The History of the Daleks (short story)

The History of the Daleks
Main character(s):	Daleks, Davros, Dalek Prime
Featuring:	The Doctor
Key crew
Publisher:	St Martin's Press
Writers:	John Peel, Terry Nation
Release details
Printed in:	The Official Doctor Who & the Daleks Book
Release date:	31 December 1988

The History of the Daleks was a narrative retelling of the Daleks' history published in The Official Doctor Who & the Daleks Book, which was written by John Peel and Terry Nation. It detailed the Daleks' history in an in-universe, chronological order using all major TV appearances from 1963 to 1988, linking every story in the classic run of Doctor Who with the exception of Remembrance of the Daleks (as it was presumably written before it aired, despite being published after).

Summary

The home planet of the Daleks, Skaro, starts off as home to a humanoid race that split into two groups: the Thals and the Dals. After the Dals cross the Drammankin Mountains, the two tribes have no contact for centuries, though they know of the others. The Dals eventually rename themselves the Kaleds, and as both groups begin to develop agriculture and civilization, the Kaleds begin to believe their ancestors were persecuted by the Thals, while the Thals believe the Kaleds splintered as a result of being outvoted on tribal policy. The Thals are willing to reaccept the Kaleds if they admit they were right, which they would never do. Both civilizations develop cities (and eventually atomic weapons) at the same times, and tensions grow as they spy on each other.

As war seems imminent, a Kaled scientist named Davros comes to prominence and gets a bunker built for him to conduct his studies in secret with other scientists. Finally, secrets are kept from the Thals, who too built a bunker. But one Thal spy manages to enter the Kaled bunker and learn of the advanced genetic and cybernetic process Davros was creating that could no doubt defeat them. The spy attempts to assassinate Davros but is apprehended, finally starting the war. Both sides use neutron bombs to destroy the cities and petrify Skaro's forests, until the last survivors remain in two domes.

Davros is badly wounded and requires cybernetic enhancements such as a mobility unit, and begins to lose his sanity. He trusts only his closest allies, such as Nyder. He determines the Kaled race had to be reborn. He finds several surviving Kaleds in the destroyed cities, heavily mutated from radiation. After experimenting upon them, he finds a way to control these mutations, and creates a casing for them based on his own chair, terming them the Daleks, the ultimate life form. These early Daleks depend on static electricity, though they later learn to use solar power. Davros creates more Dalek mutants from embryos, and removes emotions that he saw as weaknesses, so they would only capable of loyalty to their own species and contempt for any other (including the Kaleds). Although the Kaled rulers approve of the new weapon to win the war, certain members of the scientific elite such as Ronson disagree.

At this time, the Time Lords of Gallifrey witness Davros' creations and, with a time scanner, foresee the havoc they would wreak in the future. They send their agent, the Doctor, who has already encountered the Daleks many times due to frequent time travelling, to either avert the creation of the Daleks or alter them so they would be less aggressive.

to be continued

Characters

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• Davros
• Ronson
• Dalek Prime
• The Black Dalek
• The Doctor

References

• Skaro has one continental mainland and many small islands.
• The Dals renamed themselves the Kaleds after the first letter in their alphabet to show supremacy. Davros used the name Dalek since it was the final letter in the alphabet, and he saw the Daleks as the final stage of the Kaled race.
• The so-called Thousand Year War actually lasted around 250 years.
• Davros' chair is the Mark 1 casing, his initial Dalek designs were Mark 2s, and the final Dalek casings were Mark 3 casings.
• During the creation of the Daleks, Ravon was in his early twenties.

Notes

• This story is notable for explicitly stating the Thals' counterpart tribe and ancestors to the Daleks, the Dals, renamed themselves as the Kaleds.
• The Dalek City's destruction as seen in The Evil of the Daleks is placed as the final end of the Dalek race — something Remembrance of the Daleks, the only story not referenced in the history, contradicts by featuring the destruction of Skaro. John Peel's later novel War of the Daleks provided a possible explanation that it was not actually Skaro destroyed, but a decoy planet called Antalin. It also displaced Davros' trial to take place after Remembrance of the Daleks, rather than the earlier placement presented in this story.
• This story makes the claim that the Daleks have no sentimental attachment to their home planet of Skaro, which would be contradicted by The Witch's Familiar.
• Whilst the Dalek Supreme Council is acknowledged, references to "the Black Dalek" and "the Dalek Supreme" are made interchangeably, including the Dalek Supreme in Planet of the Daleks. Whilst the Dalek Prime is noted as have been distinguished by a gold casing originally, the Gold Dalek from Day of the Daleks is acknowledged separately. There is also reference to the Dalek Supreme being present for the events of The Evil of the Daleks, which was not seen on-screen.

Continuity

• Skaro is the twelfth planet in its solar system. (TV: "The Ambush")
• The Black Dalek was the second-in-command of the golden Dalek Prime, being the race's Warlord. (COMIC: The Secret of the Emperor)
• The cure for the Movellan virus allowed the Daleks to launch an ill-fated attempt to exploit a space plague. (TV: Death to the Daleks)
• Davros was found and captured and Necros. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)

External links

to be added