Destiny of the Daleks

104 – Destiny of the Daleks
Doctor Who serial
The Doctor and Romana flee the Movellan ship
Cast
Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor)
Companion Lalla Ward (Romana II)
Guest stars
David Gooderson — Davros Mike Mungarvan, Cy Town — Daleks Roy Skelton — Dalek Voices Peter Straker — Commander Sharrel Suzanne Danielle — Agella Tony Osoba — Lan Tim Barlow — Tyssan Penny Casdagli — Jall David Yip — Veldan Cassandra — Movellan Guard
Production
Writer	Terry Nation
Director	Ken Grieve
Script editor	Douglas Adams
Producer	Graham Williams
Executive producer(s)	None
Production code	5J
Series	Season 17
Length	4 episodes, 25 minutes each
Originally broadcast	September 1–September 22, 1979
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → The Armageddon Factor City of Death

Destiny of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 1 to September 22, 1979. The story introduces Lalla Ward as the newly-regenerated Romana.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Plot 2.1 Part One 2.2 Part Two 2.3 Part Three 2.4 Part Four 2.5 Cast notes 3 Continuity 4 Production 5 Outside references 6 Commercial release & Broadcast 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 9.1 Reviews 9.2 Target novelisation

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands the Fourth Doctor and Romana on a strangely familiar planet. There, they meet the android Movellans, who are locked in a war with the Daleks. The planet is Skaro, and in a bunker sits an enemy long thought dead — Davros, creator of the Daleks.

Plot

Part One

The Doctor, following the events of The Armageddon Factor, has installed a "Randomiser" onto the TARDIS to elude the Black Guardian, and is repairing K-9. Meanwhile, Romana regenerates into the form of Princess Astra from the preceding adventure, in spite of the Doctor's disapproval.

The TARDIS lands on a rocky planet which has breathable air but dangerously high levels of radioactivity. The Doctor gives Romana tablets to combat the radiation and a beeper-like device to inform her when she must take her pills. They exit the TARDIS and see a group of ragged-looking natives burying one of their dead. They see a spaceship land and half-bury itself into the ground in a valley. Just as the Doctor and Romana are about to investigate, underground explosions force them back towards the ruins. Whilst exploring the ruins, another underground explosion occurs, causing a column to fall on the Doctor. Romana returns to the TARDIS to reassemble K-9 and get him to assist in removing the debris. She finds the TARDIS half-buried in rubble and, realising that she cannot reach K-9, she turns back.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is quite happily reading the book "Origins of the Universe" by Oolon Colluphid, remarking that he needs to remind Romana to take her anti-radiation pills. A group of silver-haired humanoids appear and point their weapons at him.

Romana returns to the ruin, to find that the Doctor has vanished. As she turns to leave, a man who has been following her blocking her path. She backs away, only to fall down a rubble chute, and loses consciousness. The man then prepares to climb down and help her, but before he can do so she recovers consciousness and hears a noise that resembles drilling coming from one of the walls. A pair of Daleks burst through the wall and capture her.

Part Two

The Daleks threaten to exterminate Romana if she does not comply with their instructions explicitly, and then command Romana to come with them. The man secretly follows

Meanwhile, the Doctor is thanking the Movellans (the silver-haired humanoids) for helping him, and he remarks on their strength. He asks their commander, Sharrel, where he is, and Sharrel replies that the planet is D-5-Gamma-Z-Alpha, otherwise known as Skaro. The Doctor is astonished to hear that the Movellans are here to wage war against the Daleks.

Romana, meanwhile, is being interrogated by the Daleks. After they learn that she is of no threat to them, the Daleks command Romana to work at one of their drilling sites.

Back at the Movellan ship, two Movellans enter with a new prisoner, the man who has been following the Doctor and Romana. He identifies himself as Starship Engineer Tyssan, who was captured by the Daleks two years ago. He collapses after revealing that the Daleks have used him as slave labour as part of a search operation. He soon comes around, and says he does not know what the Daleks are looking for. He tells the Doctor about what has happened to Romana, and they set out to rescue her.

Romana meets with some other workers, with whom she discusses the Daleks' hatred for humanoids, and learns that she is getting weaker as a result of radiation sickness. Within minutes she collapses, apparently dead. Her fellow workers remove her body.

The Doctor, Tyssan and the Movellans Sharrel, Lan, and Agella find Romana's grave. As the Doctor tries to dig her out, she appears behind him and explains that she feigned death to escape. They head into the Dalek headquarters. Lan is left on guard outside of the Control Center and is shot by a Dalek who is out searching for them. The Doctor establishes that the Daleks are searching for something on a level that they have yet to access. He remembers an alternative route to this area, so he, Romana, and Agella make their way to this floor while Sharrel returns to his ship. There they discover Davros, the creator of the Daleks, in suspended animation. Part of the ceiling collapses onto Agella and while the party is distracted by this, Davros slowly comes to life.

Part Three

The Doctor moves the revived Davros into a blocked-off room in the old Kaled city. Romana and Tyssan escape out of the window, and return to the Movellan ship. The Doctor and Davros talk about the Daleks' "accomplishments": whilst the Doctor comments on the countless lives the Daleks have ruined, Davros replies that the Daleks have only just begun their conquest of the cosmos. The Daleks find them both, and proceed to exterminate some prisoners until the Doctor complies. The Doctor then threatens to kill Davros with a makeshift explosive he has just concocted. He then orders the Daleks to free all their prisoners, and to let him escape. The Daleks say that these conditions are unacceptable and illogical and that the exterminations will continue. Davros makes them see that the Doctor's logic is "impaired by irrational sentiment". The Daleks comply, and the Doctor attaches the explosive to Davros' chair, telling him it will detonate when he uses his sonic screwdriver. He then escapes. Davros orders the Daleks to remove the explosive, though the Doctor detonates the device the resulting explosion destroys a Dalek. Davros vows to make the Daleks invincible, and the supreme power of the universe. Agella is revealed to be unharmed, and she returns to report all she has just heard to her fellow Movellans.

Romana reaches the Movellan spaceship; but learns that the Movellans are not as altruistic as they appear. Agella uses her weapon on her, which knocks her out. The Movellans test their nova device: a weapon which changes air molecules so that a planet's atmosphere becomes flammable and can be set alight, killing all lifeforms.

The Doctor meets up with Tyssan and they find a Movellan scout. The Doctor deactivates her by removing the power pack/controlling circuit on her belt and reveals that the Movellans are, in fact, robots. He finds the unconscious Romana attached to the nova device, sealed inside an airtight container. He sends Tyssan away and tries to open the container, as the timer ticks down.

Part Four

Just as the timer approaches zero, the Doctor is knocked out by one of the Movellans' weapons. However, Romana is not in danger, as the nova device is revealed to be a harmless decoy used to lure the Doctor.

The Doctor learns that the Daleks and Movellans have been in a stalemate for over two centuries, and that both sides' battle computers have been calculating the best strategy and precise moment at which to attack. So far, not a single shot has been fired. The Daleks want Davros to help them gain an advantage. The Movellans want the Doctor to do the same for them, which the Doctor refuses to do. Davros, on the other hand, is all too eager to give the Daleks the upper hand. He orders them to make a suicide bombing attack on the Movellan craft upon realising that the Doctor might do the same thing for the Movellans. Meanwhile, Tyssan leads the prisoners in an attack on the Movellans, ending with them all being deactivated.

While the prisoners take control of the Movellan ship, the Doctor makes his way to the city to confront Davros. The Doctor informs Davros that the Movellans have been disabled; unfortunately Davros does not believe him and intends to destroy the Movellan ship anyway. As the Daleks approach the ship, the Doctor goes to detonate the bombs prematurely, only to discover too late that Davros didn't send all the Daleks on the suicide run when one ambushes him and holds him at gunpoint.

The slaves are no match for the Daleks, who begin exterminating them. The Doctor throws his hat on the Dalek's eye-stalk, blinding it. As the Dalek fires around blindly, the Doctor attaches an explosive to it and blows it up, then activates the bomb detonator and destroys the attacking Dalek squad. He then puts Davros into the custody of the former slave workers. Davros will be placed in cryogenic suspension and taken to Earth to stand trial for his crimes. The Doctor and Romana leave; remarking on the fact that whoever makes mistakes often wins.

Cast notes

Tim Barlow, who played Tyssan, was profoundly deaf at the time of filming.^[1]

Continuity

• The opening scene, where Romana apparently tries on several bodies during the course of her regeneration before settling on the appearance of Princess Astra of Atrios (the character played by Ward in The Armageddon Factor) is controversial due to its light-hearted approach to the concept of regeneration, which has always been a traumatic process for the Doctor. See Romana's Regeneration.
• One of Romana's rejected bodies is a diminutive, purple-faced (or face-painted) humanoid who wears a distinctive costume. This is the same costume as Zilda wore in the 1977 story, The Robots of Death. Other reused costumes from earlier serials may be seen in the scenes involving extras playing slaves working in the Daleks' mine; these include the robes (but not the mask) of a Draconian and the uniform of a Morestran soldier from Planet of Evil.
• Romana's final costume mirrors the Doctors: same style coat, same type of boots and overly long scarf.
• Although a Dalek mutant creature is briefly seen – a pink gelatinous blob that the Doctor picks up in the sand – several references are made to the Daleks as 'robots', like the Movellans. The Doctor makes some of these. Davros does too. This is in apparent contradiction to other Dalek stories, such as Genesis of the Daleks and The Daleks, where they are described as mutant humanoids in mechanical casings.(In The Daleks they are mutated Dals; in Genesis, mutated Kaleds). Some see this story as implying that the Daleks have evolved to the point where the organic mutanthas been removed, but this is contradicted by all subsequent Daleks. In Destiny Romana does say that they 'were once humanoid themselves', though under Dalek interrogation by a lie detecting device she had said she knew 'nothing about Daleks'. According to the information text of the DVD release the scripted line was 'I don't know anything about Dalek operations'. The same text suggests that either the on-screen line was misread or Romana was capable of misleading the Dalek truth detector.
• In the story the Daleks search for Davros in the ruins of the Kaled City which the Doctor is familiar with. However according to Genesis of the Daleks Davros was killed by the Daleks in a bunker some distance from the Kaled City, and the Doctor visited the Kaled City only briefly.
• Davros was last seen exterminated at the end of Genesis of the Daleks. He is resurrected in this serial without any apparent power source. He survived his "death" using his life support chair as a suspended animation chamber, keeping him in stasis while his body repaired itself.
• This is the last story in the series to date which takes place on Skaro although the planet is briefly seen in Remembrance of the Daleks. Skaro is very briefly seen within the 1996 Doctor Who movie, featuring the Eighth Doctor
• The novel War of the Daleks effectively retconned this story to take place not on Skaro, but a planet called Antalin, the Daleks having moved Davros to this planet before his recovery as part of an elaborate plan to avert the destruction of Skaro in Remembrance of the Daleks (Having found records about Skaro's destruction during The Dalek Invasion of Earth). The canonicity of spin-off media is debatable.
• After ascending a rope to safety the Doctor taunts his Dalek pursuer by asking, "If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us?" referring to his understanding that the Dalek is trapped below. It has been established, however, that Daleks are capable of hovering and rudimentary flight.

Production

Serial details by episode

Episode	Broadcast date	Run time	Viewership (in millions)
"Part One"	1 September 1979 (1979-09-01)	24:03	13
"Part Two"	8 September 1979 (1979-09-08)	25:14	12.7
"Part Three"	15 September 1979 (1979-09-15)	24:32	13.8
"Part Four"	22 September 1979 (1979-09-22)	26:05	14.4
[2][3][4]

• This was Dalek creator Terry Nation's final script for Doctor Who, as he declined several further offers. He moved to the United States in 1980 and would go on to work for various television projects in America, most famously as a writer and producer for MacGyver.
• The serial was one of the first British productions to make use of a Steadicam.
• Michael Wisher was unavailable to reprise the role of Davros, as he was on tour in Australia. David Gooderson replaced him, but unfortunately the mask was fitted for the slightly smaller Wisher, and it suffers in appearance as a result.
• K-9 only appears near the start of the story, explained in-story as due to an electronic form of laryngitis. A common misconception is that this was because a replacement for John Leeson (who voiced K-9) had not yet been cast. In fact, David Brierley had already been given the role as Leeson's replacement over three months before the serial was made. The actual reason for K-9's absence was because the prop was unsuitable for the large amount of location filming — the production team had suffered several problems using K-9 on a similar location in The Stones of Blood, and were not keen on repeating the experience.Terry Nation has said he had no desire to use K-9 in his storyline, he may have considered it competition for his Daleks screentime.

Outside references

The Doctor reads Oolon Colluphid's book The Origins of the Universe and says he got it wrong "on the first line". Colluphid is a character from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy written by script editor Douglas Adams, who inserted the reference.^[5]

Commercial release & Broadcast

Doctor Who book
Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks
Series	Target novelisations
Release number	21
Writer	Terrance Dicks
Publisher	Target Books
Cover artist	Andrew Skilleter
ISBN	0-426-20096-9
Release date	20 November 1979
Preceded by	Doctor Who and the War Games
Followed by	Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation

• A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in November 1979. This was released just two months after the original transmission - one of the quickest novelisations of the Doctor Who book range, and was released before any of the previous season's stories. A German translation of the book was published by Goldmann in 1990.
• The serial was repeated on BBC One in August 1980, between Tuesday August 5 to Friday August 8, daily at 6.25pm. The instalments of this serial are credited as episodes, rather than parts - the only serial made after The Green Death to do so.
• This serial was released on VHS in July 1994. In 2001 it was remastered and re-released as part of The Davros Collection, which consisted of VHS editions of Genesis of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks.
• This story was released on DVD on 26 November, 2007. It features a number of special features such as a commentary, new CGI effects and Terror Nation, a documentary about writer Terry Nation. It is available on its own and as part of the Davros Collection box set featuring Genesis of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks.

See also

• Dalek
• Dalek variants
• History of the Daleks

References

External links

• Destiny of the Daleks at bbc.co.uk
• Destiny of the Daleks at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
• Destiny of the Daleks at the Doctor Who Reference Guide

Reviews

• Destiny of the Daleks reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
• Destiny of the Daleks reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide

Target novelisation

• Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
• On Target — Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks

v • d • e Doctor Who season 17 serials Destiny of the Daleks • City of Death • The Creature from the Pit • Nightmare of Eden • The Horns of Nimon • (Shada)

v • d • e Doctor Who: Dalek television stories First Doctor The Daleks • The Dalek Invasion of Earth • The Chase • "Mission to the Unknown" • The Daleks' Master Plan Second Doctor The Power of the Daleks • The Evil of the Daleks Third Doctor Day of the Daleks • Frontier in Space • Planet of the Daleks • Death to the Daleks Fourth Doctor Genesis of the Daleks • Destiny of the Daleks Fifth Doctor Resurrection of the Daleks Sixth Doctor Revelation of the Daleks Seventh Doctor Remembrance of the Daleks Ninth Doctor "Dalek" • "Bad Wolf" / "The Parting of the Ways" Tenth Doctor "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 • Logopolis • Mawdryn Undead • The Five Doctors • Doctor Who • "Army of Ghosts" • "Human Nature" • "The Waters of Mars" • The End of Time See also Dr. Who and the Daleks • Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD • Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death

v • d • e Davros television stories Fourth Doctor Genesis of the Daleks • Destiny of the Daleks Fifth Doctor Resurrection of the Daleks Sixth Doctor Revelation of the Daleks Seventh Doctor Remembrance of the Daleks Tenth Doctor "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End" Minor appearances Logopolis • The End of Time

v • d • e Doctor Who: Regeneration stories First Doctor The Tenth Planet Second Doctor The Power of the Daleks • The War Games Third Doctor Spearhead from Space • Planet of the Spiders Fourth Doctor Robot • Logopolis Fifth Doctor Castrovalva • The Caves of Androzani Sixth Doctor The Twin Dilemma Seventh Doctor Time and the Rani Eighth Doctor Doctor Who Ninth Doctor "The Parting of the Ways" Tenth Doctor "Doctor Who: Children in Need" • "The Christmas Invasion" • "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End" • The End of Time Other characters Planet of the Spiders • Underworld • Destiny of the Daleks • Mawdryn Undead • "Utopia" See also The Curse of Fatal Death • Valeyard