B00DPX9ST8 EBOK (314 page)

[
1334
] Skaro has been abandoned for “centuries” before
Destiny of the Daleks
, but the Supreme Dalek is based there in
Revelation of the Daleks
. We see a biomechanoid in
Remembrance of the Daleks
- presumably the Daleks haven’t developed the technology when they lose the war with the Movellans. Although, according to
War of the Daleks
, the Movellan War was a ruse.

[
1335
] Dating
Revelation of the Daleks
(22.6) - This story is set an unspecified amount of time after
Resurrection of the Daleks
. It has been long enough for Davros to gain a galaxy-wide reputation and build a new army of Daleks. The galaxy is ruled by a human President and faces famine.

[
1336
] Dating
The Davros Mission
(exclusive audio story included with
The Complete Davros Collection
DVD set) - The story is set directly after
Revelation of the Daleks
(the ship that takes Davros to Skaro departs from Necros), and on the surface might seem to conflict with “Emperor of the Daleks” as yet-another “bridge” story between
Revelation of the Daleks
and
Remembrance of the Daleks
. In detail, however, the two stories are compatible - in
The Davros Mission
, the only leverage Davros gains over the Daleks on Skaro is a) what passes for his charm, and b) the concentrated Movellan virus he’s holding. A Dalek civil war is slated to occur after this point (in
Remembrance
), so whatever fealty the Skaro Daleks might here pledge to Davros is certain to fall to ruin under any scenario. It makes sense to assume that the Skaro Daleks only declare obedience to Davros in
The Davros Mission
to buy themselves the time required to neutralise the Movellan virus in his possession. Once that occurs, Davros would probably have little choice but to flee, leading to
The Juggernauts
and his eventually being captured and put on trial a second time (in “Emperor of the Daleks”).

Davros is here slated to become the Dalek Emperor, but that doesn’t actually happen - so it’s fair to think that it only happens down the road, once Abslom Daak takes a chainsaw to him in the comic story. He also gains a robotic hand (to replace the one shot off in
Revelation of the Daleks
), but might upgrade to the claw he uses in “Emperor of the Daleks”.

[
1337
] Dating
The Juggernauts
(BF #65) - This story is set an unspecified amount of time after
Revelation of the Daleks
. It’s said that Davros crash-landed seven hundred sixteen days prior to this story, but there’s no indication of the duration of time in a day on Lethe.

[
1338
] “Emperor of the Daleks”

[
1339
] Dating “... Up Above the Gods”/“Emperor of the Daleks” (
DWM
#227, 197-202) - The story is set between
Revelation of the Daleks
and
Remembrance of the Daleks
, and bridges the gap between them (even if this means that the seventh Doctor is experiencing developments with Davros out of order). The Emperor resembles the one from the
TV Century 21
Dalek comic strip. This raises a question as to which Dalek Emperor this is - and not because that Emperor Dalek was apparently killed by Daak back in “Nemesis of the Daleks”. We didn’t
see
the Emperor killed on that occasion - we just didn’t see him escape the exploding Death Wheel. Given that “Emperor of the Daleks” establishes that Daak and all the Star Tigers - who were seen to perish in “Nemesis of the Daleks” - didn’t actually die, the Emperor Dalek barely makes the top five “least probable resurrections” in the story. See The Dalek Emperors sidebar.

[
1340
] Per his appearance as such in
Remembrance of the Daleks
.

[
1341
] “Ten years” before “Abel’s Story”.

[
1342
] Dating “Kane’s Story”/“Abel’s Story”/“Warrior’s Story”/“Frobisher’s Story” (
DWM
#104-107) - Davros rules the Daleks, and the only time this is the case on television is between
Revelation of the Daleks
and
Remembrance of the Daleks.
(Taking other media into account, this is between “Emperor of the Daleks” and
Remembrance of the Daleks
.) This also fits with where the story falls in the Doctor’s timeline. “War-Game” is set a few years after this, and states the Draconians rule a third of the galaxy. The Planetary Federation is also known as the Federation of Worlds, and could well be the same - or remnants of the same - Federation from the Peladon stories (although the Draconians were part of that Federation according to
Legacy
).

[
1343
] Dating
The Story of Martha:
“The Weeping” (NSA #28b) - Agaloas is established as part of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire (p49), and the story occurs “almost five centuries” (p56) after the colony’s failure.

[
1344
] Dating
Remembrance of the Daleks
(25.1) - This story is the sequel to
Revelation of the Daleks,
and there’s no indication how long it has been since the previous story. Davros has completely revamped the Daleks, which was presumably a fairly lengthy process.

[
1345
] “The Child of Time” (
DWM
)

[
1346
] Dating
War of the Daleks
(EDA #5) - It’s “about thirty years” after
Remembrance of the Daleks
. One of Davros’ followers operates the controls of his dispersal chamber, suggesting that Davros was later reconstituted in secret - and later recaptured, leading to his next appearance in
Terror Firma
.

Was Skaro Destroyed?

The retcon in
War of the Daleks
that reversed Skaro’s destruction proved controversial with fans. A couple of references in later BBC Books suggested that Skaro had been destroyed, after all.
Unnatural History
stated that the Doctor tricked the Daleks into tangling their timelines so much their history collapsed;
The Infinity Doctors
that Skaro suffered more than one destruction.
Doctor Who - The Movie
(after
Remembrance of the Daleks
in the Doctor’s own timeline) opened on Skaro, but it could have historically been before it was destroyed. The 2005 TV series never stated that Skaro had been destroyed in the Time War (Russell T Davies’ essay in the
Doctor Who Annual 2006
does name it and says it’s now “ruins”, though). The
Doctor Who Visual Dictionary
states that Skaro was “devastated” in
Remembrance of the Daleks
, but “finally obliterated” in the Time War.

There are a number of get-out clauses in
War of the Daleks
itself - the events aren’t seen, only reported. Internal dating seems confused, and Antalin appears after it’s meant to have been destroyed. There are pieces of contradictory information elsewhere - the origins of the Movellans in the book contradict their implied beginnings in
A Device of Death
, for example.

[
1347
]
The Four Doctors
. The Dalek Prime seen in this audio isn’t necessarily the exact same one seen in
War of the Daleks
, but the title isn’t used in any other
Doctor Who
story. Allowing for all of the time travel involved, though, there’s no guarantee that the Jariden sequences in
The Four Doctors
takes place in this era.

[
1348
] Years rather than decades before
Terror Firma
. The presence of Samson and Gemma’s mother suggests that this is their native time zone.

[
1349
] Dating
Terror Firma
(BF #72) - No specific date is given, but it is obviously after
Remembrance of the Daleks
, and a gap of some measure (Davros mentions “years of solitude”) is required after the novel
War of the Daleks. Terror Firma
doesn’t acknowledge
War of the Daleks
, but the two are not irreconcilable. Davros’ mental health is clearly eroding throughout this audio, so it’s entirely possible that the Daleks have altered his memories or that he’s simply too far gone to remember those events. In fact, as the Daleks are obviously fooling Davros into thinking that he’s in charge, it suits their plans if he forgets about Skaro and believes he’s gaining revenge against the Doctor by “turning Earth” into a new Dalek homeworld.

Big Finish says that Davros
does not
become the Emperor Dalek seen in
The Parting of the Ways
.

Who Rules the Daleks?

There’s a fair amount of evidence the Emperor is not the ultimate, unchallengeable authority of the Daleks. In “Secret of the Emperor” (a comic from
The Dalek Outer Space Book
), it’s stated that senior Daleks convene periodically to elect their Emperor... or rather to
re
-elect him, as it’s always a unanimous vote and the only ever dissenter, seen in that story, is instantly exterminated for daring to question the Emperor’s authority.

In
The
Dalek Chronicles
strip, the Emperor follows the advice of the Dalek Brain Machine, a central computer, and
Destiny of the Daleks
and
Remembrance of the Daleks
also show a computer dictating strategy.

War of the Daleks
and
Terror Firma
have Daleks actively manipulating events and misleading Emperor Davros for their own ends. While Davros thinks he’s asserting his own dominance, both stories suggest that the Dalek leadership have planned the events we see to unite the Daleks and harness his genius, while keeping all manner of key information from him.
The Stolen Earth
/
Journey’s End
has Davros in a similar role, clearly more controlled by the Daleks than controlling.

Doomsday
introduces the Cult of Skaro, four Daleks “above even the Emperor” (although still acknowledging his authority and concerned about his fate).

The Doctor claims in
The Evil of the Daleks
that the Daleks blindly obey their leaders, and this unity is their defining characteristic... to such a degree that in
Remembrance of the Daleks
and
Dalek
(and its “predecessor”, the audio
Jubilee
), lone Daleks commit suicide because they’ve lost their entire purpose. We’ve seen Daleks ruthlessly eradicate individuals who dare to express even modest dissent on a number of occasions. However, the Daleks have a moral code that allows them to question orders if they seem un-Dalek-like and no compunction about replacing their leaders if they fail. It’s perhaps no coincidence that this happens most visibly with two leaders who aren’t pure Daleks: Davros and Sec (in
Evolution of the Daleks
). Cunningly, the Daleks have their cake and eat it: they are led by strong, imaginative, ambitious individuals who can think in ways the Daleks themselves can not... but they have a very strong (overriding, in fact) sense of what it is to be a Dalek. So if their leaders stray too far away from the Dalek ideal, the Daleks can quickly reach a consensus to exterminate him, without fear of disrupting the Dalek order based on blind obedience to their leaders, by simply deciding that their leader doesn’t count as a Dalek.

Ultimately, then, the true leader of the Daleks is not an individual, it’s the belief in their own supremacy and their hatred for anything that isn’t a Dalek.