DARDIS

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A Dalek time machine, sometimes called a Dalek time ship, was roughly comparable in abilities to a Time Lord TARDIS. It was dimensionally transcendent and created for the express purpose of chasing the First Doctor through time and space. One of these craft enabled the Doctor's companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright to return home. The Doctor instructed the pair to set the ship for self-destruction after it had transported them to 1965 London. (TV: The Chase)

The Daleks and Mavic Chen used a Dalek time ship to pursue the First Doctor, his companions and the Monk. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)

The Daleks used taranium to power their space-time craft. (PROSE: The Chase, Mission to the Unknown, The Mutation of Time)

Time scout ships were usually crewed of six Daleks and could be identified by their energy signature. (AUDIO: Energy of the Daleks)

Dalek time ships were used during the invasion of Gallifrey. (AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element)

Dalek time ships were able to be remotely controlled from their point of destination. When Davros escaped in one, the Seventh Doctor sent him to a planet of ghosts. (AUDIO: Daleks Among Us)

Behind the scenes

This craft has been called a "DARDIS" in fandom, but the name cannot be substantiated easily. It was never used in any televised adventure. Neither does it appear in the novelisations for The Chase nor part 1 nor part 2 of The Daleks' Master Plan. Instead, author John Peel, like scriptwriter Terry Nation, predominantly uses the phrase "Dalek time machine", but sometimes uses "Dalek time ship" for variety.

It has been alleged that "DARDIS" does appear in scripts for The Chase, but it's unclear as to what the source of this claim is, since the script has never been made available commercially.

The name does appear within an officially licensed story, however. In the Sixth Doctor novel, The Quantum Archangel, the Master is said to have "the DARDIS core, stolen from Skaro itself", but that's the extent of the usage in the text. There's nothing that solidly ties that name-drop to the Dalek time machines in The Chase.

Likewise, the meaning of the acronym DARDIS remains unknown. It is likely a contraction of "Dalek TARDIS" — or possibly "Daleks And Relative Dimensions in Space".