Metaltron
A Dalek soldier fought in the Last Great Time War, and survived being destroyed by the Doctor. After being passed through several collectors after it fell on the Ascension Islands, it was a living specimen in Henry van Statten's Cage, nicknamed "Metaltron".
Biography
At the climax of the Time War, when the Doctor used the Moment to destroy Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the Daleks (TV: The End of Time), this Dalek fell through time and landed on the Ascension Islands circa 1962. Driven insane, it shut itself off, putting its shields up to maximum. It passed through several private collections in the 20th and 21st centuries. By 2012 it was in the possession of billionaire Henry van Statten, who kept it in the Vault. He hired a torturer, Simmons, to make it talk, but all it did was scream. It sent out a distress signal, which was detected by the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler. Coming to its aid, the Doctor realised it was a Dalek and tortured it himself.
It pretended to Rose that it was a harmless victim and she touched it. Absorbing her DNA, the Dalek regenerated and escaped. It downloaded all the data available on the Internet and killed Simmons, Bywater, De Maggio, and hundreds of others in the Battle of GeoComTex. However, it found itself unable to kill Rose. Human DNA had brought with it emotions. Rose took the Dalek to the roof, where it opened its battle armour to feel the sun. Considering all the new emotions to be "sickness", it asked Rose to order it to self-destruct, preferring death to a life with emotions. She refused at first, but eventually gave the order, and "Metaltron" destroyed himself. (TV: Dalek)
Legacy
This was the first time the Doctor found a survivor of the Time War. Although he believed that this was the last Dalek, he would soon discover many more had escaped or avoided his use of the Moment: the Dalek Emperor himself survived (TV: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways); the four-member Cult of Skaro and a prison ship loaded with millions of Daleks escaped the Time War using a Void Ship (TV: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday); and the frozen planet of the Dalek Asylum was unaffected or out-of-reach of the Time War (TV: Asylum of the Daleks).
When Rose awoke after being transmatted to the mothership of the Dalek Emperor, she was met by a single Dalek. Initally believing it to be the same Dalek, Metaltron, she encountered before, she exclaimed "You're dead, I saw you die!" (TV: Bad Wolf)
Rose would later remember when she restored this Dalek with her touch when the Cult of Skaro demanded that she open the Genesis Ark. She explained to Mickey Smith that the Dalek was broken and dying but when she touched it she brought it back to life, as the Daleks had evolved to use the background radiation one "soaked up" from travelling through time in the TARDIS, as a power supply. (TV: Doomsday)
Personality
While it was a prisoner, the "Metaltron" was defiant and refused to speak when Henry van Statten's staff were torturing it, although it did scream. It was enraged by the appearance of the Doctor and tried to exterminate him, but couldn't because its gun had been disabled. The Dalek demanded to be ordered what to do, ironically using orders itself in an attempt to receive them. However, it also begged for mercy when the Doctor tortured it, despite the fact that it had presumably never shown mercy itself.
After absorbing Rose Tyler's DNA, the Dalek started feeling human emotions for the first time. Although it ruthlessly gunned down van Statten's staff, it had a soft spot for Rose and was unable to kill her. Rose also managed to talk it out of killing van Statten. The Dalek then stated that it wanted freedom. However, although its personality had become more merciful than before, it hated itself, feeling that the emotions Rose had given it were making it weak. It eventually asked Rose to order it to self-destruct. Although not the first Dalek to kill itself, this Dalek was one of the few to do so out of self-hatred. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks, Asylum of the Daleks)
This Dalek, as with all Daleks that originated from the Last Great Time War, possessed markings below its eyepiece to identify it. (TV: Dalek)
Behind the scenes
- This Dalek also acts as the player character in the online game The Last Dalek. It presents an alternate version of the events of Dalek. In the game, the Dalek fights through the Vault, faces van Statten's forces and eventually the Doctor, who is exterminated by the Dalek. The game is completed when the Dalek finds and destroys the Doctor's TARDIS.
