The Doomsday Machine (short story)
The Doomsday Machine was the first original story in the 1977 Dalek annual. It was, for a Dalek annual story, notable for its unusual degree of continuity with a story from a previous annual. It directly told its readers than a year had passed since the founding of the Anti-Dalek Force in the previous year's annual.
Summary
When Cal Tarrant, the President of the United Planets, announces to his citizens that they're winning the war against the Daleks thanks to the Anti-Dalek Force he created a year ago, Space Major Joel Shaw doesn't believe it. He and Reb Shavron, his ADF second-in-command, sense that the politician is . . . being a politician. Soon, the ADF get positive proof that Tarrant is putting an overly positive spin on things. Their strongest fortification — the one at Emmeron — has been overrun.
In response, Joel, Reb and another ADF agent speed off in one-person vessels to Skaro for a traditional ADF stealth attack. Their act of retaliation is somewhat successful, but the two ADF leaders lose their friend on the operation.
The Daleks are still very far from retreating, no matter what Cal Tarrant has said.
Characters
References
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Notes
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Continuity
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Timeline
In truth, there's generally no direct sense of continuity between stories in the 1970s Dalek annuals, except that they do quite often feature Joel Shaw. However, in this case, Cal Tarrant's speech to the United Planets Parliament firmly puts this story at one year after Terror Task Force.
