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| The Daleks | |
| Series: | Doctor Who - TV Stories |
| Season Number: | Season 1 |
| Story Number: | 2 |
| Doctor: | First Doctor |
| Companions: | Susan Foreman Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton |
| Enemy: | The Daleks (introduction) |
| Setting: | Skaro, year unknown (see story notes) |
| Writer: | Terry Nation |
| Director: | Christopher Barry (episodes 1,2,4,5) Richard Martin (episodes 3,6,7) |
| Broadcast: | 21st December 1963 - 1st February 1964 |
| Format: | 7 25-minute Episodes |
| Previous Story: | An Unearthly Child |
| Following Story: | The Edge of Destruction |
'"The Daleks" was the second story of the first season of Doctor Who and marked the first appearance of the Daleks, a race of creatures that would become the Doctor's greatest enemy.
Contents |
The TARDIS arrives on the planet Skaro, ruined by an age-old atomic war. The Doctor and crew become caught in the struggle between the mutated survivors: the Daleks, ruthless xenophobes dependant on robotic travel machines, and the physically perfect pacifist Thals. When a vital component of the TARDIS is left behind in the Dalek city and facing annihilation from a Dalek neutron bomb, the Thals must be persuaded to fight both for our heroes and for their own survival.
The next morning, when the travellers emerge from the TARDIS, they find a box outside that holds vials filled with an amber liquid. Susan places the box in the ship for safekeeping, after which the four travellers head off to the mysterious city. It is entirely built of metal with doorways that are fashioned as squat rounded arches. Barbara manages to open a door, revealing a corridor beyond, but a shutter soon falls cutting her off from her colleagues. Within moments a strange creature emerges from a nearby lift, threatening her with a metal arm.
The Doctor is interrogated by the Daleks, who explain something of the history of their predicament. They are survivors of a neutronic war with the Thals, which has caused mutations to both races. The Daleks are now confined to their travel machines and limited to the boundaries of their metallic city. They are reliant on a variation of static electricity to provide them with the ability to move. The Doctor persuades the Daleks that the travellers will die from radiation sickness if no drugs are found, so Susan is sent to retrieve them from the TARDIS. She makes her way out of the city and back into the petrified forest. Having collected the anti-radiation drugs in the TARDIS she prepares herself for the return journey.
Susan reaches her friends and passes round the drugs, then contacts the Daleks and explains that the Thals are now looking for peace and food. The Daleks imply acceptance, asking the Thals in return to help them cultivate the land, but in reality they are plotting revenge and extermination of their old enemies. The message of peace is conveyed to the Thals, who are invited to collect food from the entrance hall to the Dalek city the following day.
Having recovered with chemical help, the Doctor’s party succeed in overpowering one of the Daleks and decide to use the robotic shell as a means of escape. The monstrosity within is dumped while Ian squeezes into the Dalek casing. In this guise he escorts his three friends through the city, hoping they can make a break for freedom.
After a tight squeeze getting out of the casing, Ian and his friends find themselves at a window where they observe the Thals arrive to collect the food. As the Thals take the food, the Daleks open fire, exterminating several Thals including their leader Temmosus.
The surviving Thals, including Alydon, regroup and find the four travellers. They all travel together to the Thal encampment where a young Thal named Dyoni provides a history of the planet Skaro from a Thal perspective. It seems that the Daleks were once known as Dals, humanoids similar to Thals who mutated into their current form after the lengthy neutronic war. The Thals have reacted to their history by adopting pacifism as a creed. However, it soon becomes apparent that the TARDIS crew need fighting allies – Ian has left the empty but vital fluid link in the Dalek city and they must retrieve it somehow.
In the city the Daleks test the medication left by the travellers which they now deduce is deadly to them. As a response they decide to increase the levels of radiation on Skaro and thus make it impossible for the Thals to survive.
The attack party heading for the Lake of Mutations makes good progress on their lengthy journey. Four Thals called Elyon, Kristas, Ganatus and Antodus, the latter two of whom are brothers, have accompanied Barbara and Ian. Vast pipes are used to take water from the lake into the Dalek city. The lake also contains many mutated offshoots from the war and Ian soon spots a multi-tentacled creature in the water. The assembled party are shocked to hear one of their number, Elyon, scream as one of the monsters drags him below the murky surface.
At the front of the city the Doctor’s party have succeeded in disabling the Dalek surveillance cameras using large mirrors to reflect sunlight into them. This persuades the Daleks to reorientate their probes on to the Thal encampment rather than the other possible entrances. The Doctor and Susan become bolder and move to sabotage some static electricity control boxes, but their activity has alerted the Daleks, who soon surround them. They are taken to the control centre of the city and are told of the Dalek plan to irradiate the entire planet.
Meanwhile, Ian's party has found a tunnel that should lead to the Dalek city. Antodus is less secure than his colleagues and starts calling for them to turn back. The situation is made more perilous by rockfalls which stops them retreating even if they wanted to. The only way is onward – and a vast chasm is their next hurdle. One by one the party has to jump across, supported by a rope between them. The last to jump is Antodus, who loses his footing and falls into the abyss, his weight dragging Ian toward the edge.
At the front of the city Alydon has also led another band of Thals in an assault, hoping to rescue the Doctor and Susan. By luck the two parties converge on the Dalek control centre at the same time. Together they destroy the Dalek apparatus and prevent the radiation release. They also disable the power source for the Daleks in the city. The creatures become immobile and soon die. The Thals are repulsed by all the death, but are grateful their struggle is finally over.
They all return together to the Thal camp – this time with the fluid link – and the Doctor and his party make their farewells and return to the TARDIS. No sooner than they are in flight there is an explosion on the console and the four travellers fall to the floor.
DVD Release
This story was released (as Doctor Who: The Daleks), together with An Unearthly Child and The Edge of Destruction, as part of The Beginning DVD box set.
Released:
Video Release
Released:
Notes: The "Next Episode" caption has been removed from Episode 7.
Released:
The novelisation, by David Whitaker, has no continuity with An Unearthly Child (which would be adapted into novel form 17 years later), with Ian and Barbara having never met each other or the Doctor and Susan prior to the events of the story.
It was originally titled Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks and was first published in hardback by Frederick Muller Ltd on 12th November 1964 at a price of 12s 6d. It was reprinted in December 1964. It featured cover art and 12 internal illustrations by Arnold Schwartzman.
A paperback edition was issued on 4th October 1965 by May Fair Books Ltd, under the "Armada Paperbacks for Boys & Girls" imprint (priced 2s 6d). This version did not use Schwartzman's artwork, using cover and 6 illustrations by Peter Archer. This version used the variant title Dr. Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks. It was followed by an American edition in 1967, the first US publication of a Doctor Who novel.
It was then reprinted as the first title in the new range of Doctor Who novelisations planned by Target Books. It was published 2nd May 1973 as Doctor Who and the Daleks (ISBN 0-426-10110-3) with the subtitle "Based on the popular BBC television serial", and with cover art by Chris Achilleos. It was later number as number 16 in the Target Books Doctor Who Library. It could be purchased for 25p.
Reprints
The book was re-issued as Doctor Who - The Daleks on 16th January 1992 (priced £2.99). It featured new cover art by Alister Pearson.
| Season 1 |
|---|
| An Unearthly Child • The Daleks • The Edge of Destruction • Marco Polo • The Keys of Marinus • The Aztecs • The Sensorites • The Reign of Terror |
| Dalek television stories |
|---|
| Major appearances: The Daleks • The Dalek Invasion of Earth • The Chase • Mission to the Unknown • The Daleks' Master Plan • The Power of the Daleks • The Evil of the Daleks • Day of the Daleks • Planet of the Daleks • Death to the Daleks • Genesis of the Daleks • Destiny of the Daleks • Resurrection of the Daleks • Revelation of the Daleks • Remembrance of the Daleks • Dalek • Bad Wolf/ The Parting of the Ways • Army of Ghosts/Doomsday • Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks • The Stolen Earth / Journey's End |
| Minor appearances: The Space Museum • The Wheel in Space • The War Games • The Mind of Evil • Frontier in Space • Logopolis • The Five Doctors • The TV Movie • Human Nature • The Waters of Mars |
| Non-canonical: The Curse of Fatal Death |
| • Complete List of Appearances • |
The first original novel based on the hit series!
| NOVEL | |
|---|---|
| The Escape | |
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| Attribution |
| Series: | Voyager, No. 2 |
|---|---|
| Author(s): | Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch |
| Publication information | |
| Published: | Paperback - May 1995 |
| Pages: | 244 |
| ISBN: | ISBN 0671520962 |
| Chronology | |
| Date: | 2371 |
Foreign language edition |
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Contents |
As the USS Voyager continues its voyage home, the crew are forced to stop near a large asteroid belt in order to obtain armalcolite ore that will help repair the ship's Oltion circuits in the warp processor. Captain Janeway orders Lieutenants Tuvok and Torres to take a shuttlecraft into the belt to find the highest concentration of the ore.
As the shuttlecraft nears the largest asteroid the shuttle begins to buck wildly as a greater level of subspace turbulence hits the shuttle, which prevents them from find the highest concentration. Despite Janeway's suggestion that the team return to Voyager, Torres is determined to get the ore. However, the team are forced to return when the turbulence becomes too strong and cripples the shuttle's shields.
Following the team's return, Janeway calls a briefing of all the senior staff to discuss the increasingly desperate state of Voyager's systems. Aware of the problems, Neelix suggests that the crew visit the planet Alcawell. Alcawell is well known in the region for being a huge spaceship graveyard and he is sure that any parts that Voyager needs could surely be salvaged from Alcawell. Despite concerns from several members of the staff, Janeway decides that it is worth the risk and orders a course set for Alcawell, despite stories from Neelix that the graveyard is haunted.
| This article or section is incomplete |
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| This article is marked as lacking essential detail, and needs attention. Information regarding expansion requirements may be found on the article's talk page. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion. |
Alcawell | Alcawellian Period | armalcolite ore | asteroid | Control Ordinance | Drickel | Hoffman | Mean Time Control | Oltion circuit | Planet-Hopper | ready room | Real Time | Reno | "Rollingburg's Retreat" | Second Expansion Period | shuttlecraft | subspace | Time Breach | tractor beam | transport booth | warp processor | Watchman |
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: Caretaker |
Voyager numbered novels | Next novel: Ragnarok |
| Previous novel: The Big Game |
Novels by: Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch |
Next novel: The Long Night |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Parallax |
Next Adventure: Terra Tonight |
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| Previous Adventure: Parallax |
The Voyages of the USS Voyager |
Next Adventure: Ragnarok |
| The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2371. The Pocket Books Timeline places events from this story in two other timeframes: |
||
| Previous Adventure: Q-Zone Chapter 2 |
444,800,000 BC Chapters 12, 17, 19 & 23 |
Next Adventure: First Frontier Chapters 23-38 |
| Previous Adventure: Spock's World Vulcan: Two |
307,600 BC Chapters 4, 5-7 &23 |
Next Adventure: Horn and Ivory Chapters 1-9 |
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