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Kembel, (PROSE: Mission to the Unknown [+]Loading...["Mission to the Unknown (novelisation)"]) also spelt Kemble, (PROSE: Dalek Survival Guide [+]Loading...["Dalek Survival Guide (novel)"]) was a jungle planet near the edge of Mutter's Spiral which was considered the most hostile planet in the universe. (TV: Mission to the Unknown [+]Loading...["Mission to the Unknown (TV story)"]) It had lighter gravity than Skaro (AUDIO: The False Guardian [+]Loading...["The False Guardian (audio story)"]) and was not far from the planet Desperus. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan [+]Loading...["The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Unsuccessful human colony[[edit] | [edit source]]
During Steve Zodiac's lifetime in the 21st century, Kemble and its neighboring planet Olympus were home to feuding human colonies led by chiefs Kanerik and Jankel, respectively. While Olympus was beautiful and beachy, Kemble was "almost impossible to live on": the humans lived in underground caves to escape its craggy surface and lightning storms.
Kanerik led a plan to conquer Olympus for his people by poisoning Ergon, Jankel's son and heir, and trading the antidote for control of the planet. However, Steve Zodiac, Venus, and Professor Matic were visiting Olympus at the time on vacation, and after narrowly escaping a violent storm on Kemble, Steve and Venus saved Ergon. They then negotiated an uneasy peace between Kanerik and Jankel so the humans on Kemble could settle on Olympus. (NC: Space Vacation [+]Loading...["Space Vacation (TV story)"])
As Dalek base[[edit] | [edit source]]
Prior to the year 4000, a Galactic Council of representatives of the Outer Galaxies, allied with the Daleks, met on Kembel in order to work out a plan to destroy the solar system. The Daleks reasoned that the most dangerous planet in the universe, where no one would voluntarily land, would make the ideal base for their activities. (TV: Mission to the Unknown [+]Loading...["Mission to the Unknown (TV story)"]) They transplanted deadly Varga plants from Skaro and also developed other carnivorous plants, such as the rosa toxicaera, to deter visitors on the off-chance someone stumbled upon their base and discovered their activities on the planet. (AUDIO: The Rosemariners [+]Loading...["The Rosemariners (audio story)"]) They also established a Dalek city with its own spaceport.
Following a sighting of a Dalek ship near the planet, SSS agent Marc Cory set up an expedition to Kembel. He learnt of the Daleks' plan, but his two crew members were transformed into Varga plants, forcing him to kill them both. The Daleks found and exterminated Cory himself before he could launch an orbital distress beacon to warn the galaxy. (TV: Mission to the Unknown)
By a coincidence, the Doctor's TARDIS had earlier materialised near Kembel before landing there later. The planet appeared on the TARDIS scanner screen and Vicki speculated on what was happening there. (TV: Galaxy 4 [+]Loading...["Galaxy 4 (TV story)"])
Later, the TARDIS materialised on Kembel shortly after departing Troy at the end of the Trojan War. (TV: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (TV story)"]) A temporal collision with the Second Doctor's TARDIS diverted the First Doctor from Kembel to Urbinia, creating an alternate timeline. When the Second Doctor averted the collision, the First Doctor landed on Kembel undisturbed. (AUDIO: Daughter of the Gods [+]Loading...["Daughter of the Gods (audio story)"])
Not knowing of the planet or its reputation and having landed the TARDIS at random, the First Doctor arrived with his companions while looking for help for Steven Taylor, who had recently suffered an infected wound. They learnt of the Daleks' plan, and of the betrayal by the human Guardian of the Solar System, Mavic Chen, who had given the Daleks the taranium they needed to power their Time Destructor. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan [+]Loading...["The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)"])
Devastation of Kembel[[edit] | [edit source]]
After being pursued across space and time by the Daleks, the Doctor and his friends returned to Kembel. The Time Destructor was activated and began to accelerate time around Kembel, turning the jungle into a desert. The Time Destructor eventually burnt itself out after Steven Taylor got it to reverse time, leaving Kembel a wasteland. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan [+]Loading...["The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)"])
After uncovering the plot, Earth sent an expedition to Kembel to arrest Mavic Chen, unaware of his death and the planet's destruction. (PROSE: The Mutation of Time [+]Loading...["The Mutation of Time (novelisation)"]) The Dalek Supreme survived the incident albeit in a critical condition, escaping Kembel and returning to Skaro. (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)"]) Additionally, some of the Daleks survived and were sent to the Dalek Asylum where they were classified as insane and placed in "intensive care". (TV: Asylum of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"])
A resort was established later in the 41st century by Zephon, protected by a chronal wavefront that had been generated by the Time Destructor and swept across the planet's surface. (AUDIO: Time's Assassin [+]Loading...["Time's Assassin (audio story)"])
Francine "Minah Bird" Mole developed a deep emotional attachment to a Dalek following a period of entrapment, embracing "the love that dare not speak its name". After eight years of pining and petitioning the Kemble authorities, she was allowed to visit the Dalek that had won her heart during their shared ordeal, without the presence of guards. Ms Mole was shortly exterminated. (PROSE: Dalek Survival Guide [+]Loading...["Dalek Survival Guide (novel)"])
Dalek-Movellan War[[edit] | [edit source]]
During the Dalek-Movellan War, a Dalek Supreme led a faction of Daleks based on Kembel, seeking to regain lost knowledge in time travel. The faction were based in an underground facility. (AUDIO: The Triumph of Davros [+]Loading...["The Triumph of Davros (audio story)"]) An Earth Protection Corps ship carrying the Tenth Doctor and Davros crash landed on Kembel and was followed by the Movellan prime rocket commanded by the First Movellan. The Movellans captured the Doctor and Davros whilst the Daleks captured their companions Anya Kingdom and Major Keelan, (AUDIO: The Dalek Defence [+]Loading...["The Dalek Defence (audio story)"]) who they strapped to bombs and sent to infiltrate the Movellan rocket. The pair were exposed and thrown out with the Doctor, only to be recaptured by the Daleks who agreed to work with the Doctor against Davros and his new alliance with the Movellans. The Doctor used the scheme to send the rocket away from Kembel and just as the Daleks reclaimed Davros, Earth Protection Corps invaded. The humans overwhelmed the Dalek faction on Kembel, capturing Davros, and the Doctor left the planet in the faction's time machine. (AUDIO: The Triumph of Davros [+]Loading...["The Triumph of Davros (audio story)"])
Last Great Time War[[edit] | [edit source]]
During the Last Great Time War Kembel was deep in Dalek space and was attacked by the Barber-Surgeon's forces. In the aftermath the Time Lord ship Bessie investigated, finding the planet, in the War Doctor's words, "cooked". (AUDIO: The Mission [+]Loading...["The Mission (audio story)"]) However, after the Barber-Surgeon averted his own existence, the Doctor deduced that the battles the Barber-Surgeon had waged were wiped as well. (AUDIO: The Horror [+]Loading...["The Horror (audio story)"])
Vegetation[[edit] | [edit source]]
The mosses of Kemble were the source of the only antidote to the deadly poison glanster. (NC: Space Vacation [+]Loading...["Space Vacation (TV story)"])
Kemble was hospitable to dangerous plants transplanted by the Daleks, including the Varga plants. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan [+]Loading...["The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Kembel first appeared in the last few minutes of Galaxy 4 as a lead-in to Mission to the Unknown, which did not feature the First Doctor or any of his companions. Following Vicki's statement, a short "teaser" scene to the action of Mission to the Unknown followed.
- In Terry Nation's original draft of the script, the planet was called "Varga". While that name survived in the title of its Varga plants, after Dennis Spooner joined the script the planet was renamed first "Kemble", then "Kembel".[1] Both spellings were used in later stories.
- The first appearance of the planet Kemble was in Dennis Spooner's February 1963 Fireball XL5 episode Space Vacation, where it was similarly categorised as harsh and inhospitable.[2]