Command Dalek
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Command Daleks or Dalek Commanders were rank of Dalek serving the role of commander.
Hierarchy
Commanders were subordinate to the Supreme Daleks and typically used casings identical to the Dalek drones under their command. (PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks, Birth of a Legend) They commanded their own ships, designated command ships or base ships. (COMIC: Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer, Star Tigers)
Similarly, Landinalakallinian observed that Dalek Captains and their subordinate Dalek Lieutenants did not seem to be distinguishable from exterior appearance, with the Gallifreyan professor suggesting that they relied on forms of radio identification signals to identify each other instead of more obvious rank markings. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem)
Saucer commanders, distinguished by their black domes and alternating black panels on the base unit, commanded Dalek saucers. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, COMIC: The Threat from Beneath, PROSE: Mission to Galacton)
History
Pre-Time War
During the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth, the Black Supreme Controller served as designated Commander of the Dalek Earthforce. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth)
During the 2223 Dalek invasion of Earth, a Dalek Commander under orders from the Dalek Supreme attempted to kill Magnus Drake only to itself be destroyed by Vienna Salvatori. (AUDIO: Vengeance)
In the 23rd century, the Battle Commander Daleks were a group of twelve Daleks who directed the Dalek war efforts. They were subordinate to the Dalek Emperor and Davros. (GAME: Dalek Attack)
The Kangring Squadron which participated in the invasion of Earth's solar system in 2400 were led by the Red Commander. (COMIC: Invasion of the Daleks)
In the 26th century, during the Second Dalek War, a Command Dalek commanded a Dalek base ship with a crew of 1,000 Daleks on the planet Mazam. (COMIC: Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer) The Dalek Supreme who led the invasion of the Cathedral of Contemplation was addressed as Supreme Commander. (AUDIO: Out of Time)
A trio of Dalek ships, including a Dalek Commander's command ship, pursued Taiyin's space yacht to Draconia only to be destroyed by Abslom Daak before he touched down on the planet. (COMIC: Star Tigers)
The Dalek Survival Guide noted that the Gold Dalek who oversaw Operation Divide and Conquer and the Time Paradox Incident was a Dalek Supreme yet also claimed the Dalek was never called by that rank, leading to the theory that it was actually a sub-commander or Chief. (PROSE: Dalek Survival Guide) The Time Lords believed this Dalek to be a subordinate "outpost commander" who deputised for the Dalek Supreme. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual) Other Daleks of the same casing design were concretely called Supremes, however. (AUDIO: Poison of the Daleks, Eye of Darkness) By one account, during the Time Paradox Incident, the Gold Dalek was itself supported by a Black Dalek. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks)
A bronze Command Dalek was the bronze Dalek commander of the Dalek base on the planet Arkheon to exploit the Arkheon Threshold using slave labour during the Second Dalek War. This Dalek ordered the captain of Wayfarer, Jon Bowman, be taken for brain excoriation which would kill him. The Tenth Doctor admitted to the Command Dalek who he was and was placed at Bowman's cell. It accompanied Dalek X to find the Doctor's TARDIS with the Temporal Research Team, the Doctor and the surviving bounty hunters to Hurala with the Dalek Inquisitor General's flagship called the Exterminator. The Command Dalek was destroyed when the fueling station exploded while attempting to exterminate Bowman near the TARDIS. (PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks)
A bronze Command Dalek commanded a Dalek saucer which pursued the Aristotle during the Good Dalek Incident. (TV: Into the Dalek)
A Red Dalek Commander led the Red Extra-Galactic Squadron on various missions throughout numerous galaxies. In the 40th century, (COMIC: The Brain Tappers) the Squadron returned to Skaro for the re-election of the Dalek Emperor. However, the Commander had become disillusioned with the Emperor due to the Daleks' persistent failure to defeat humanity. It spoke out by denouncing the Emperor and demanded that a better leader be put in place. The Emperor was furious as this display of insubordination and turned the Black Dalek Leader against the Squadron. The Commander and the rest of the Squadron were destroyed. Yet secretly the Emperor acknowledged that the Commander had been right about its shortcomings and it resolved to improve and rebuild itself. (COMIC: The Secret of the Emperor)
A Dalek Commander was in charge of the Dalek operation on the planet Ercos to test the Dalek driller. He exterminated a Dalek for failing to capture Ticon. The Dalek Commander was killed by two Daleks for failure. (COMIC: The Dalek Revenge)
The Vega VI Dalek commander was the Dalek commander of the invasion of the planet Vega VI to collect large amounts of veganite, a mineral that could be used for Dalek plans. He reported to the Supreme Dalek, leading the Galactic Attack Sphere Head, that the slaves at Vega VI had stopped working and began resting and eating. (AUDIO: Invasion of the Daleks)
A Dalek Commander, identified by Liv Chenka as being silver in colour, led a small contingent of Daleks on the Eye of Orion. This Commander, along with its subordinate Daleks, were exterminated by the Dalek Time Controller, who had been banished from the Dalek Empire. (AUDIO: Eye of Darkness)
A bronze Dalek served as Dalek Commander of the Seventh Incursion Squad whose mission was to wipe out the Mechonoids on Magella. He commanded from on the battlefield overseeing the field from vantage points. After the Mechonoids were exterminated, the Commander returned as ordered to the Dalek Emperor on Skaro. In anticipation of the coming Last Great Time War, the Emperor named the Commander Dalek Sec, appointing him as the leader of the Cult of Skaro and providing him with a new black casing of Metalert. Joining him in the Cult were the Commandant of Station Alpha, Attack Squad Leader in the Thirtieth Assault Group, and Force Leader of the Outer Rim Defensive Battalion, named Thay, Caan and Jast. (PROSE: Birth of a Legend)
Time War
During the Time War, a Dalek Taskforce Commander, serving under the Dalek Time Strategist, led the Dalek attack on Fergil. (AUDIO: Pretty Lies)
The Emperor briefed his bronze commanders on his plans to assault Gallifrey. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe) Towards the end of the Time War, a Dalek Commander was killed in the attack upon the Kasterborous constellation, which ended as a massive Dalek victory, (PROSE: Dalek) giving the exterminators the chance to attack Gallifrey itself. (TV: The Day of the Doctor, et. al) Upon learning of the destruction of its Commander, one Dalek drone under its command came to believe the officer had died fighting bravely and that it must have died for a specific reason. With the commander dead, the drone and its squad was given a new Commander. (PROSE: Dalek)
Post-Time War
Following the establishment of the New Dalek Paradigm in the post-Time War universe, the first of the Red Drone Daleks was assigned command of the new Dalek Imperial Army. Within the Parliament of the Daleks, thousands of bronze Daleks served as Dalek governors. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe)
A Bronze Commander led the Dalek Death Squad spacecraft. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks) Another commander led the Daleks who allied with the Spy Master and the CyberMasters during the Master's Dalek Plan. (TV: The Power of the Doctor) Both spoke with deep voices similar to those of a Dalek Supreme. (TV: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, Victory of the Daleks, Asylum of the Daleks, The Time of the Doctor, The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar; AUDIO: Emissary of the Daleks, The Curse of Davros, Out of Time, Homecoming; GAME: City of the Daleks)
Behind the scenes
- Similar to Supreme Dalek/Dalek Supreme and Dalek Emperor/Emperor Dalek, the terms "Dalek Commander" and "Command Dalek" are used interchangably across media.
- The Dalek Handbook classes the Gold Dalek as a Commander, subordinate to the Dalek Supreme and above the grey Dalek Leaders. In their list of real world paradigms, The Dalek Handbook counts the Gold Dalek in a "1972-1985" paradigm with the grey Daleks and the Dalek Supreme.
- James Johnson rendered a Time War-era Dalek Commander model which was featured on the cover of Gallifrey: War Room 1: Allegiance, sporting a black and silver livery reminiscent of the earlier Battle Computer unit seen in the Shoreditch Incident.[1] Ahead of release, Johnson released a closer look at his designs,[2] also clarifying that the accompanying text wasn't in any way official, and that he added it "just for fun".[3]
Dalek Commanders were an integral part of the war effort against the Time Lords. These specifically bred mutants were connected by a private pathweb to other units across the fleet, allowing the instant sharing of tactical and military planning information. They were the successor of the earlier Battle Computers, discarding the need for non-Dalek life-forms to be utilised for their instinct and intuition.
