Slowly but surely,we're getting through those Davros Stories. We're not-so-much trying to arrange his tales in a proper chronological order as we are trying to get certain inconsistencies in those adventures to work. Technically, this is more of a FIXING CONTINUITY GLITCHES exercise. But, since we're going through all of his stories as we do it, it feels like a CHRONOLOGIES AND TIMELINES essay, instead.
Anyhow, let's pick things back up at the end of Revelation of the Daleks.
A DALEK CIVIL WAR
And so, as the catacombs on Necros are destroyed, Davros gets hauled off by a group of darker-liveried Daleks to be brought back to Skaro to stand trial for treason against the Dalek Race. One gets the impression his punishment will be harsher than another 90 years in cryogenic suspension.
And yet, somehow, a sentence is never given. When next we see the Daleks, a civil war is going on. The white-liveried Daleks are fighting the dark-liveried Daleks. And, in a surprise twist, Davros has discarded the final vestiges of his humanity and become the Emperor for the White Daleks.
How exactly did all these changes occur?
I suppose we could accuse Andrew Cartmel of being as lazy as his predecessor. But, really, this isn't too hard of a leap to make. We've seen the Daleks engage in civil war, before (although, if we go by my timeline, that civil war occurs after this one - still, the audience has seen this sort of thing before and can easily accept it). We also know Davros is getting pretty good at getting the Daleks to obey him, these days. So you've got several factors, here, that make it easy to work out a probable sequence of events that would lead to what we see in Remembrance of the Daleks.
My guess is that Davros was returned to Skaro. The Daleks have now built a massive city over the underground bunker that once contained them. He is put on trial and delivers an impassioned speech about his rightful place in the Dalek chain of command. This sows the first seeds of dissent. The Daleks don't just start following him right away, but some become hesitant to exterminate him. A debate ensues about what should be done with their creator.
This is all the time Davros needs. We have seen that he possesses a special injector that causes anyone he uses it on to become totally obedient to him. While the Daleks argue, he manages to convert the chemical compound within the injector into a sort of airborne virus. It begins seeping through the ventilation system of the city. Daleks come in contact with it and transform into complete slaves to Davros. Daleks in more distant sections of the city start witnessing the effects and manage to seal themselves off before the gas can reach them. This is how the rift is initially caused. Daleks loyal to Davros protect him and drive away the ones that believe him to be a traitor.
It doesn't take long for Davros to send a force to Necros to unearth the army he had been building there.Those Daleks on Skaro that he affected with his mind control serum have their livery changed to match those from Necros. His army on Necros is awakened and return to Skaro. Davros now has the sheer weight of numbers on his side. He decides he is the rightful leader of the Dalek Empire.
Those Daleks who refuse to follow Davros are lesser in number and are, therefore, declared Renegades. There are enough of them to have a small spacefleet. They have also appointed one of their kind to be the Supreme Dalek and changed his livery to black.
Shortly thereafter, the Doctor intentionally leaks some information about the Hand of Omega to the Imperial Daleks. Hungry for power, Davros sends a mothership back in time to Earth in 1963. Somehow, the Renegade Daleks manage to steal that knowledge. Using a time controller, they also go back in time to retrieve the stellar manipulator.
Remembrance of the Daleks happens around now.
INTO NEW WHO
As the totally awesome Remembrance of the Daleks concludes (my second-favorite Doctor Who story, ever - read it about it right here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-2.html), we are not given a Davros Cliffhanger, this time. We very clearly see him escaping the horrible fate he brought upon himself. Things are left wide open so that he can menace the Doctor again in a future story.
There is a tonne of irony that this gesture creates. Firstly, the show appears to end a season later. So it looks as though the return appearance that Ben Aaronivitch sets up is never going to happen. But when the show does finally return - how things were left in the Classic Series with Davros creates complications. We'll try to fix those problems in just a few short paragraphs.
We should mention that sometime around this period in Davros' timeline he receives a visit from a model of Dalek he's never seen before. They have a strange bronze livery and seem to suddenly like nuts and bolts. These odd new Daleks claim to be from the future. They explain to Davros that the Children of Skaro have begun an ultimate battle with the Lords of Time and that he is needed in the war effort. Deciding there's not much left of his empire, anyway, he accepts the call of duty.
The Daleks transport Davros back to the future and he assists them in the Time Wars. Details of this notorious cosmic event are still sketchy, at best. But we do know that Davros eventually flies a ship that he's using into some strange being known as the Nightmare Child and is presumed to be dead. Somehow, he survives the experience. My guess is the Nightmare Child decides that killing Davros is not cruel enough. Instead, the Kaled scientist is sent back into the "normal universe"and is timelocked out of the war. This would hurt Davros far worse than the end of his existence. To not be allowed to help his creation in their greatest moment of peril would be a fate far worse than death for him.
Left in isolation somewhere in deep space, Davros sets himself to work on building a new Dalek empire. The ship he used to fly into the Nightmare Child has a lab on board. Using cells from his own body, he begins to construct a new army of Daleks. This army will eventually grow to the point that they can develop a new sort of super weapon that will truly make the Daleks the masters of all of time and space. It takes a while, but Davros does eventually set up the events of Stolen Earth/Journey's End.
THE NEW WHO DAVROS CONUNDRUM (INSTEAD OF THE TSURANGA)
Because Davros has literally surrendered so much of his own flesh to make a new Dalek army, his life support system triggers another artificial tissue regeneration. Which causes, of course, another change in appearance. But the amount of his cells that have been used for Dalek-making causes the regeneration to take some time. Even by Stolen Earth/Journey's End, there are chunks of him still missing.
There are, however, other discrepancies in Davros' appearance that need addressing. In Remembrance of the Daleks, he appears to be nothing more than a head mounted inside the casing of an Emperor Dalek. But during his reveal in Stolen Earth, he's gotten his torso and arm back. He also appears to have a mechanical hand. Basically, we seem to be ignoring what happened to him in Remembrance. He's gone back to what he would look like after Revelation of the Daleks if he had just gotten his hand replaced from having it shot off by Orcini.
Has Remembrance of the Daleks been, somehow, purged from the timelines? A freak side effect of the Time Wars, perhaps? Or did the production team just think: "A Dalek Emperor Davros would be really convoluted to explain to a new audience!?
It's obviously that last point but let's see if we can find some way to explain why Davros is the way he is in New Who:
Between Revelation and Remembrance, Davros secures a Dalek Empire on Skaro. Once he's settled in, he gets his hand replaced mechanically. He remembers how much he's enjoyed having a spare head as a decoy so he manufactures another one. He goes much further with the misdirection this time, though. Hiding himself somewhere beneath the Dalek City in a sort of panic room, Davros places the cloned head in the casing of an Emperor Dalek. The decoy becomes a sort of figurehead leader for his army. The real Davros can monitor everything through him and deliver instructions to him through a secret communication system (perhaps, even, a telepathic link?). It's a perfect arrangement. Actual Davros stays safe in a bunker while Decoy Davros wanders around taking all the real risks.
We don't know, for sure, what happens to the Emperor Dalek version of Davros after it escapes the Hand of Omega. My guess is Davros engages some sort of self-destruct protocol he built into the casing just before he leaves for the Time Wars. Or, perhaps, that spare head is still wandering around the Universe and will return, someday, in a super-contrived continuity-nightmare of a story where it battles with the real Davros for supremacy over the Dalek Race. Jest all you want at such a prospect. We did just recently have an adventure where the Doctor went back to the beginning of the Cybermen, met two versions of the Master and then regenerated with his first incarnation. If stories like that can be written, Davros fighting his own head isn't beyond us!
ANOTHER UNSOLVED CLIFFHANGER
Once again, the 80s Davros Story tradition continues as Journey's End reaches its conclusion. Davros remains in the Crucible even though the Doctor tries to urge him into the TARDIS. He curses angrily at the Doctor as his control center comes tumbling down around him. With no choice left, the Doctor leaves him there. Presumably to die.
This was not the case, however. A few seasons later, Davros makes his return in Magician's Apprentice/Witch's Familiar. He's on Skaro, now (or, more appropriately, New Skaro). He's built up another army and realizes he's finally in the proper place in the Doctor's timeline to torment the Time Lord about abandoning him as child in the handmine field.
No mention is given on how he made it from a crumbling Crucible to a city on Skaro (yes, I wrote that sentence that way to enjoy the alliteration). So we need to fill in a few gaps:
It's my guess that Davros totally stole Dalek Caan's emergency temporal shift gear when no one was looking. While he didn't like the fact that his batch of Daleks in Stolen/End turns on him, he chooses not to shift out while he's kept prisoner in the basement. Only if his plans for universal destruction somehow fail will he take that option. So, when that finally does happen, he ducks out before getting blown up.
He has pre-programmed the emergency temporal shift equipment to take him to New Skaro where he knows some remnants of the Daleks still linger. There's some Kaled mutants wandering about and some ruined casings lying around - but that's enough for Davros to re-build an army. He sets himself to work. He also manages to genetically re-engineer a colony of Skarosian snakes to work as a hive mind together. They are obedient to him and will protect him at all costs.
It's my guess that Davros found Daleks that were blindly obedient to him like they were in various 80s stories were a bit too inefficient. Which is why he bestows a sense of free will in them again in New Who. But when they keep him as a pet in the Crucible, he takes out a few precautions on Skaro.
He remembers what the Doctor told him about mercy way back in his childhood and gives this latest batch of Daleks just a bit of that emotion in their programming. Hopefully, this will make them nicer to him. Particularly as he's starting to get real old to the point where his life support system can no longer sustain him. He will need the lifeforce of his new army to keep him alive. As an extra precaution, however, he also installs a personal force field around himself. You can never be too careful.
AFTERWORD
Again, we get a bit of a Ben Aaronivitch treatment, here. It's very obvious Davros is still alive as Witch's Apprentice concludes. We've even learnt that Missy seems to have saved the Daleks from their revolting sewers. We're not sure, how - but perhaps it will be explained in a forthcoming Davros story. As, no doubt, there will be another one sometime in the future.
I am still hoping he has to fight his own head!
Okay, another CHRONOLOGIES AND TIMELINES in the can. I'll try to keep 'em coming for as long as I can. You guys indicate by the high number of hits that they get that you seem to really like them.
Here's the other two parts in case you've missed them:
Part 1
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/04/chronologies-and-timelines-davros.html
Part 2
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/04/chronologies-and-timelines-personal.html
Also, you may want to check out this particular part in my Dalek History essay. It explains New Skaro a bit better:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronologies-and-timelines-episode.html
Also, also: give this Appendix a read. It goes into a bit more detail about Davros' activities on New Skaro:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/11/chronologies-and-time-lines-history-of.html
Saturday 27 April 2019
Friday 19 April 2019
CHRONOLOGIES AND TIMELINES: THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVROS - PART 2: DAVROS TRYING TO RUN THE DALEKS
And so we embark upon the second installment of the Davros Series. This one will probably have the most embellishment since there are some fairly large inconsistencies that need taking care of.
THE FOUR DAVROSES (NOT SURE ON THAT PLURALIZATION)
As Davros re-emerges into the Waking World in Destiny of the Daleks, he seems a changed man. A legitimately changed man, in fact. His appearance seems different and his voice has definitely changed. How did this happen?
One of the first things Davros does when he wakes is explain how he survived his fate (something we don't get much of in his other stories), His life support system sent him into a sort of suspended animation as it initiated synthetic tissue regeneration for various organs. I think the life support system also regenerated some of his external tissue that may have been damaged. Including his face and his vocal chords. Thus causing the change in appearance and voice. This would occur on a few more occasions throughout his life. As we reach those points, of course, we'll try to provide explanations for why the synthetic tissue regeneration happened.
DAVROS GETS MORE WORLDLY
And so, the events of Destiny of the Daleks take place. The Doctor seals the Kaled Scientist in a solid block of ice and sends him off to Earth to have him tried for his crimes against humanity. We are somewhere in the 27th or 28th Century, by this point. Earth will have had several skirmishes with the Daleks. They would be eager to get their hands on the man who created these atrocities. His Daleks would be responsible for the loss of millions of human lives.
The Trial of Davros was probably a very high-profile affair. Humanity was made well aware of the deadly potential of this war criminal. Drastic actions would be taken to ensure that he could do nothing to further enhance the deadliness of his creations. At the same time, humanity would not just execute the man. That would be sinking to his level.
Since he had been brought to them in cryo-sleep, Davros' judges decided that would be part of his imprisonment. To just put such a genius in a cell somewhere would not be enough. He would, over time, break out. But to also freeze him would definitely keep him properly incapacitated.
And yet, this wasn't the usual form of cryogenic suspension. Not all body functions would be completely in stasis. Earth authorities wanted Davros to, eventually, age to death. So his hibernation system received special programming. He would remain immobile but still be able to grow older. To get this to work, however, also meant he would need to remain conscious the whole time. Again, a certain degree of mercy was shown. Davros was implanted with a special chip that would enable him to access a sort of intergalactic internet (similar to the one Dorium had in Wedding of River Song). This would keep him entertained as he withered away.
Naturally enough, Davros used his brilliance to access all kinds of secret files. Within these files he found all sorts of interesting information about the Doctor and the Time Lords, in general. At the same time, his life support system was still able to initiate synthetic tissue regeneration as his body aged. Even under heavy cryogenics, the process was still possible.
This gets certain inconsistencies to make a bit better sense when Davros re-awakens in Resurrection of the Daleks. He is far more knowledgeable about the Ways of the Universe than he was in Destiny of the Daleks. This is because of the special chip he was given by Earth Authorities that allowed him intergalactic internet access. The chip also kept him from going utterly mad from being conscious during his 90 year prison sentence (to be held in cryogenic suspension for so long but still be, technically, awake would have driven even a mind as dedicated as Davros' completely insane). Also, Davros has another change in appearance and voice when his freedom is restored. This is because he was still able to age while he was frozen but his life support system was able to fight against the process.
ANOTHER DOOZY OF A CLIFFHANGER
Between Resurrection and Revelation of the Daleks lies another glaring example of what I like to call the Sheer Laziness of Eric Saward. The script editor at the time these stories were made was notorious for not resolving cliffhangers that were created for certain recurring villains at the end of stories. His greatest atrocity, of course, was never providing an answer for how the Master survived being burnt to a crisp at the end of Planet of Fire. But how he handled Davros' nasty fate at the end of Resurrection was nearly as bad. It's especially shameful that he is the author of both Resurrection and Revelation and still couldn't be bothered to put in the appropriate level of effort to explain things. Am I being too mean to Eric Saward? Perhaps. But he did have the audacity to claim that My Colin was a bad Doctor so it's hard not to be bitter with him!
In Eric's defense, he doesn't totally ignore the corner he painted Davros into at the end of Resurrection. When the Sixth Doctor finally encounters him on Necros, he takes the trouble to ask the Kaled scientist how he survived an exploding spaceship. Davros does explain that he hopped into an escape pod before the vessel blew up. That seems like a fairly competent handling of the whole thing, right?
There's just one problem: Saward completely ignores the fact that Davros doesn't appear to quite make it to the escape pod he has prepared for himself at the end of Resurrection of the Daleks. A few moments prior to his attempt to leave, he released the Movellan virus into the artificial atmosphere of the ship he's on. This successfully kills the Daleks that have been sent to exterminate him. Davros thinks he will be immune to the airborne poison - but he's wrong. In his last scene in the story, we see his own Dalek casing starting to spew toothpaste in the same way that the Daleks do when they're affected by the disease. He screams hopelessly as his body seems to go into a sort of paralysis.
Of course, Eric does get away with a bit of dramatic irony. The Doctor does not know Davros was affected by the Movellan virus so he doesn't require an explanation for how he escaped it. But this does still leave the audience a bit dissatisfied. We saw what happened to him at the end of Resurrection but we're never given an answer for how he escaped his fate.
A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION TO THE DOOZY OF A CLIFFHANGER
Here's what I think happened: there are enough genetic variations between Davros and his Daleks that the Movellan virus won't kill him as quickly as it does his creations..It's also quite possible that his life support system starts combating the effects of the virus as well as it can. Which slows down the process all-the-more. Davros does go into a temporary paralysis in his lab but manages to fight past it. He regains mobility in time to get into his escape pod and leave the spaceship before Stein blows it up.
The Movellan virus, however, will soon take his life if he doesn't figure out a cure for it.
The escape pod lands on a nearby civilized world. Probably an actual Earth colony. But it has been 90 years since his trial so no one really remembers who he is. They just see a sick man and decide to help him. Davros quickly explains that if they can get him into the proper facilities, he can help himself.
The Kaled Scientist decides to be realistic: he might not survive the disease. He needs to take extra steps to ensure that he lives on in some form. Now in a nice high-tech lab that the humans on the colony world have provided for him, Davros manages to find a few cells in his body that have still not been ravaged by the Movellan virus. Or, perhaps, he manages to clean just a few cells of the disease. Either way, he uses those cells to clone himself. Not his entire body, just his head. He transplants all of his thoughts and memories into the head and places it in a life-support system of its own. Now sure that he will survive in some way, he goes to work on finding a proper cure for himself.
He finds that cure and even makes an improvement or two on himself. He implants an energy weapon that will allow him to, literally, shoot death rays from his fingers. He decides he likes his spare head and wants to keep it. So he gives it a similar implant so it can defend itself, too.
While all this is going on, the humans that found him in his escape pod have done some background research. They realize who Davros really is. They try to apprehend him to return him to Earth Authorities but Davros and his head fight their way out. They grab a spaceship and leave for parts unknown.
News of Davros' survival quickly spreads. Earth and its associated colonies are quickly reminded of the deadliness of his potential. Davros knows he must hide somewhere. He's done a pretty thorough search of the geo-politics of the cosmos while he was in jail. He's figured out that Necros is a planet no one truly wants to go to. It's the best place to hide. He's also worked out some ideas for those sleepers that no one wants.
He makes his way to Necros and very quickly installs himself as the Great Healer. He places his extra head in the main control center of the catacombs to be used as a decoy against assassination attempts. He begins his plans to end starvation in the galaxy and build a special Dalek army that is obedient only to him. Once he has the resources he needs, he initiates a plan to lure the Doctor to Tranquil Repose so that he may exact his revenge upon him.
The events of Revelation of the Daleks ensue....
Even though there's still one more Classic Who Davros Story to cover, I've decided this is a good place to stop at for Part Two. I had to provide quite a bit of explanation to compensate for the Sheer Laziness of Eric Saward.
We'll take a look at how Davros creates the civil war of Remembrance of the Daleks in the next installment. We'll also try to figure out why Davros doesn't look like a Dalek Emperor in the New Series.
Missed the first part? Here it is:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/04/chronologies-and-timelines-davros.html
THE FOUR DAVROSES (NOT SURE ON THAT PLURALIZATION)
As Davros re-emerges into the Waking World in Destiny of the Daleks, he seems a changed man. A legitimately changed man, in fact. His appearance seems different and his voice has definitely changed. How did this happen?
One of the first things Davros does when he wakes is explain how he survived his fate (something we don't get much of in his other stories), His life support system sent him into a sort of suspended animation as it initiated synthetic tissue regeneration for various organs. I think the life support system also regenerated some of his external tissue that may have been damaged. Including his face and his vocal chords. Thus causing the change in appearance and voice. This would occur on a few more occasions throughout his life. As we reach those points, of course, we'll try to provide explanations for why the synthetic tissue regeneration happened.
DAVROS GETS MORE WORLDLY
And so, the events of Destiny of the Daleks take place. The Doctor seals the Kaled Scientist in a solid block of ice and sends him off to Earth to have him tried for his crimes against humanity. We are somewhere in the 27th or 28th Century, by this point. Earth will have had several skirmishes with the Daleks. They would be eager to get their hands on the man who created these atrocities. His Daleks would be responsible for the loss of millions of human lives.
The Trial of Davros was probably a very high-profile affair. Humanity was made well aware of the deadly potential of this war criminal. Drastic actions would be taken to ensure that he could do nothing to further enhance the deadliness of his creations. At the same time, humanity would not just execute the man. That would be sinking to his level.
Since he had been brought to them in cryo-sleep, Davros' judges decided that would be part of his imprisonment. To just put such a genius in a cell somewhere would not be enough. He would, over time, break out. But to also freeze him would definitely keep him properly incapacitated.
And yet, this wasn't the usual form of cryogenic suspension. Not all body functions would be completely in stasis. Earth authorities wanted Davros to, eventually, age to death. So his hibernation system received special programming. He would remain immobile but still be able to grow older. To get this to work, however, also meant he would need to remain conscious the whole time. Again, a certain degree of mercy was shown. Davros was implanted with a special chip that would enable him to access a sort of intergalactic internet (similar to the one Dorium had in Wedding of River Song). This would keep him entertained as he withered away.
Naturally enough, Davros used his brilliance to access all kinds of secret files. Within these files he found all sorts of interesting information about the Doctor and the Time Lords, in general. At the same time, his life support system was still able to initiate synthetic tissue regeneration as his body aged. Even under heavy cryogenics, the process was still possible.
This gets certain inconsistencies to make a bit better sense when Davros re-awakens in Resurrection of the Daleks. He is far more knowledgeable about the Ways of the Universe than he was in Destiny of the Daleks. This is because of the special chip he was given by Earth Authorities that allowed him intergalactic internet access. The chip also kept him from going utterly mad from being conscious during his 90 year prison sentence (to be held in cryogenic suspension for so long but still be, technically, awake would have driven even a mind as dedicated as Davros' completely insane). Also, Davros has another change in appearance and voice when his freedom is restored. This is because he was still able to age while he was frozen but his life support system was able to fight against the process.
ANOTHER DOOZY OF A CLIFFHANGER
Between Resurrection and Revelation of the Daleks lies another glaring example of what I like to call the Sheer Laziness of Eric Saward. The script editor at the time these stories were made was notorious for not resolving cliffhangers that were created for certain recurring villains at the end of stories. His greatest atrocity, of course, was never providing an answer for how the Master survived being burnt to a crisp at the end of Planet of Fire. But how he handled Davros' nasty fate at the end of Resurrection was nearly as bad. It's especially shameful that he is the author of both Resurrection and Revelation and still couldn't be bothered to put in the appropriate level of effort to explain things. Am I being too mean to Eric Saward? Perhaps. But he did have the audacity to claim that My Colin was a bad Doctor so it's hard not to be bitter with him!
In Eric's defense, he doesn't totally ignore the corner he painted Davros into at the end of Resurrection. When the Sixth Doctor finally encounters him on Necros, he takes the trouble to ask the Kaled scientist how he survived an exploding spaceship. Davros does explain that he hopped into an escape pod before the vessel blew up. That seems like a fairly competent handling of the whole thing, right?
There's just one problem: Saward completely ignores the fact that Davros doesn't appear to quite make it to the escape pod he has prepared for himself at the end of Resurrection of the Daleks. A few moments prior to his attempt to leave, he released the Movellan virus into the artificial atmosphere of the ship he's on. This successfully kills the Daleks that have been sent to exterminate him. Davros thinks he will be immune to the airborne poison - but he's wrong. In his last scene in the story, we see his own Dalek casing starting to spew toothpaste in the same way that the Daleks do when they're affected by the disease. He screams hopelessly as his body seems to go into a sort of paralysis.
Of course, Eric does get away with a bit of dramatic irony. The Doctor does not know Davros was affected by the Movellan virus so he doesn't require an explanation for how he escaped it. But this does still leave the audience a bit dissatisfied. We saw what happened to him at the end of Resurrection but we're never given an answer for how he escaped his fate.
A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION TO THE DOOZY OF A CLIFFHANGER
Here's what I think happened: there are enough genetic variations between Davros and his Daleks that the Movellan virus won't kill him as quickly as it does his creations..It's also quite possible that his life support system starts combating the effects of the virus as well as it can. Which slows down the process all-the-more. Davros does go into a temporary paralysis in his lab but manages to fight past it. He regains mobility in time to get into his escape pod and leave the spaceship before Stein blows it up.
The Movellan virus, however, will soon take his life if he doesn't figure out a cure for it.
The escape pod lands on a nearby civilized world. Probably an actual Earth colony. But it has been 90 years since his trial so no one really remembers who he is. They just see a sick man and decide to help him. Davros quickly explains that if they can get him into the proper facilities, he can help himself.
The Kaled Scientist decides to be realistic: he might not survive the disease. He needs to take extra steps to ensure that he lives on in some form. Now in a nice high-tech lab that the humans on the colony world have provided for him, Davros manages to find a few cells in his body that have still not been ravaged by the Movellan virus. Or, perhaps, he manages to clean just a few cells of the disease. Either way, he uses those cells to clone himself. Not his entire body, just his head. He transplants all of his thoughts and memories into the head and places it in a life-support system of its own. Now sure that he will survive in some way, he goes to work on finding a proper cure for himself.
He finds that cure and even makes an improvement or two on himself. He implants an energy weapon that will allow him to, literally, shoot death rays from his fingers. He decides he likes his spare head and wants to keep it. So he gives it a similar implant so it can defend itself, too.
While all this is going on, the humans that found him in his escape pod have done some background research. They realize who Davros really is. They try to apprehend him to return him to Earth Authorities but Davros and his head fight their way out. They grab a spaceship and leave for parts unknown.
News of Davros' survival quickly spreads. Earth and its associated colonies are quickly reminded of the deadliness of his potential. Davros knows he must hide somewhere. He's done a pretty thorough search of the geo-politics of the cosmos while he was in jail. He's figured out that Necros is a planet no one truly wants to go to. It's the best place to hide. He's also worked out some ideas for those sleepers that no one wants.
He makes his way to Necros and very quickly installs himself as the Great Healer. He places his extra head in the main control center of the catacombs to be used as a decoy against assassination attempts. He begins his plans to end starvation in the galaxy and build a special Dalek army that is obedient only to him. Once he has the resources he needs, he initiates a plan to lure the Doctor to Tranquil Repose so that he may exact his revenge upon him.
The events of Revelation of the Daleks ensue....
Even though there's still one more Classic Who Davros Story to cover, I've decided this is a good place to stop at for Part Two. I had to provide quite a bit of explanation to compensate for the Sheer Laziness of Eric Saward.
We'll take a look at how Davros creates the civil war of Remembrance of the Daleks in the next installment. We'll also try to figure out why Davros doesn't look like a Dalek Emperor in the New Series.
Missed the first part? Here it is:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/04/chronologies-and-timelines-davros.html
Sunday 14 April 2019
CHRONOLOGIES AND TIMELINES: DAVROS THROUGH THE YEARS - PART ONE: EARLY DAYS...
This particular CHRONOLOGIES AND TIMELINES will be similar to the one I did on the Master. In so much that arranging a proper order to episodes involving him is almost entirely unnecessary. With the exception of a few scenes in his most recent story, we have been watching Davros' adventures happen in a completely linear fashion. However, there are things that take place between certain stories that need to be expanded upon to get his televised tales to make better sense.
So, as I chronicle his various escapades in a way that they don't need to be chronicled, I'll delve into those various "grey areas" in his past and try to get them to make better sense.
BEFORE WE BEGIN....
It would probably be a good idea to look over my Dalek History essays before you embark upon reading this. It does cover some key points in Davros' past so it will get referenced. Even if you have looked at it before, refreshing your memory of it will help.
Having said that, though, it is a lot to read! If you don't look it over, this essay will still make sense. It will just make better sense if you do.
Here are all five installments:
Part 1:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/06/chronologies-and-timelines-tymecian.html
Part 2:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/06/chronologies-and-timelines-part-2-of.html
Part 3:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronologies-and-timelines-episode.html
Part 4:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronologies-and-timelines-episode-4-of.html
Part 5:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronologies-and-timelines-episode-5-of.html
...And an Appendix!
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/11/chronologies-and-time-lines-history-of.html
There have been a few more Dalek appearances since the Appendix. I will probably compile a second one soon. But I think this is enough, for now.
YOUNG DAVROS
Having been born into the Kaled/Thal Thousand Year War means Davros probably didn't have the happiest of childhoods. School was probably more like low-level military training than an actual education. The demand of the war effort would require children to be made battle-ready as quickly as possible, So conditioning would start at a very young age for the children of Skaro. No doubt, Davros was fed all kinds of propaganda as he grew up. Which may help account for the very fascist ideology he would later program into his creation.
More than likely, his high intelligence was noted at a very early age by his educators. Which probably led to some re-direction for him. Rather than being put on a course that would have him thrown onto the Front Line as soon as he could hold a gun competently, Davros was streamlined into a more scientific learning program. His mind would, ultimately, be used to develop better weaponry or other such military applications.
During the days of his youth, Davros became curious and wandered out onto a battlefield where he got lost for a while. His misadventure led him to wandering into a handmine field. A soldier from a nearby patrol did try to help him but fell prey to the trap, himself. Eventually, a stranger wearing odd clothing appeared to him with a strange blue box behind him. He tossed him some sort of sonic device that enabled Davros to hear him better as they spoke from a distance.
When the Kaled youth, at last, revealed his name to his rescuer - the stranger seemed to react to this news in an odd way. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Davros alone for a while. He, then, re-appeared in a different spot and used some sort of energy projectile weapon to destroy the handmines around the boy. Clearing the handine field, he walked Davros back to the Kaled City. Telling him of the importance of always maintaining a sense of mercy as they strolled along.
Davros wouldn't figure it out until later, of course. But this was his first encounter with the Doctor.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT SONIC SCREWDRIVER FOR ALL THOSE YEARS?
Clearly, the Twelfth Doctor makes sure not to tell Young Davros who he truly is. He knows Davros will encounter him next while he's in his fourth body. When they do meet, the Kaled scientist doesn't say anything to the nature of: "The Doctor? I met a man who called himself by that name when I was but a young lad..." The Doctor knows that meeting with Davros in Genesis of the Daleks constitutes their first official introduction to each other. So the Time Lord makes sure to keep his lips tight as he gets the boy back home.
But the Doctor does let the Kaled child keep his sonic screwdriver. Which does create a bit of a continuity problem. Why does Davros never present the sonic screwdriver any sooner than Magician's Apprentice?
Come to think of it, a bunch of centuries appear to have passed between that day in the handmine field and the encounter between Twelve and Davros in the Dalek City. How does he manage to hold on to the device for so long?
While I was greatly amused by some of the photo-shopping fans did of the sonic screwdriver lying around in various scenes from Davros Stories in the Classic Series, I'll try to come up with something better:
My guess is that Young Davros is intrigued by the sonic screwdriver and hides it away in his room after the Doctor gets him home. As he grows up and joins the Scientific Elite, he keeps the screwdriver as a memento. But he always keeps it hidden in his personal effects, somewhere. Even as Davros moves to the special underground bunker that we see him living in by Genesis of the Daleks, that screwdriver was brought with him and kept locked away in his living quarters.
After the Daleks fire on him at the end of Geneis, that screwdriver is still sitting around in that bunker. When Davros re-awakens in Destiny, he doesn't really get a chance to recover it before he is sent off into space to be imprisoned. Nor would he feel compelled to grab it during that time. He still doesn't really know what it is. In the same way that he doesn't recognize the Fourth Doctor as being the same man he met as a child, the model of sonic screwdriver Four carries doesn't resemble the one Twelve left with him. He hasn't made the connection, yet.
However, while serving his time on the prison ship in Resurrection of the Daleks, Davros starts to really learn about the Doctor and Time Lords, in general (we'll explain how this happens when we get to this point in his timeline, properly). It is here that some doors start opening for him. He figures out that his first encounter with the Doctor was not during Genesis of the Daleks - but earlier. He also works out what that strange memento he kept for all those years actually was.
Having learnt about Time Lords, however, also means that Davros has discovered the Laws of Time, too. He decides to be responsible with his knowledge of what could be a future event in the Doctor's life and tries to preserve the Time Lines (unlike his younger, more reckless days when he tries to use foreknowledge to his advantage when he finds out the Doctor comes from the future in Genesis). He makes the assumption that he met a version of the Doctor that doesn't exist yet when he was a boy so he makes sure to never mention that encounter until the Doctor is wearing the appropriate face.
He would like that sonic screwdriver back, though. It might be fun to hang it over him a bit when the Doctor has temporally caught up with him. Davros has had plenty of time to work things out. The Doctor he first meets in the handmine field appears to abandon him and only comes back later to save him. More than likely, there will be a time in between those two moments where Davros will be an adult when he meets the Twelfth Doctor. The Time Lord will be carrying a lot of guilt over what he did. How fun might it be to torment him by showing him he still has the sonic screwdriver he gave him when he was a kid?
So when the Daleks bring Davros back to Skaro at the end of Revelation of the Daleks, the Dalek Creator takes the time to go back down into that old bunker and find the sonic screwdriver. We know he has hidden compartments in his chair - we see him using one during Resurrection. He stores the screwdriver in one of those compartments until the appropriate time.
Yeah, photo-shopping the sonic screwdriver into some publicity stills was probably a whole lot easier than that!
HOW HE MADE IT INTO THE CHAIR
"The memory cheats" - a favorite saying of 80s producer John Nathan Turner - seems to be at play, here. I was convinced there was some throwaway dialogue in Genesis of the Daleks that tells how Davros ends up in his chair. Either Ronson or Gharman mentions that Davros was working in his laboratory when a stray shell from the Thals manages to go off relatively near to him. He is badly injured but not quite killed. What's left of him is placed in a life support system of his devising (probably originally created for someone else important in Kaled society who was badly injured but not quite killed - I can't see Davros creating such a device after he's been hurt).
I re-watched Genesis several time over and found no dialogue anywhere that gives an account of the incident that causes him to become the hideous being that we see him as in this tale. To the best of my knowledge, any backstory that has been provided for this can only be considered Fan Theory. Terry Nation might have even claimed somewhere that this is how Davros came to be but, as I have said on many occasions, if its not "transmitted dialogue" - it doesn't count.
Having made that claim, I do like to agree with this idea. While it's never properly stated anywhere, it does make the best sense. What other fate could have caused him to lose the lower part of his body and the better part of an arm?
There are even some conspiracy theories that seem to indicate that it was not the Thals that prompted this fate. But, rather, some of Davros' own people who felt threatened by him rigged things to look like the explosion in the lab was an enemy attack. This seems like a pretty cool idea, too. We know such people existed. We see some of them in Genesis of the Daleks. I do believe that Davros had already discovered the ultimate form the Kaleds would take before his lab was attacked. He had probably just begun to develop a Mark I travel machine and had revealed some of the modifications he would make to the mutants he would put in them. Certain Kaled citizens might have become mortified by his plans and tried to assassinate him but attempted to stage it as an act of war. It's an interesting theory. And, since this can all only be hypothesis, I'll accept it. Until, of course, someone actually says in an episode: "This is how Davros ended up in the chair...." Which, quite honestly, will probably never happen.
A DAMN GOOD LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
Being placed in the life support system changed Davros. It made him all the more determined in his mission to ensure the survival of the Kaled race. If it was his own people that tried to kill him, their plans could not have backfired more. Davros became more hell-bent from his "accident".
It may even be possible that his life support system became the basis of his inspiration for the travel machines he was working on. Which would make things even more ironic if the whole thing was a Kaled assassination plot. They wanted to thwart his plans but, instead, put him in the machinery that would enable him to succeed.
As is often the case, Davros likes overkill. The life support system he devises doesn't just keep him alive, it sustains his existence indefinitely. It also makes him impervious to most forms of attack. As is revealed in Destiny of the Daleks, he is not killed by his own creation at the end of Genesis. He is put into a sort of suspended animation until the life support system can synthetically regenerate all the damaged tissue and organs that were diced in the Dalek cross-fire. The Daleks were probably even aware that he was still alive but just threw him into some sort of storage. Just in case his genius was needed again, someday (as, inevitably, it would be).
It's my theory that Davros first awoke from his slumber sometime after the Daleks had left the bunker the Doctor had sealed them in when he had failed in his mission for the Time Lords. The Kaled scientist wandered around the abandoned underground structure for a while but could not find a way out. The Daleks had re-sealed the base after they had emerged from it. Without hope for escape, Davros simply re-activated slumber mode. However, he rigged his life support system to some proximity detectors. If there was suddenly a large amount of movement around him, he would wake back up. No doubt, the movement was being caused by someone who had decided to dig him back up. This is why he regains consciousness the very moment people start crowding around him at the end of Part Two of Destinty of the Daleks.
With Davros back to life, he can go on to cause all kinds of trouble for the Universe.
That's all for Part One of this series. In the next chapter, we'll look at the Terry Molloy stories (I know many of you love Wisher best - but he's my favorite Davros) and sort out some of the unanswered cliffhangers that plague his era. Once we do work out some of those inconsistencies, we'll move on to New Who Davros in Part Three....
So, as I chronicle his various escapades in a way that they don't need to be chronicled, I'll delve into those various "grey areas" in his past and try to get them to make better sense.
BEFORE WE BEGIN....
It would probably be a good idea to look over my Dalek History essays before you embark upon reading this. It does cover some key points in Davros' past so it will get referenced. Even if you have looked at it before, refreshing your memory of it will help.
Having said that, though, it is a lot to read! If you don't look it over, this essay will still make sense. It will just make better sense if you do.
Here are all five installments:
Part 1:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/06/chronologies-and-timelines-tymecian.html
Part 2:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/06/chronologies-and-timelines-part-2-of.html
Part 3:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronologies-and-timelines-episode.html
Part 4:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronologies-and-timelines-episode-4-of.html
Part 5:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/07/chronologies-and-timelines-episode-5-of.html
...And an Appendix!
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/11/chronologies-and-time-lines-history-of.html
There have been a few more Dalek appearances since the Appendix. I will probably compile a second one soon. But I think this is enough, for now.
YOUNG DAVROS
Having been born into the Kaled/Thal Thousand Year War means Davros probably didn't have the happiest of childhoods. School was probably more like low-level military training than an actual education. The demand of the war effort would require children to be made battle-ready as quickly as possible, So conditioning would start at a very young age for the children of Skaro. No doubt, Davros was fed all kinds of propaganda as he grew up. Which may help account for the very fascist ideology he would later program into his creation.
More than likely, his high intelligence was noted at a very early age by his educators. Which probably led to some re-direction for him. Rather than being put on a course that would have him thrown onto the Front Line as soon as he could hold a gun competently, Davros was streamlined into a more scientific learning program. His mind would, ultimately, be used to develop better weaponry or other such military applications.
During the days of his youth, Davros became curious and wandered out onto a battlefield where he got lost for a while. His misadventure led him to wandering into a handmine field. A soldier from a nearby patrol did try to help him but fell prey to the trap, himself. Eventually, a stranger wearing odd clothing appeared to him with a strange blue box behind him. He tossed him some sort of sonic device that enabled Davros to hear him better as they spoke from a distance.
When the Kaled youth, at last, revealed his name to his rescuer - the stranger seemed to react to this news in an odd way. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Davros alone for a while. He, then, re-appeared in a different spot and used some sort of energy projectile weapon to destroy the handmines around the boy. Clearing the handine field, he walked Davros back to the Kaled City. Telling him of the importance of always maintaining a sense of mercy as they strolled along.
Davros wouldn't figure it out until later, of course. But this was his first encounter with the Doctor.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT SONIC SCREWDRIVER FOR ALL THOSE YEARS?
Clearly, the Twelfth Doctor makes sure not to tell Young Davros who he truly is. He knows Davros will encounter him next while he's in his fourth body. When they do meet, the Kaled scientist doesn't say anything to the nature of: "The Doctor? I met a man who called himself by that name when I was but a young lad..." The Doctor knows that meeting with Davros in Genesis of the Daleks constitutes their first official introduction to each other. So the Time Lord makes sure to keep his lips tight as he gets the boy back home.
But the Doctor does let the Kaled child keep his sonic screwdriver. Which does create a bit of a continuity problem. Why does Davros never present the sonic screwdriver any sooner than Magician's Apprentice?
Come to think of it, a bunch of centuries appear to have passed between that day in the handmine field and the encounter between Twelve and Davros in the Dalek City. How does he manage to hold on to the device for so long?
While I was greatly amused by some of the photo-shopping fans did of the sonic screwdriver lying around in various scenes from Davros Stories in the Classic Series, I'll try to come up with something better:
My guess is that Young Davros is intrigued by the sonic screwdriver and hides it away in his room after the Doctor gets him home. As he grows up and joins the Scientific Elite, he keeps the screwdriver as a memento. But he always keeps it hidden in his personal effects, somewhere. Even as Davros moves to the special underground bunker that we see him living in by Genesis of the Daleks, that screwdriver was brought with him and kept locked away in his living quarters.
After the Daleks fire on him at the end of Geneis, that screwdriver is still sitting around in that bunker. When Davros re-awakens in Destiny, he doesn't really get a chance to recover it before he is sent off into space to be imprisoned. Nor would he feel compelled to grab it during that time. He still doesn't really know what it is. In the same way that he doesn't recognize the Fourth Doctor as being the same man he met as a child, the model of sonic screwdriver Four carries doesn't resemble the one Twelve left with him. He hasn't made the connection, yet.
However, while serving his time on the prison ship in Resurrection of the Daleks, Davros starts to really learn about the Doctor and Time Lords, in general (we'll explain how this happens when we get to this point in his timeline, properly). It is here that some doors start opening for him. He figures out that his first encounter with the Doctor was not during Genesis of the Daleks - but earlier. He also works out what that strange memento he kept for all those years actually was.
Having learnt about Time Lords, however, also means that Davros has discovered the Laws of Time, too. He decides to be responsible with his knowledge of what could be a future event in the Doctor's life and tries to preserve the Time Lines (unlike his younger, more reckless days when he tries to use foreknowledge to his advantage when he finds out the Doctor comes from the future in Genesis). He makes the assumption that he met a version of the Doctor that doesn't exist yet when he was a boy so he makes sure to never mention that encounter until the Doctor is wearing the appropriate face.
He would like that sonic screwdriver back, though. It might be fun to hang it over him a bit when the Doctor has temporally caught up with him. Davros has had plenty of time to work things out. The Doctor he first meets in the handmine field appears to abandon him and only comes back later to save him. More than likely, there will be a time in between those two moments where Davros will be an adult when he meets the Twelfth Doctor. The Time Lord will be carrying a lot of guilt over what he did. How fun might it be to torment him by showing him he still has the sonic screwdriver he gave him when he was a kid?
So when the Daleks bring Davros back to Skaro at the end of Revelation of the Daleks, the Dalek Creator takes the time to go back down into that old bunker and find the sonic screwdriver. We know he has hidden compartments in his chair - we see him using one during Resurrection. He stores the screwdriver in one of those compartments until the appropriate time.
Yeah, photo-shopping the sonic screwdriver into some publicity stills was probably a whole lot easier than that!
HOW HE MADE IT INTO THE CHAIR
"The memory cheats" - a favorite saying of 80s producer John Nathan Turner - seems to be at play, here. I was convinced there was some throwaway dialogue in Genesis of the Daleks that tells how Davros ends up in his chair. Either Ronson or Gharman mentions that Davros was working in his laboratory when a stray shell from the Thals manages to go off relatively near to him. He is badly injured but not quite killed. What's left of him is placed in a life support system of his devising (probably originally created for someone else important in Kaled society who was badly injured but not quite killed - I can't see Davros creating such a device after he's been hurt).
I re-watched Genesis several time over and found no dialogue anywhere that gives an account of the incident that causes him to become the hideous being that we see him as in this tale. To the best of my knowledge, any backstory that has been provided for this can only be considered Fan Theory. Terry Nation might have even claimed somewhere that this is how Davros came to be but, as I have said on many occasions, if its not "transmitted dialogue" - it doesn't count.
Having made that claim, I do like to agree with this idea. While it's never properly stated anywhere, it does make the best sense. What other fate could have caused him to lose the lower part of his body and the better part of an arm?
There are even some conspiracy theories that seem to indicate that it was not the Thals that prompted this fate. But, rather, some of Davros' own people who felt threatened by him rigged things to look like the explosion in the lab was an enemy attack. This seems like a pretty cool idea, too. We know such people existed. We see some of them in Genesis of the Daleks. I do believe that Davros had already discovered the ultimate form the Kaleds would take before his lab was attacked. He had probably just begun to develop a Mark I travel machine and had revealed some of the modifications he would make to the mutants he would put in them. Certain Kaled citizens might have become mortified by his plans and tried to assassinate him but attempted to stage it as an act of war. It's an interesting theory. And, since this can all only be hypothesis, I'll accept it. Until, of course, someone actually says in an episode: "This is how Davros ended up in the chair...." Which, quite honestly, will probably never happen.
A DAMN GOOD LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
Being placed in the life support system changed Davros. It made him all the more determined in his mission to ensure the survival of the Kaled race. If it was his own people that tried to kill him, their plans could not have backfired more. Davros became more hell-bent from his "accident".
It may even be possible that his life support system became the basis of his inspiration for the travel machines he was working on. Which would make things even more ironic if the whole thing was a Kaled assassination plot. They wanted to thwart his plans but, instead, put him in the machinery that would enable him to succeed.
As is often the case, Davros likes overkill. The life support system he devises doesn't just keep him alive, it sustains his existence indefinitely. It also makes him impervious to most forms of attack. As is revealed in Destiny of the Daleks, he is not killed by his own creation at the end of Genesis. He is put into a sort of suspended animation until the life support system can synthetically regenerate all the damaged tissue and organs that were diced in the Dalek cross-fire. The Daleks were probably even aware that he was still alive but just threw him into some sort of storage. Just in case his genius was needed again, someday (as, inevitably, it would be).
It's my theory that Davros first awoke from his slumber sometime after the Daleks had left the bunker the Doctor had sealed them in when he had failed in his mission for the Time Lords. The Kaled scientist wandered around the abandoned underground structure for a while but could not find a way out. The Daleks had re-sealed the base after they had emerged from it. Without hope for escape, Davros simply re-activated slumber mode. However, he rigged his life support system to some proximity detectors. If there was suddenly a large amount of movement around him, he would wake back up. No doubt, the movement was being caused by someone who had decided to dig him back up. This is why he regains consciousness the very moment people start crowding around him at the end of Part Two of Destinty of the Daleks.
With Davros back to life, he can go on to cause all kinds of trouble for the Universe.
That's all for Part One of this series. In the next chapter, we'll look at the Terry Molloy stories (I know many of you love Wisher best - but he's my favorite Davros) and sort out some of the unanswered cliffhangers that plague his era. Once we do work out some of those inconsistencies, we'll move on to New Who Davros in Part Three....
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