Bringer of Darkness (comic story)
Bringer of Darkness was a Second Doctor comic story first published in Doctor Who Magazine.
Summary
The Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria encounter a the crew of a damaged Dalek spaceship, who are building a beacon with which to summon rescue.
Plot
Narrated through Victoria's diary entry, the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on a peaceful planet, with Victoria noting that it is a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, the trio soon encounter a patrol of Daleks. It appears that a Dalek spaceship has crashed on the planet, and its crew of three are trying to build a beacon to summon help.
The Doctor resolves to stop them. As Victoria watches from hiding, Jamie distract the Daleks by setting off Fireworks and causing them to investigate. He and the Doctor then board the beacon and begin opening all the access panels. Soon the Daleks see the pair, but are unable to fire upon them for fear of damaging the now-exposed communications equipment.
The Doctor taunts the Daleks, mentioning that he had hoped they had finally been vanquished. He asks about the fate of the humanised Daleks on Skaro; the patrol responds that all were destroyed and the Emperor reigns supreme. The Daleks realise who they are talking to, that only the Doctor, the "Ka Faraq Gatri", would know of the humanised Daleks' existence. But before they can open fire, the Doctor activates the beacon. He has redirected the electromagnetic pulse outwards rather than upwards, frying the circuitry in the Daleks' casings and brutally killing the mutants inside.
The creatures perish in agony, and Victoria, appalled, sees the Doctor's dark hatred of the Daleks for the first time. Seeing him in a new light, Victoria realises that she will soon leave his company.
Characters
References
- Victoria says her father referred to the Daleks as abominations.
- Victoria compares the labouring Daleks to ants.
- The Doctor appears to be playing his recorder soon after they land.
Notes
- Beacon is spelled "becon" on pages 2 and 3. The American spelling "Humanized" is used.
- The year after this comics's release, the VHS release of More than 30 Years in the TARDIS featured a short live-action minisode featuring Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield, again confirming the survival of the Dalek Emperor and his faction after the events of The Evil of the Daleks.
Continuity
- According to the Daleks, their civil war (TV: The Evil of the Daleks) ended in the termination of the rebel Humanised Daleks. The Dalek Emperor is still alive. The Eighth Doctor would learn some of the humanised Daleks had left Skaro in the chaos of the war's end. (COMIC: Children of the Revolution)
- While things are peaceful, Victoria welcomes the change from "the horrors of the London Underground." (TV: The Web of Fear)
- Victoria Waterfield's journal entry occurs after TV: Fury from the Deep.
- The Doctor is named "Ka Faraq Gatri" (meaning "Bringer of Darkness") by the Daleks, a name that would persist to his seventh incarnation. (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks)
