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
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