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The Movellans were androids who warred with the Dalek Empire.
Physical characteristics
The Movellans outwardly resembled humans of various ethnicities and both genders. All of the Movellan androids wore white, form-fitting uniforms, On each shoulder is a glowing green ampoule held in a metal frame. All Movellans have silver dreadlocks; the commander's dreadlocks have black tips rather than silver. Being androids, the Movellans were strong and tough. The major weakness of the Movellan design was each android's external power pack which, being carried on their belts, was easily removed and completely shut down the android. The power pack circuitry could also be modified, reprogramming the android to obey human orders. Because they do not wish to reveal their mechanical status to others, they do not allow aliens to see them in death, claiming such a thing would be against their code of honour.
Their side-arm was a cone-shaped pink gun. It had a white cover into which their hands fitted when holding the gun. The weapon had both "kill" and "stun" settings. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)
Technology
The Movellans' spacecraft fix on their landing spots with a targeting beam, and once they have landed, the lower half drills into the earth as a means of camouflage and defence. These ships have an intergalactic range and time-warp capability. Inside the ship, some Movellans wore headphones, presumably as a way of interfacing directly with the ship's computer.
The Movellans' main destructive weapon was the Nova device. This invention counted down to zero, at which point it altered the molecular structure of the atmosphere so that the atoms become flammable. Without protective shielding around the device, it would burn up an entire planetary atmosphere. It could, however, be turned on without being armed (making it into basically nothing more than an elaborate egg-timer).
History
It was suggested that the Movellans were created in the image of a humanoid race that they subsequently destroyed. (PROSE: The Also People)
Romana identified the Movellans' ship as being from star system 4-X-Alpha-4.
It was claimed by the Dalek Prime that the Movellans were actually the creation of the Daleks and that the war was a fake created as part of an elaborate plan to prevent the destruction of Skaro as recorded in their history. The sincerity of this comment is unclear. (PROSE: War of the Daleks)
The Dalek Handbook wrote that the Movellans might have been created by time lords as another clandestine attempt to stop the daleks progress.
Another account claims that the Movellans and the Daleks encountered each other while both sides were expanding their interstellar empires beyond the bounds of the galaxy and immediately engaged in a war which lasted for centuries. As the empires' respective warfleets were evenly matched, neither side's purely logical battle computers could find a successful strategy for an attack against the other and so the two fleets remained locked in a stalemate, constantly maneuvering and probing for weakness but never actually firing a single shot.
The Daleks returned to their homeworld, Skaro, to retrieve and revive their creator Davros, hoping that he could find a way to break the impasse, and the Movellans sent their own expedition to stop them. Davros determined that the first side to take a seemingly reckless gamble would be able to gain the advantage, but the Fourth Doctor prevented either side from returning to their respective fleets with this insight. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)
About ninety years later, the Movellans developed a biological agent which attacked and was almost instantly fatal to the physiology of the mutant within the Dalek shell. This virus effected a turning point in the Dalek-Movellan War, reducing the once-great Dalek empire to a few scattered colonies. Once more, they sought out Davros for assistance. By this time, Davros resided in cryogenic suspension in a space station. The plan went wrong both as a result of Davros himself turning against the Supreme Dalek as well as the involvement of the Fifth Doctor. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks)
The Movellans may have been the attackers of the makers of the Clades. (PROSE: Peacemaker)
Behind the scenes
- "Technical" (mainly made up by the author) information on the Movellans and their side-arms appear in The Doctor Who Technical Manual.
- FASA's The Doctor Who Role Playing Game offered background information on the Movellans, describing them as android slaves given independence by a computer virus.
- Fans have, generally speaking, not warmly received John Peel's suggestion, in War of the Daleks, that the Dalek-Movellan War never actually happened.
In Other Media
The Movellans (As well as other antagonist) appear in a doctor Who Skit "The Monster Society of Evil" - Gallifrey One Masquerade 2011