Davros, Daleks, and
the Question of Their Origins
By John Rocco Roberto
When the Daleks first appeared on British television back in
December 1963, their immediate success at capturing the imagination of the
British public spawned what the media titled “Dalekmania.” Ever since those early days the questions of
their origins has caused major debate within fan circles. Terry Nation himself, penned four separate
origin stories for his creations, but the most controversial had to be the
invention of Davros in 1975. Davros was
touted as the “creator of the Daleks,” a mutated Kaled scientist (although it
is never mentioned in the episode how he was mutated), whose life-support
system looked very similar to a Dalek base.
In fact Davros himself, one arm with the use of an artificial eye mounted
in the middle of his forehead, was very much like his creations. But was Davros really the creator of the
Daleks? Or was he simply a single part
of a larger creation story as yet to be told?
Their
introduction at the beginning of episode two of “The Daleks” in 1963 had
furnished the Daleks with only cursory origins.
It was suggested that they had descended from a race called the Dals,
having mutated after the use of a Neutron Bomb.
The Dals, who were teachers and scientists, had used the bomb to defend
themselves from the warlike Thals. Upon
detonation of the bomb the Dals retreated into the lower sections of their
cities protected from the radiation by travel suits. Over time both the Dal and Thal race mutated,
but where the Thals had mutated into perfect human beings, the Dals had mutated
into hideous creatures dependent on radiation to survive. Sometime over the years, although it is never
explained exactly when, the Dals began referring to themselves as Daleks.
This became
the accepted origin of the Daleks for two years, but then, starting in 1965,
creator Terry Nation and former program story editor David Whitaker expanded on
their creation in the Dalek comic strip.
Running in the magazine TV Century 21, the comic revealed that the
creatures resulted from the experiments of a Dalek, not Dal, scientist named
Yarvelling. Briefly, the Daleks were a
race of blue skinned people living on Skaro.
A warlord called Zolfian, who had led his people to a war with the
Thals, led them. Building a Neutron bomb
to destroy the Thals, the bomb went off prematurely, following a meteor storm.
Zolfian survived, as did the scientist Yarvelling, however the only other Dalek
survivors were mutated. Using pre-war
machines (built as weapons of war by Yarvelling) as a travel device and sort of
mobile home, the survivors escaped the effects of the radiation. Zolfian and Yarvelling then made more of the
Dalek travel machines, which became the race of Daleks, as we know them now. In the process they created the Gold Dalek
Emperor, who served as the leader of the Daleks. The problem with this version however, is
that it contradicts the already established broadcast version, playing down the
morality play (in which the Daleks evolved from a peace loving race and the
Thals from a war-like one), the original story presented. In the comic it is the warlord Zolfian that
instigated the conflict, and gone is the irony of the “peace lovers” becoming
these horrible creatures of hate.
Later, in a
1973 edition of the Radio Times (celebrating Doctor Who's tenth anniversary),
Terry Nation once again provided a totally different origin premise. In his short story “We Are The Daleks,” the
scientist Halldon, who had captured and accelerated the evolution of early man,
creates the Daleks on the planet Ameron.
Not only did this version contradict the previous two origin stories,
but this time the Daleks weren’t even from Skaro!
1974 saw
Nation's attempts at a Dalek story for Season Twelve rejected, as outgoing
producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks felt the story submitted
was too similar to earlier Dalek ones. As an alternative Letts suggested that
Nation depict the creation of the Daleks, a suggestion that the writer was more
than happy to produce. Instead of
reusing ideas from either of his two previous Dalek origins, Nation decided to
once again pen a different version, while trying not to contradict the original
“Dead Planet” version. The first draft of the script, titled “Daleks: Genesis
Of Terror” was commissioned on April 1st, 1974.
The production did not proceed without its problems. Neither new producer Philip Hinchcliffe or
new script editor Robert Holmes were particularly keen on the Daleks, and
Holmes had been convinced to retain the story only by Letts' enthusiasm for the
project.
“Genesis Of
The Daleks” went into production on January 6th, 1975, providing the biggest
contribution to Doctor Who mythology since the Daleks introduction of 1963;
Davros, the scientist who brings the Daleks into existence. Terry Nation has said that he devised Davros
with the intention of giving the Daleks a spokesperson, someone who was more
interesting to watch than the monotone Daleks.
In his story, the TimeLords send the Doctor back to Skaro to prevent the
Dalek creation. On Skaro he encounters a
race called the Kaleds, who are at the breaking point of a 1000-year war with
the Thals. Radiation and chemical
weapons used in the first years of the war began producing mutations, and
Davros, who was originally assigned the tasks of finding new weapons to end the
war, quickly realized that this was futile, and turned the direction of his
work to the survival of the Kaled race.
Experimenting on Kaled embryos he created what he called the ultimate
creature, the Dalek mutant. Realizing
what his race will eventually mutate into he then designed a travel machine,
and thus the Daleks were born.
The problem
with “Genesis” is that it contradicts too many of the original origin aspects
established in “The Dead Planet.” Gone
is the Neutron Bomb, the Dalek survival chambers and even the original race
name of Dal. In addition, the Daleks,
who at first could only travel on the surfaces of their cites (due to drawing
power from the floors) can travel anywhere across the planet, suggesting that
the Daleks had somehow lost this ability by the time the events of “The Dead
Planet.” Nation answered criticism of
this conflict by explaining that history was a constant stream of discovers,
each one shedding more light on a subject as time went by. It was not that the origin story in “The Dead
Planet” was wrong, but simply a case of not having complete information. “Genesis,” according to Nation, provided that
information.
But do both
versions of Dalek origins have to contradict each other? Is it possible that the origin stories from
"The Dead Planet" and "Genesis of the Daleks" are both
correct? There have been many attempts
to blend these two versions together. In
John Peel's "The Official Doctor Who and the Daleks Book," the Dals
break away from their Thal masters changing their name to Kaled so as to forget
their past. Eventually the hate between
these two groups lead to war. It is
during the war that Davros and Nyder first create the city-bound Dalek Mark I
machines in the ruins of the old Dal capital.
They then return to the Bunker to work on the mutation process as well
as new and better Mark II and III travel machines. After the war it is the survivors who wander
into the old Dal capital, find the Mark I machines and crawl into them. The problem with this theory is that it makes
the original Daleks a completely different race from the ones in the rest of
the series.
We can
theorize that when the TimeLords sent the 4th Doctor back to Skaro to avert the
Dalek's creation they changed the way in which the Daleks that creation came
about. This notion is supported by
events in the series itself. Throughout
the series the notion of Parallel Time Lines had been used time and again. We know from “Pyramids of Mars” that Parallel
Time Lines are possible, as Sarah Jane remarks that Sutekh could not have
destroyed the world because she knows that it is intact in her own time. The Doctor explains that there are endless
possibilities, then takes her forward in time to show her what the world now
looks like in her time, a barren wasteland.
She cannot return to her original timeline unless they stop Sutekh.
Therefore it is entirely possible that we do indeed have more than one Dalek
timeline.
We know that
the origin story from "The Dead Planet" differs from the Davros
version in several basic ways. In
"The Dead Planet" the Daleks evolved from the mutated forms of the
Dal people after a Neutron Bomb is used.
The mutation evolves slowly over time.
In "Genesis of the Daleks," the Kaled people are already
mutating, so Davros, their Chief Scientist, accelerates this process thus
creating the Daleks. However is it not
possible that the Doctor's intervention became the catalyst of temporal
interference, which allowed the Davros version to come about? Surely Davros originally had no notion of
future Dalek events until the Doctor showed up.
Is it not possible that after his first encounter with the Doctor Davros
decided to take steps to insure his survival?
We are shown that Davros has made changes to his life-support system in
several episodes (the mind control drug in “Resurrection,” the hover ability in
“Revelation”), is it not possible that he did the same in “Genesis” by adding a
Cryogenic system?
Is it not
possible that in the original version of Dalek history a "Dal"
scientist named Davros worked on the Dalek project with other scientist during
a thousand year war? His contributions
are a major force behind the Dalek project, but not the only ones. After he and his fellow scientists are killed
in the bunker the remaining Dals set off the Neutron Bomb thus ending the war
and beginning the chain of events which will lead up to “The Dead Planet.” But now the Doctor comes along. His
intervention does little to change Dalek history (if he had delayed them a 1000
years then his first incarnation could not have encounter the Daleks in “The
Dead Planet”), but it does provide a catalyst for Davros to survive. In support of this it is important to
remember two facts established in the episode.
First, Davros, and the rest of the Kaled race for that matter, does not
believe that there is any life in the universe beyond Skaro. The Doctor's presence proves that wrong. Secondly, now knowing that life does exist on
other planets, and learning from the Doctor that his Daleks will suffer defeat
at the hands of many of these races, Davros decides that he must stay around to
guide the Daleks. We know he is a
megalomaniac, so he now takes steps to insure his survival. It is also not unreasonable to believe that
upon his revival thousands of years later, and with no one left alive to
contradict him, Davros claims sole responsibility for the Dalek's creation.
By this theory
it is possible that Dalek history now follows two separate time tracks. In the first track, “The Dead Planet"
track, Dalek history follows the events of the series up to “Death to the
Daleks.” Then, because in this track the
Doctor did not interfere, Dalek history follows an un-broadcast timeline, possibly
the stories as presented by Big Finish Productions (Mutant Phase, Apocalypse
Element, Genocide Machine, War of the Daleks, Time of the Daleks). In the “Genesis” track, the stories after
“Death to the Daleks” follow exactly as they did in the broadcast program
("Destiny," "Resurrection," "Revelation,"
“Remembrance"), possibility ending with the events as depicted in John
Peel’s “War of the Daleks.” All of this
is major conjecture of course, but it is something consider.
It may be that
there will never be one single theory that ties all of Dalek history
together. Creating a simple
chronological order to the Dalek adventures is difficult enough, and blending
two stories separated by 12 years may prove impossible. It is important however, to remember that as
it is with any long running sci-fi series, it is what the fan brings, and takes
away from the series that is really important, and it may be that how the
Daleks came about is not as important as the fact that they did come about. After all, do we really think about their
origins every time we heard those words: “Exterminate! Exterminate!
Exterminate!”
Reference:
Haining, Peter; Doctor Who: A Celebration; 1983
Peel, John & Nation, Terry; The Official Doctor Who and
The Daleks Book; 1988
Lofficier, Jean-Marc; Doctor Who: The Programme Guide; 1989
Pixley, Andrew; The Daleks: A History from BBC Video; 1993
Howe, David J. & Walker, Stephen James; Doctor Who: The
Television Companion
Special thanks to Stephen O'Connell for the TV21 Dalek
Origins.
Essay © 2002 John Rocco Roberto.
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