The Destroyers (audio story)

It was based on an unproduced script for a pilot episode written by Terry Nation in 1966. This was planned as a spin-off series for television featuring the Daleks, the Space Security Service and the character Sara Kingdom, all of whom Nation had featured in The Daleks' Master Plan. The actual title of the proposed spin-off series is not known. A synopsis of the script was published in The Official Doctor Who & the Daleks Book in 1988. It also largely switched the roles of Sara and David Kingdom.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

When the crew of Explorer Base One is attacked by the Daleks, Space Security Agents Sara Kingdom, Mark Seven and Jason Corey investigate. They discover a plan that threatens the future of the entire galaxy...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Carson, a member of the Space Exploration Team who have spent two days on the surface of the giant meteorite M5, patrols inside a force field surrounding their temporary home — Explorer Base One. Their original rocket survey showed no signs of any advanced life on the meteorite. However, the Daleks have a secret underground base and they penetrate the force field and massacre Carson, his superior Tom Wayne (who wears two short arrows on his uniform), Morgan and almost the entire crew. They take two crew, an injured space engineer (named Philip Leigh in the original script) and David Kingdom away for interrogation.

Meanwhile, Special Space Security Forces (SSS) agents Jason Corey, David's sister Sara Kingdom and android Mark Seven are exploring M5, having arrived with the team. Noticing the glow of the blazing base, they hurry back. They discover a crew member named Whitman, dying. He tells them that the Daleks attacked and took a few prisoners. Mark Seven recalls that the Daleks are only recorded as having penetrated their galaxy on two occasions: seventy years earlier, when they slaughtered the garrison on Alpha Millennium; and six months after that, when a Dalek ship was identified near Mars. There had been no reports since then. The native carnivorous carrion plants begin to feast on the dead bodies strewn around. In the Daleks' headquarters, their instruments detect movement at the base. They send a patrol out to annihilate whatever is alive there. When David asks for help for his injured colleague, the Daleks simply kill him, as they still have one healthy prisoner in David.

The SSS agents follow the Dalek tracks towards their tunnel system, when the Dalek patrol approaches them. Jason, Mark and Sara hide in the bushes, where they are attacked the carnivorous plants. Continuing to the caves, Jason and Mark venture further in while Sara guards the entrance. She is attacked by some sort of shadowy spectre which envelopes her in webbing. She is only released when the creature is scared off by the returning Dalek patrol. She follows Jason and Mark to alert them. Inside, their way forward is blocked by a chasm, but knowing there must be some way for the Daleks to cross it they hide, and see the two Daleks activate a retractable bridge. As one crosses they jump the other, tossing it into the chasm. The first Dalek tries to return but Sara deactivates the bridge, sending the creature plunging into the abyss.

In the headquarters, the commanding Black Dalek relays orders to his Silver Dalek subordinate to inform the Supreme Dalek on Skaro that their mission is complete. They tell David that the elimination of the M5 base is part of their strategy for the destruction of Earth and its colony planets. The Black Dalek orders their ship prepared for departure. The SSS agents arrive at the outer doors in time to see David, but not in time to stop him being taken away as the Dalek ship launches.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Mark Seven is equipped with a loyalty circuit and an emotion circuit, which is subservient to his relentless logic. His vision circuitry is infraspectrum sensitive.
Sara describes Mark as a "damn robot".
Skaro is located in the Eighth Galaxy.
Seventy years earlier, the Daleks slaughtered a garrison on Alpha Millennium. Six months later, a Dalek ship was detected in the vicinity of Mars.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Art by Brian Williamson (DWM 406)

Doctor Who Magazine 406 featured an article about Terry Nation's unproduced Daleks spin-off.
This audio drama was recorded on 7 May 2010.
This is not the only spin-off focused on the Daleks; Big Finish's earlier series Dalek Empire used a similar theme of a central group of protagonists who fought the Daleks. Additionally, a comic strip, The Dalek Chronicles, was published in TV Century 21 from 1965 to 1967, establishing wider aspects of Dalek culture.
This is the only Lost Story not to feature the Doctor.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Sara mentions that Mark Seven is built in the same vein as Dorian Gray. (AUDIO: Shades of Gray et al.)
David Kingdom's fate is unknown. Mark Seven wrote a file about the incident, which Mavic Chen consulted when he and Bret Vyon met Sara Kingdom "so many years" later in 3999. (AUDIO: The Guardian of the Solar System)
The Daleks intend to destroy Earth and its colonies and conquer Mutter's Spiral. (TV: Mission to the Unknown, The Daleks' Master Plan)

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Official The Destroyers page at bigfinish.com
The Destroyers at the Doctor Who Reference Guide