing it as an easy way to expand its fledgling race. It then set itself up as the new race's leader. The Dal-descended Daleks remained subservient to the Dalek Prime and the other few Daleks made directly by Davros, as programming within the [[casing]]s directed them to act so. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The History of the Daleks (short story)}})
 
== On Ameron ==
According to the research of [[human]] scientist [[Bryant Anderson]], the Daleks' origin could instead be traced to the planet [[Ameron]], where a powerful species called the [[Halldon]]s had transplanted a [[population]] of [[Earth]] men as part of a scientific experiment, accelerating their [[evolution]] using their advanced technology.
 
Within two hundred years, the accelerated humans had not only discovered [[fire]] and [[agriculture]] but burned through scientific discoveries at a stunning rate. When they began building weapons and war machines which scared even their own overseers the Halldons, the latter decided the experiment had gone too far and tried to wipe out their "test subjects". The Ameron humans rebelled, turning their technology against the Halldons and exterminating them.
 
[[File:We are the Daleks!.jpg|thumb|[[Bryant Anderson]] removes a [[Dalek mutant|Dalek creature]] from its casing and prepares to dissect it to confirm his terrible suspicions. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|We are the Daleks! (short story)}})]]
Free of the Halldons' control, and striving ever more for survival, the Ameron humans continued to advance, evolving both in [[body]] and technology, to [[Dalek of human origin|eventually become the Daleks]]. According to Anderson, who was able to confirm the [[Dalek mutant|Dalek creatures]] were nothing more than a future state of human evolution by [[dissection|dissecting]] one, the Daleks were nothing more than the full expression of Man's true nature, "the most destructive force in the [[universe]]". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|We are the Daleks! (short story)}})
 
Later researchers were unable to either confirm or deny the theories of Bryant Anderson. Although some held his ideas to be nothing more than a fictitious [[myth|creation myth]] (not unlike those formulated by other species the Daleks had conquered), it was speculated that the [[Kaled]]s and [[Thal]]s of [[Skaro]] may have themselves been the descendants of [[human|proto-humans]] transplanted to the planet by the [[Halldon]]s, much like the humans they transported to Ameron — getting at a theory of Dalek [[parallel evolution]]. Another theory was that Anderson's ideas about Ameron were altogether mistaken, but the Thals and Kaleds did indeed descend from humanoids introduced by Skaro by an alien influence, rather than being native to it. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)}}) Independent accounts did, at any rate, confirm the existence of the Halldons, a species powerful enough that they once [[Skirmish between the Halldons and the Eternals|waged war]] with the [[Eternal]]s. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Meet the Doctor (DWAN 2006 short story)}})
 
== In alternate realities ==
As many alternate versions of the Daleks existed in [[alternate timeline]]s and [[parallel universe]]s, so too were there numerous accounts of the creations of these alternate Dalek races.
 
=== Alternate timelines ===
==== The Temporal Plexus timeline ====
In an [[Alternate timeline (The Ripple Effect)|alternate timeline]] created when the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] became trapped in the [[Temporal Plexu]]s, the Daleks were created in the [[Neutron War]], a similar conflict to the [[Thousand Year War]] that their original counterparts in [[N-Space]]'s original timeline had been created in, although the Neutron War was accidentally caused, rather than deliberately. The Daleks born from this war were a peaceful species of [[academic]]s, retaining individual [[name]]s, and forged [[Skaro (The Ripple Effect)|Skaro]] into the universal centre of [[civilisation]], [[democracy]], [[philosophy]] and [[art]], causing people from all over the universe to visit the planet; even the [[Time Lord]]s were on good terms with the Daleks in this timeline, especially after Dalek [[surgeon]]s successfully performed an operation on the [[President of the High Council|Lord President]]. In addition, the [[Markhan]]s, who were rendered [[Extinction|extinct]] in the [[Markhan Genocide]] by the original Daleks in their timeline, instead survived, with many of them living on Skaro itself.
 
However, these alternate Daleks also developed and used advanced weaponry, although unlike their counterparts in the original timeline, they only used them on their [[space station]]s to defend Skaro, as many warlike races, such as the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] and [[Sontaran]]s, were a threat to Skaro's harmony.
 
When the Seventh Doctor and [[Ace]] landed the TARDIS on Skaro after escaping the Temporal Plexus, they eventually learned that this timeline's existence threatened to cause the entire universe to collapse from [[Space-Time decay]]. The Doctor subsequently erased this timeline from existence by merging the past and future versions of his TARDIS within the Temporal Plexus together. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Ripple Effect (short story)}})
 
==== The Master of the Daleks ====
[[File:The War Master Anti Genesis textless.jpg|thumb|left|{{Jacobi|C}} during his interference with the creation of the Daleks. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Anti-Genesis (audio anthology)|Anti-Genesis]]'')]]
During the [[Last Great Time War]], {{Jacobi}} used the [[Anti-Genesis codes]] to access Skaro years prior to the end of the Thousand Year War. There he arranged for Davros to die in a Thal bombardment, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|From the Flames (audio story)}}) and took his place as the creator of the [[Dalek (The Master's Dalek Plan)|Daleks]]. The Master equipped his Daleks with mutation weapons, which they used to rapidly mutate all the Kaleds, and kept them within the bunker. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Master's Dalek Plan (audio story)}}) The Master then left his Daleks to build up for a few years and returned to lead them as they emerged, arranging for them to ambush and kill the [[Fourth Doctor]] and his companions upon their arrival on Skaro. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Shockwave (TWM audio story)}}) The Master's Daleks conquered the universe, however the [[Dalek Time Strategist]] and a [[Unbound Master|version of the Master]] from a [[Unbound Universe|parallel universe]] convinced the Master they hold inevitably turn on him and he helped them restore the original timeline by foiling his younger self’s plan to get the Anti-Genesis codes. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|He Who Wins (audio story)}})
 
=== Parallel universes ===
In one [[The Mentor's universe|parallel universe]], the [[Alliance Dalek|Daleks]] were created as a benevolent force by [[the Mentor]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Dalek War: Chapter One (audio story)}})
 
In the [[Unbound Universe]], the [[Dalek (Unbound Universe)|Daleks]] were created on [[Skaro (Unbound Universe)|Skaro]] by [[Davros (Unbound Universe)|Davros]] at the end of a war between the Kaleds and Thals, which had been secretly fomented by the [[Quatch]]. Davros' first batch of Daleks, functionally identical to their [[N-Space]] counterparts, eventually turned on their creator when he was of no further use before leaving Skaro to conquer other worlds and erect a [[Dalek Empire]]. Deeming his first effort "[[The Renegades]]", Davros created a second batch of Daleks, instilling them with the ability to feel [[pity]] and [[loyalty]] towards him. To his disappointment, however, these new Daleks lacked their predecessors' bloodlust and urge for conquest, Davros eventually abandoning them. Daleks of the second generation eventually left Skaro and began searching for their creator. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Masters of War (audio story)}})
 
In [[the Warrior's universe]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]] convinced the [[Fourth Doctor]] to destroy the Dalek incubation chamber. Before the [[Fourth Doctor's Time Ring|Time Ring]] could be retrieved, Sarah and [[Harry Sullivan]] were exterminated by an already active [[prototype]] Dalek, which proceeded to fatally wound [[the Warrior|the Doctor]]. As the Time Lord was returned to Gallifrey, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Dust Devil (audio story)}}) the Skarosian races discovered the [[Time Ring]] and, having proof of hostile alien life, unified as one force. Reverse engineering the Time Ring, the Skarosians became temporally active, reinforcing the moment outside the incubation chamber so as to prevent any further temporal incursions. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Aftershocks (audio story)}})
 
== Behind-the-scenes history ==
=== Overview ===
As far as the vast bulk of continuity is concerned, Davros created the Daleks and the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] and [[Harry Sullivan|Harry]] nearly stopped it before it started, as seen in ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]''.
 
However, prior to the writing of that story, [[Terry Nation]], the real-life creator and copyright holder of the Daleks, elected to allow at least three separate origin stories for his creations. The reason for the multiplicity of origins is unclear, but it likely had something to do with the time in which they were written. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Nation and the rest of the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' team didn't really believe they were creating "permanent" works. Written long before the advent of home video, the internet, or even the existence of a robust market for reprinted comic strips, the various origins told during the first decade of ''Doctor Who'' were likely considered [[Missing episodes|as disposable as the episodes themselves]] turned out to be. Hence, Nation contradicted not just other [[writer]]s, but himself, when positing various origins for the Daleks.
 
=== ''The Daleks'' ===
The first Dalek story, ''[[The Daleks (TV story)|The Daleks]]'', gave viewers a tiny sliver of an idea of where the creatures came from. Far from a full-fledged origin, ''The Daleks'' tells that the Daleks came from a race called "the [[Dal (species)|Dals]]" who had survived an atomic war. This narrative "plank" was certainly incorporated into ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]'', although the name of the parent race wasn't. ''[[The Dalek Handbook]]'' offers an explanation that the Thals, who fought a war against the Dals, conflated the Dals with the Daleks in their legends.
 
=== ''TV Century 21'' comic strips ===
Nation allowed writers [[David Whitaker]] and [[Alan Fennell]] to tell a Dalek origin in their [[1965 (releases)|1965]] ''[[TV Century 21]]'' comic strip ''[[Genesis of Evil (comic story)|Genesis of Evil]]''. This was the first published attempt to tell a more-or-less complete origin, and it posited that the Daleks were mutated from a race also known as the Daleks. There is no reference at all to any part of ''Genesis of Evil'' within televised ''Doctor Who'', and very little more than an occasional, sly reference in other forms of ''Doctor Who'' fiction.
 
=== ''We are the Daleks!'' ===
The ''TV Century 21'' version went unchallenged by any other story for eight years until Nation himself was commissioned to write a short prose story for the ''[[Radio Times]]'' [[Doctor Who Special (1973)|Doctor Who'' 10th anniversary publication'']] in [[1973 (releases)|1973]]. Entitled ''[[We are the Daleks! (short story)|We are the Daleks!]]'', the piece substantively contradicted ''Genesis of Evil'' and ''The Daleks'', and the later ''Genesis of the Daleks''. The most contradictory feature of this piece was the notion that Daleks were actually evolved from future [[human]]s.


==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Dalek history]]
[[Category:Dalek history]]
[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:Events of the Last Great Time War]]
[[Category:Events involving a Clara Oswald splinter]]

Latest revision as of 13:36, 4 November 2024

This topic might have a better name.

Given there are many valid sources that refer to this event as the "genesis of the Daleks", shouldn't we rename this page to reflect that?

Talk about it here.

The creation of the Daleks, (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"]) also known as the genesis of the Daleks, (WC: Who Are The Daleks? [+]Loading...["Who Are The Daleks? (webcast)"], PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...["The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"], Sevrin [+]Loading...["Sevrin (short story)"], TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...["Destination: Skaro (TV story)"]) was the subject of many seemingly-contradictory accounts, from the Doctor's first-hand witnessing of the "genesis" of the creatures (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"]) to one of the story-cube of Dalek history available on Earth. (PROSE: The Dalek Chronicles Found! [+]Loading...["The Dalek Chronicles Found! (short story)"])

The largest body of information, though not by far the only, centred on the Kaled scientist Davros, hailed by the Daleks as "the Creator"; (TV: The Witch's Familiar [+]Loading...["The Witch's Familiar (TV story)"]) all accounts concurred, at any rate, that the Daleks had not arisen through ordinary natural selection, instead coming into being as mutations of a preexisting humanoid species.

Looking back to the Daleks' beginning after the Last Great Time War, some human historians foregrounded the story of Davros but granted that other potential origins for the Daleks might have "become" true at one point or another of the War due to its paradoxical nature. (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)"]) Nevertheless, after the War had ended, the story of Davros was still regarded as the origin of the Daleks. (TV: The Stolen Earth [+]Loading...["The Stolen Earth (TV story)"], Journey's End [+]Loading...["Journey's End (TV story)"], The Magician's Apprentice [+]Loading...["The Magician's Apprentice (TV story)"], The Witch's Familiar [+]Loading...["The Witch's Familiar (TV story)"])

Beyond the N-Space Daleks, however, many different Dalek races across numerous alternate timelines (PROSE: The Ripple Effect [+]Loading...["The Ripple Effect (short story)"], AUDIO: The Master's Dalek Plan [+]Loading...["The Master's Dalek Plan (audio story)"], Shockwave [+]Loading...["Shockwave (TWM audio story)"]) and parallel universes (AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One [+]Loading...["Dalek War: Chapter One (audio story)"], Masters of War [+]Loading...["Masters of War (audio story)"]) had unique origin accounts.

On Skaro[[edit] | [edit source]]

Davros[[edit] | [edit source]]

Conceptual Origins and Name[[edit] | [edit source]]

On the planet Skaro, during the later part of the Thousand Year War between the Thals and Kaleds, both sides suffered mutations caused by nuclear, biological and chemical agents. Some of the mutant survivors, known as mutoes, survived in the wastelands. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"]) The Daleks would ultimately arise from the mutated form of the Kaled race. (TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...["Destination: Skaro (TV story)"], et. al) By most accounts, the scientist Davros was injured in a Thal bombardment before the creation of the Daleks. (AUDIO: Davros [+]Loading...["Davros (audio story)"], Corruption [+]Loading...["Corruption (audio story)"], From the Flames [+]Loading...["From the Flames (audio story)"]; PROSE: Davros Genesis [+]Loading...["Davros Genesis (short story)"], et. al) However, the ideas of what would eventually become the Dalek casing were already starting to form in his mind. (AUDIO: From the Flames [+]Loading...["From the Flames (audio story)"]) A dissenting account, one which the Fourteenth Doctor believed was rupturing "the timelines and canon", held that Davros was not yet injured by the time Dalek development had neared its end. (TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...{"timestamp":"03:41","1":"Destination: Skaro (TV story)"})

By one account, Shan, a young Kaled scientist, authored a paper which formulated a solution to the threats of perpetual war or mutually assured destruction. With both Kaleds and Thals competing for resources, she claimed that the only way out of this dilemma was through a process she called "the Dalek Solution". Davros presented the paper to the Kaled Council as his own, though he omitted several of Shan's more controversial conclusions, such as the fact that the Kaled race would be completely replaced by the new species. (AUDIO: Davros [+]Loading...["Davros (audio story)"])

However, the scientist Ronson later said the word "Dalek" had never been publicly uttered by a Kaled before Davros unveiled the already-complete Daleks. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"]) Indeed, another account had it that the name Davros gave his creations came from a prophecy found in the forbidden Book of Predictions, written in the extinct language of the Dals, which stated "...and on that day, men will become as gods". In the original language, the final word was pronounced "Dal-ek". (AUDIO: Guilt [+]Loading...["Guilt (audio story)"])

Another account held that as the Dals had long ago renamed themselves the Kaleds after the first letter in their alphabet to demonstrate supremacy over the Thals, Davros took the name "Dalek" from the final letter of the alphabet, since he saw them as the ultimate life form and final stage of the Kaled race. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The History of the Daleks (short story)"]) In yet another account, information from the Matrix on Gallifrey stated that Davros created the word Dalek as an anagram of the word Kaled, to represent the reconfigured Kaled life form within. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual [+]Loading...["Dalek Combat Training Manual (reference book)"]) Yet another account credited Davros with changing the name of his creations to "Dalek" because he was focused on "marketing potential," believing Dalek was a "snappier" name than Mark III Travel Machine. (PROSE: A Brief History of the Daleks [+]Loading...["A Brief History of the Daleks (short story)"])

In another account, the aforementioned example that the Doctor feared was in violation of "timelines and canon", the name Dalek came as a result of a bootstrap paradox. In this telling, it was Davros's assistant Castavillian who decided the next form of the Kaled race should take on an anagram of their own name, but Davros did not like his suggestions, which included Klade. When Davros departed, the Fourteenth Doctor happened to crash into the room and recognise the prototype before them as a "Dalek," which Castavillian loved the sound of. The Doctor soon departed due to his fears about what influence his presence could have in that stage of Dalek history. (TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...["Destination: Skaro (TV story)"])

The first Daleks[[edit] | [edit source]]

"Then allow me to show you the future of our beloved Kaled race. Behold, my Mark III Travel Machine. The war has caused the Kaled race to mutate, but, within this casing, we can evolve. We can start anew. We can become stronger than ever."Davros [src]

Later, Davros, by most accounts crippled, (AUDIO: Davros [+]Loading...["Davros (audio story)"]; PROSE: Davros Genesis [+]Loading...["Davros Genesis (short story)"], et. al) became one of the Kaled Scientific Elite. He concluded that the Kaled race would have to evolve into a new species, not only to survive but thrive in the ever-worsening conditions of the planet e.g. able to breathe the poisoned air and eat irradiated food. (AUDIO: Davros [+]Loading...["Davros (audio story)"]) It was Davros's view that although the resultant species need not be aesthetically pleasing, they would require a strong intelligence and survival instinct. He also held the view that natural selection and evolution would logically conclude with one species in total control of the world, with all other life-forms gone. Although other Kaleds did not relish the idea of such a world, Davros would later instil this belief into his creations on a universal scale. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"])

He had begun experiments on living subjects to ensure the survival of, and later deify the Kaled race. Davros and Nyder discovered that in the Kaled cities destroyed with neutron bombs, the radiation mutated some survivors instead of killing them. Davros took and dissected and experimented upon them, discovering how to use radiation to cause mutations. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The History of the Daleks (short story)"])

According to Ronson, Davros produced "the ultimate creature" their race would become by treating living cells with chemicals and accelerating the mutations. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"]) The earliest Dalek creatures were also created from Kaled infants (AUDIO: Guilt [+]Loading...["Guilt (audio story)"]) and "undesireables" within the Kaled Dome, such as artists. (AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro [+]Loading...["The Lights of Skaro (audio story)"])

In the former case, due to the radiation and chemical pollutants in the atmosphere, infant mortality rates and still-births were rising in the Kaled domes. Davros pushed through legislation enabling authority (and ownership) of all Kaled infants under five years of age to be delivered to Pediatric Facility K99, which he used as a laboratory for surgical experiments. Davros later transplanted the irradiated brain from Baran, a captured Thal spy, into a Mark I Travel Machine, ironically meaning that the very first functional Dalek was technically Thal, rather than Kaled in origin. (AUDIO: Guilt [+]Loading...["Guilt (audio story)"])

In the latter case, during the last days of the war, Kaled artists were deemed "not necessary" and forcibly recruited for a "special project". They too were forcibly mutated, requring multiple implants to stop their screams of pain. According to Klinus, the pain was ever-present even after being installed into their travel machines, but obeying orders marginally lessened the pain, though only temporarily.(AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro [+]Loading...["The Lights of Skaro (audio story)"])

The Dalek prototype shown to Castavillian (TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...["Destination: Skaro (TV story)"])

In a dissenting account where Davros was not yet injured, Davros showcased one of the first Dalek prototypes to Mr Castavillian, heralding the yet to be named beings as the future of their race. The Dalek, in turn, declared that its species would become the supreme beings of the universe. The two began to discuss what to name the creatures, only for Davros to briefly leave so as to approve an upcoming bombardment. At that time, the gunstick was accompanied by a multi-dextrous claw, only for the Fourteenth Doctor (TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...["Destination: Skaro (TV story)"]) — himself fresh out of a Dalek invasion of Earth (COMIC: Liberation of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Liberation of the Daleks (comic story)"]) — to come crashing into the room in his TARDIS, taking off the claw arm in his crash. The Doctor recongised the prototype before him as a "Dalek" and expressed his amazement that he had not been "exterminated", both of which were terms Castavillian loved. The Doctor soon realised he was present for "the genesis of the Daleks", another phrase Castavillian loved, and quickly realized he had to leave such a moment in Dalek history, understanding that "the timelines and the canons" were "rupturing".

Ordering Castavillian to not mention his arrival and replacing the severed claw with a plunger, the Doctor departed, with his presence in Dalek history having cemented a bootstrap paradox: (TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...["Destination: Skaro (TV story)"]) the plunger-like manipulator arm, the name "Dalek", the battle cry "exterminate," (TV: Dalek [+]Loading...["Dalek (TV story)"], et. al) and the term "Genesis of the Daleks" (WC: Who Are The Daleks? [+]Loading...["Who Are The Daleks? (webcast)"]) were all parts of Dalek history the Doctor had previously encountered, and now had caused in the first place. Davros soon returned to the room to explain the claw-like arm, only to notice the plunger and fall in love with the design. (TV: Destination: Skaro [+]Loading...["Destination: Skaro (TV story)"])

The Daleks believed, at a later much stage in their history when they were led by the Dalek Prime, that although he took credit for the travel machines' designs, Davros had actually stolen them from other Kaled scientists. (PROSE: War of the Daleks [+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"]) Alternatively, a historical chronicle stated Davros based the Dalek travel machine design off his own life support system, which it credited him with designing, (PROSE: The Whoniverse [+]Loading...["The Whoniverse (novel)"]) whereas another account stated Davros had designed a new chair after noting the fear an early Dalek struck in General Ravon. (PROSE: Davros Genesis [+]Loading...["Davros Genesis (short story)"])

Davros reveals the Daleks[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Genesis Incident
Davros first public presentation of the Dalek to the Kaled Scientific Elite. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"])

Davros did not immediately show the results of his Dalek experiments to the Kaled Scientific Elite. He improved and developed the shell for the organic components of the Daleks, housing them in tank-like and armed Mark III Travel Machines similar to his own life support chair. He maintained a nursery of embryonic Dalek young. As well as nurturing the physical form of his creations, Davros shaped their minds. The Daleks did not understand concepts such as pity. It did not exist in their "vocabulary bank[s]".

The Fourth Doctor was sent on a mission by the Time Lords to prevent the creation of the Daleks in the first place, or at the very least lessen the damage they would do in future. Arriving on Skaro, he discovered that many other members of Kaled Scientific Elite were opposed to the project. To prevent the interference of his detractors, Davros arranged for the Thals to aim a missile at the Kaled Dome where his people resided. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The Daleks revolt against their creator[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Daleks turn on their creator. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The newly christened Daleks, whose name was publicly revealed by Davros, were sent by Davros to exterminate the Thals, supposedly in retaliation for the attack on the Kaled Dome. They turned on Davros, as they were not programmed to recognise any creature as superior to them, apparently killing him. Accidentally, whilst attempting to stop the Doctor, a Dalek triggered an explosion which destroyed the embryo room before the Thals sealed the bunker entrance and trapped the Daleks inside. In the aftermath, the Doctor believed he had only held back their progress by about a thousand years or so, and that they would return. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The Doctor's TARDIS recorded the events of the mission as the Genesis of the Daleks. (PROSE: Press Play [+]Loading...["Press Play (short story)"]) Davros survived his "death" in a state of suspended animation. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"]) The same Dalek that fired on Davros later became the Dalek Prime and eventually proclaimed itself to be the Dalek Emperor. (PROSE: The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)"], War of the Daleks [+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"])

The Doctor's further statements[[edit] | [edit source]]

In 2025, the Doctor attributed the creation of the Daleks to "a near lethal cocktail of war, hatred and technology". (AUDIO: Energy of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Energy of the Daleks (audio story)"])

When the Fifth Doctor visited Riften 5 and looked at several of its research paper, he learned that genetic tests performed on Dalek mutants recovered from the "War of Sharpened Hearts" had all been grown from the DNA of male Kaleds. Thinking back on this knowledge, the Seventh Doctor pondered if Davros had rejected all female DNA for use in the Daleks. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet [+]Loading...["Christmas on a Rational Planet (novel)"]) As the Fifth Doctor learned during a brief visit into the Last Great Time War, however, female Kaleds had also been used as genetic material for the Daleks by Davros. Talking with Kaleds Kelleher, Milal, Sandar, Maran, he also realised all four of them were Kaleds who only existed because his TARDIS had crashed into a Dalek time ship and caused temporal distortion, creating Kaled copies of who the four Daleks aboard the ship would have been if not for Davros changing the destiny of his race. (AUDIO: Effect and Cause [+]Loading...["Effect and Cause (audio story)"])

Aftermath of the Doctor's intervention[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Last Great Time War

The Time Lords considered the Doctor's mission a failure, at least in the immediate term. One account did hold that the fallout of the mission created changes to the timeline had freed thousands of worlds from the tyranny of the Daleks, but not the millions the Time Lords had hoped for. Following the Doctor's subsequent actions in the weapons research facility of Deepcity, however, the Time Lords foresaw the rise of a race of robots that would challenge the Daleks and lead to the fall of the Dalek Empire. (PROSE: A Device of Death [+]Loading...["A Device of Death (novel)"]) However, other accounts suggested the Doctor's mission had made no changes to the Dalek timeline from his perspective; effectively a bootstrap paradox, the Celestial Intervention Agency's writings held that the Doctor's actions on Skaro had only created the version of Dalek history he was already living through. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem [+]Loading...["The Dalek Problem (novel)"])

As the Time Lords predicted, (PROSE: A Device of Death [+]Loading...["A Device of Death (novel)"]) the Daleks engaged in a destructive war against the Movellans. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)"]) Although the Dalek Prime later claimed the war had been staged, (PROSE: War of the Daleks [+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"]) the Daleks sought revenge on the Time Lords in the aftermath of the Movellan conflict and the subsequent Dalek civil war. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)"], Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)"])

The Eternity Circle later considered the Time Lords' act of trying to prevent their creation to be the beginning of the Last Great Time War. Inspired by the Time Lords' methods, the Daleks conducted further experiments on their own race in alternate timelines. The result was the creation of the unstable and unpredictable Skaro Degradations, which the Daleks deployed as a weapon of war. (PROSE: Engines of War [+]Loading...["Engines of War (novel)"])

Rojan saw the incident as an early event of the Time War before hostilities escalated (PROSE: The Stranger [+]Loading...["The Stranger (short story)"]) while the Eleventh Doctor called it the "first shot". (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone [+]Loading...["Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)"])

Historical accounts[[edit] | [edit source]]

Subsequent to their creation, the Daleks, confined to their city, believed the war was a quick neutronic war and that the Thals were horribly mutated from their original humanoid forms. The Daleks' "forefathers" retired into their city and were protected by their machines. (TV: "The Survivors" [+]Part of The Daleks, Loading...{"namedep":"The Survivors (2)","1":"The Daleks (TV story)"}) The First Doctor speculated from the Thals' historical records that these forefathers, the Dals, had also mutated during the war. Additionally, the Doctor believed the Thals' mutation had come full circle and "refined itself" back into humanoid form within five hundred years; the mutation of the Daleks, as they were now called, had not. (TV: "The Ambush" [+]Part of The Daleks, Loading...{"namedep":"The Ambush (4)","1":"The Daleks (TV story)"})

The Third Doctor recalled the Daleks as arising from a race who had been "one of the greatest species of the galaxy" before they turned to nuclear war. Claiming that the Daleks' forefathers realised only their brains would remain as they began to decay under the weight of their mutations, he explained they created metal travel machines for their new forms, while their anger at their fate turned them into "the most vicious, ruthless creatures ever to live in Space". (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Space War [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Space War (novelisation)"]) The Seventh Doctor's recollection of the Daleks' origin was that the Kaleds and the Thals had fought "a dirty nuclear war" in which the Kaleds mutated. The afflicted had their mutations accelerated by Davros, who then placed them in the travel machines. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)"])

Research by later historians suggested that the Daleks who had fought in the Thal-Dalek battle had been the direct descendants of Davros' first creations. In the immediate aftermath of the Thousand Year War and the sealing of the Kaled bunker, the Daleks had erected their city only for it to be targeted by the Thals, the Daleks detonating a neutron bomb that would be misremembered as a neutronic war centuries later. (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)"])

Yarvelling and the Dalek Emperor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Another account told of short, blue, humanoid Daleks whose warlord, Zolfian, plotted to use neutron bombs against the Thals. Zolfian employed a scientist, Yarvelling, to develop war machines against the survivors and ordered the factories to mass-produce them. Two weeks later, a meteorite strike destroyed the factories and the neutron bomb stores. After two years, Zolfian and Yarvelling climbed out of a fallout shelter to find a mutated Dalek had crawled inside one of the war machines and used it a shell. Yarvelling described to the new creature to Zolfian as having "a brain a thousand times superior to ours". Before the two survivors died of radiation sickness, the "machine Dalek" forced them to construct more war machines. (COMIC: Genesis of Evil [+]Loading...["Genesis of Evil (comic story)"])

The Dalek Prime remembered the Daleks' origin as direct consequences of the neutron war, unaided by any scientist, and accused Davros of having "interfered" in the Daleks' destiny, causing them to come into being at an accelerated rate so that he could then style himself their creator and thereby take control of them. (PROSE: War of the Daleks [+]Loading...["War of the Daleks (novel)"]) However, Davros had once recalled that he had made the Daleks in his own image. In fact, he said this was where their belief in their superiority came from. (AUDIO: Innocence [+]Loading...["Innocence (audio story)"]) Lareen also suspected Dalek arrogance was inherited from their creator, which Davros did not deny. (AUDIO: The Davros Mission [+]Loading...["The Davros Mission (audio story)"]) Even the Doctor himself flippantly referred to Davros as the Daleks' father, noting that the Daleks were made in the Kaled's image. (PROSE: Davros Genesis [+]Loading...["Davros Genesis (short story)"], Father of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Father of the Daleks (short story)"], TV: The Witch's Familiar [+]Loading...["The Witch's Familiar (TV story)"])

According to one account, the purported two origins were actually distinct events within a single history. After Davros's Daleks were buried for a thousand years by the Doctor's efforts, the Kaleds evolved into the humanoid Daleks, with the Thousand Year War having come to an end. However, after the neutronic exchange that wiped out the "humanoid Dalek", or Dal, civilisation, the Dalek Prime created by Davros reemerged from underground, and, passing itself off as a new mutation, directed the new, "natural" mutant Daleks to climb into Dalek casings, seeing it as an easy way to expand its fledgling race. It then set itself up as the new race's leader. The Dal-descended Daleks remained subservient to the Dalek Prime and the other few Daleks made directly by Davros, as programming within the casings directed them to act so. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The History of the Daleks (short story)"])

On Ameron[[edit] | [edit source]]

According to the research of human scientist Bryant Anderson, the Daleks' origin could instead be traced to the planet Ameron, where a powerful species called the Halldons had transplanted a population of Earth men as part of a scientific experiment, accelerating their evolution using their advanced technology.

Within two hundred years, the accelerated humans had not only discovered fire and agriculture but burned through scientific discoveries at a stunning rate. When they began building weapons and war machines which scared even their own overseers the Halldons, the latter decided the experiment had gone too far and tried to wipe out their "test subjects". The Ameron humans rebelled, turning their technology against the Halldons and exterminating them.

Bryant Anderson removes a Dalek creature from its casing and prepares to dissect it to confirm his terrible suspicions. (PROSE: We are the Daleks! [+]Loading...["We are the Daleks! (short story)"])

Free of the Halldons' control, and striving ever more for survival, the Ameron humans continued to advance, evolving both in body and technology, to eventually become the Daleks. According to Anderson, who was able to confirm the Dalek creatures were nothing more than a future state of human evolution by dissecting one, the Daleks were nothing more than the full expression of Man's true nature, "the most destructive force in the universe". (PROSE: We are the Daleks! [+]Loading...["We are the Daleks! (short story)"])

Later researchers were unable to either confirm or deny the theories of Bryant Anderson. Although some held his ideas to be nothing more than a fictitious creation myth (not unlike those formulated by other species the Daleks had conquered), it was speculated that the Kaleds and Thals of Skaro may have themselves been the descendants of proto-humans transplanted to the planet by the Halldons, much like the humans they transported to Ameron — getting at a theory of Dalek parallel evolution. Another theory was that Anderson's ideas about Ameron were altogether mistaken, but the Thals and Kaleds did indeed descend from humanoids introduced by Skaro by an alien influence, rather than being native to it. (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)"]) Independent accounts did, at any rate, confirm the existence of the Halldons, a species powerful enough that they once waged war with the Eternals. (PROSE: Meet the Doctor [+]Loading...["Meet the Doctor (DWAN 2006 short story)"])

In alternate realities[[edit] | [edit source]]

As many alternate versions of the Daleks existed in alternate timelines and parallel universes, so too were there numerous accounts of the creations of these alternate Dalek races.

Alternate timelines[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Temporal Plexus timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]

In an alternate timeline created when the Seventh Doctor's TARDIS became trapped in the Temporal Plexus, the Daleks were created in the Neutron War, a similar conflict to the Thousand Year War that their original counterparts in N-Space's original timeline had been created in, although the Neutron War was accidentally caused, rather than deliberately. The Daleks born from this war were a peaceful species of academics, retaining individual names, and forged Skaro into the universal centre of civilisation, democracy, philosophy and art, causing people from all over the universe to visit the planet; even the Time Lords were on good terms with the Daleks in this timeline, especially after Dalek surgeons successfully performed an operation on the Lord President. In addition, the Markhans, who were rendered extinct in the Markhan Genocide by the original Daleks in their timeline, instead survived, with many of them living on Skaro itself.

However, these alternate Daleks also developed and used advanced weaponry, although unlike their counterparts in the original timeline, they only used them on their space stations to defend Skaro, as many warlike races, such as the Cybermen and Sontarans, were a threat to Skaro's harmony.

When the Seventh Doctor and Ace landed the TARDIS on Skaro after escaping the Temporal Plexus, they eventually learned that this timeline's existence threatened to cause the entire universe to collapse from Space-Time decay. The Doctor subsequently erased this timeline from existence by merging the past and future versions of his TARDIS within the Temporal Plexus together. (PROSE: The Ripple Effect [+]Loading...["The Ripple Effect (short story)"])

The Master of the Daleks[[edit] | [edit source]]

The War Master during his interference with the creation of the Daleks. (AUDIO: Anti-Genesis)

During the Last Great Time War, the War Master used the Anti-Genesis codes to access Skaro years prior to the end of the Thousand Year War. There he arranged for Davros to die in a Thal bombardment, (AUDIO: From the Flames [+]Loading...["From the Flames (audio story)"]) and took his place as the creator of the Daleks. The Master equipped his Daleks with mutation weapons, which they used to rapidly mutate all the Kaleds, and kept them within the bunker. (AUDIO: The Master's Dalek Plan [+]Loading...["The Master's Dalek Plan (audio story)"]) The Master then left his Daleks to build up for a few years and returned to lead them as they emerged, arranging for them to ambush and kill the Fourth Doctor and his companions upon their arrival on Skaro. (AUDIO: Shockwave [+]Loading...["Shockwave (TWM audio story)"]) The Master's Daleks conquered the universe, however the Dalek Time Strategist and a version of the Master from a parallel universe convinced the Master they hold inevitably turn on him and he helped them restore the original timeline by foiling his younger self’s plan to get the Anti-Genesis codes. (AUDIO: He Who Wins [+]Loading...["He Who Wins (audio story)"])

Parallel universes[[edit] | [edit source]]

In one parallel universe, the Daleks were created as a benevolent force by the Mentor. (AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One [+]Loading...["Dalek War: Chapter One (audio story)"])

In the Unbound Universe, the Daleks were created on Skaro by Davros at the end of a war between the Kaleds and Thals, which had been secretly fomented by the Quatch. Davros' first batch of Daleks, functionally identical to their N-Space counterparts, eventually turned on their creator when he was of no further use before leaving Skaro to conquer other worlds and erect a Dalek Empire. Deeming his first effort "The Renegades", Davros created a second batch of Daleks, instilling them with the ability to feel pity and loyalty towards him. To his disappointment, however, these new Daleks lacked their predecessors' bloodlust and urge for conquest, Davros eventually abandoning them. Daleks of the second generation eventually left Skaro and began searching for their creator. (AUDIO: Masters of War [+]Loading...["Masters of War (audio story)"])

In the Warrior's universe, Sarah Jane Smith convinced the Fourth Doctor to destroy the Dalek incubation chamber. Before the Time Ring could be retrieved, Sarah and Harry Sullivan were exterminated by an already active prototype Dalek, which proceeded to fatally wound the Doctor. As the Time Lord was returned to Gallifrey, (AUDIO: Dust Devil [+]Loading...["Dust Devil (audio story)"]) the Skarosian races discovered the Time Ring and, having proof of hostile alien life, unified as one force. Reverse engineering the Time Ring, the Skarosians became temporally active, reinforcing the moment outside the incubation chamber so as to prevent any further temporal incursions. (AUDIO: Aftershocks [+]Loading...["Aftershocks (audio story)"])

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

Overview[[edit] | [edit source]]

As far as the vast bulk of continuity is concerned, Davros created the Daleks and the Fourth Doctor, Sarah and Harry nearly stopped it before it started, as seen in Genesis of the Daleks.

However, prior to the writing of that story, Terry Nation, the real-life creator and copyright holder of the Daleks, elected to allow at least three separate origin stories for his creations. The reason for the multiplicity of origins is unclear, but it likely had something to do with the time in which they were written. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Nation and the rest of the Doctor Who team didn't really believe they were creating "permanent" works. Written long before the advent of home video, the internet, or even the existence of a robust market for reprinted comic strips, the various origins told during the first decade of Doctor Who were likely considered as disposable as the episodes themselves turned out to be. Hence, Nation contradicted not just other writers, but himself, when positing various origins for the Daleks.

The Daleks[[edit] | [edit source]]

The first Dalek story, The Daleks, gave viewers a tiny sliver of an idea of where the creatures came from. Far from a full-fledged origin, The Daleks tells that the Daleks came from a race called "the Dals" who had survived an atomic war. This narrative "plank" was certainly incorporated into Genesis of the Daleks, although the name of the parent race wasn't. The Dalek Handbook offers an explanation that the Thals, who fought a war against the Dals, conflated the Dals with the Daleks in their legends.

TV Century 21 comic strips[[edit] | [edit source]]

Nation allowed writers David Whitaker and Alan Fennell to tell a Dalek origin in their 1965 TV Century 21 comic strip Genesis of Evil. This was the first published attempt to tell a more-or-less complete origin, and it posited that the Daleks were mutated from a race also known as the Daleks. There is no reference at all to any part of Genesis of Evil within televised Doctor Who, and very little more than an occasional, sly reference in other forms of Doctor Who fiction.

We are the Daleks![[edit] | [edit source]]

The TV Century 21 version went unchallenged by any other story for eight years until Nation himself was commissioned to write a short prose story for the Radio Times Doctor Who 10th anniversary publication in 1973. Entitled We are the Daleks!, the piece substantively contradicted Genesis of Evil and The Daleks, and the later Genesis of the Daleks. The most contradictory feature of this piece was the notion that Daleks were actually evolved from future humans.

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