Doctor Who: Destiny of the Daleks

Craig Hill

Jan 24

Destiny of the Daleks is the first serial of the 17th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 September to 22 September 1979.

K9 has lost his voice, and the Fourth Doctor is confused as to why a robot would have laryngitis. Romana, for reasons unknown, regenerates, choosing the form of Princess Astra of the planet Atrios, in spite of the Doctor's initial disapproval of it.

The TARDIS lands on a rocky planet. The Doctor and Romana see a group of ragged-looking humans burying one of their dead, followed by a spaceship landing and half-burying itself in the ground in a valley. As the Doctor and Romana are about to investigate, underground explosions force them back towards the ruins.

Whilst exploring them, another explosion occurs, trapping the Doctor. Romana returns to the TARDIS to reassemble K9 so he can assist, but finds the TARDIS half-buried in rubble and the Doctor is missing. As she turns to leave, a man who has been following her blocks her path. She backs away, falls down a rubble chute, and loses consciousness. She recovers only to have three Daleks burst through the wall and capture her, commanding her to work at a drilling site.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is thanking the white-clad, silver-haired humanoids who have rescued him, remarking on their strength. He asks their leader, Commander Sharrel, where he is, and is told that the planet is D-5-Gamma-Z-Alpha, otherwise known as Skaro.

The Doctor learns that the Movellans are here to wage war against the Daleks. Two Movellans bring in a new prisoner, the man who has been following the Doctor and Romana. He is Starship Engineer Tyssan. He reveals that the Daleks used him as slave labour as part of a search operation. He tells the Doctor about what has happened to Romana, and they set out to rescue her.

The Doctor, Tyssan, and three Movellans find Romana and head into the Dalek headquarters. The Doctor establishes that the Daleks are searching for something on a level that they have yet to access, and remembers an alternative route to this area, so they make their way to this floor. There they discover Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who was in suspended animation and slowly comes to life.

The Doctor moves the revived Davros into a blocked-off room in the ruins of the Dalek city. They talk about the Daleks' "accomplishments" during the thousands of years he has been in suspended animation, and while the Doctor comments on the lives the Daleks have ruined, Davros replies that the Daleks have only just begun their conquest of the cosmos.

Daleks find them both, and the Doctor holds Davros hostage with a makeshift explosive, bargaining with the Daleks to free all their prisoners and to let him escape. Davros makes them see that the Doctor's logic is "impaired by irrational sentiment" and the Daleks comply. The Daleks remove the explosive and Davros vows to make them invincible, the supreme power of the universe.

Romana reaches the Movellan spaceship; but learns that they are not as altruistic as they appear when they knock 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 life. The Doctor meets up with Tyssan and they find a female Movellan scout. The Doctor confirms his suspicion that the Movellans are actually robots by removing the power pack on her belt and deactivating her. He finds Romana but is captured by the Movellans.

The Doctor learns that the Daleks and Movellans have been in a stalemate for 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. The Doctor refuses.

Davros is eager to give the Daleks the upper hand. He orders them to make a suicide bombing attack on the Movellan craft. Meanwhile, Tyssan leads the prisoners in an attack on the Movellans, deactivating them all, while Romana disables the Movellan's Commander before he can set off the nova device.

The Doctor tells Davros that the Movellans have been disabled; Davros does not believe him and still intends to destroy the Movellan ship. As Daleks approach the ship, the Doctor goes to detonate the bombs but is ambushed by a Dalek, which holds him at gunpoint. The Doctor throws his hat on the Dalek's eyestalk, blinding it, then destroys it with one of the remaining bombs. He then detonates the bombs on the Dalek suicide squad before it reaches the Movellan ship.

The Doctor then puts Davros into the custody of the former slave workers. He is 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.

To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

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