Dalek Timeline?

[Flyboy]

Ok, so I'm pondering an issue.

What exactly is the timeline of the Daleks?

Now we know that originally the Dals (also known as Kaleds) were at war with the Thals, and then Davros created the Daleks (Genesis of the Daleks) as mobility units for the future mutations of his people, and then put his own mutant creations in them.

We also know that according to the Doctor in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" the events of "The Daleks" occured millions of year in the future on the planet Skaro.

So... "The Daleks" actually sees the end of The Daleks? But surely not, surely if they've actually been invading planets all this time, there are lots more Dalek fleets around.

My question is, what is canon with relation to the dalek timeline? When do the new Daleks in the new series fit in?

And so on...

[creed462]

At somepoint they get time travel technology

[Deputy-Assistant-Second-Prime]

Since the Doctor Who continuity isn't the most consistent, and the Doctor is a time traveler, and so are the Daleks somewhat...this is tough.

I'm basing my guesses off A History of the Universe by Lance Parkin and The Canon Keeper's Guide to Doctor Who.

The dates I am listing are time periods the Daleks originate from in each story. "Confirmed date" suggests strong evidence from the script, production notes, or other source. The Daleks only seem to employ time travel technology in The Chase, The Day of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks, and Evil of the Daleks. The rest are assumed contemporary.

2705 B.C. Genesis of the Daleks (estimate from Canon Keeper's Guide)
2205 B.C. The Daleks (personal estimate, based on 500 year reference from Thals/Kaled war [Genesis of the Daleks]; this story has been referenced as "the future", "the distant past", and "the end of the Dalek history" by the Doctor; I tend to think he got confused between the different Dalek factions and eras)
2020 A.D. The Power of the Daleks (confirmed date)
2167 A.D. The Dalek Invasion of Earth (confirmed date)
2170 A.D. The Chase (estimate from Lance Parkin; he suggests the prototype time machine failure motivated the Daleks to re-invade Earth using more primitive time travel technology [The Day of the Daleks])
2172 A.D. The Day of the Daleks (confirmed date)
2540 A.D. Frontier in Space (confirmed date)
2540 A.D. Planet of the Daleks (confirmed date)
4000 A.D. The Daleks' Master Plan (confirmed date)
4074 A.D. Death to the Daleks (estimate from Canon Keeper's Guide, assumes the Movellans created this plague [Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks])
4500 A.D. Destiny of the Daleks (confirmed date)
4590 A.D. Resurrection of the Daleks (confirmed date)
4615 A.D. Revelation of the Daleks (estimate from Lance Parkin, Davros needed time to set his new farm)
4663 A.D. Remembrance of the Daleks (estimate from Lance Parkin, Davros needed time to start a revolution and establish his empire)
5764 A.D. The Evil of the Daleks (estimate from Canon Keeper's Guide, assumes Davros was the Emperor Dalek and slowly tranformed into the immobile Emperor in this story; also assumes the end of the Davros era)

Not matter how they are ordered, still taking time travel into account, there are contradictions.

[Nuallain]

Here's my attempt to unify the Dalek timeline in one piece

Genesis of the Daleks (963?)
On the planet Skaro, a war between two ethnic groups - the Kaleds and the Thals - is waged for over a thousand years. The use of nuclear devices spreads radiation throughout the atmosphere and mutations and birth defects become common. Assigned to work on the problem, the Kaled scientist Davros designs a genetically re-engineered form of Kaled which he christens the Dalek. The Daleks are physically weak and need armoured, weapon carrying Travel Machines to move. They are also genetically 'hardwired' to be completely ruthless and xenophobic and to have an innate hatred of Thals and 'alien' forms of life. The Kaled leadership try to shut the project down, but Davros orchestrates a huge triple cross that leads to the Kaled and Thal civilizations destroying each other. However, the survivors manage to seal the Daleks in their bunker, deep underground. Instrumental in this is a doctor, assumed by everyone to be a Kaled but known by Davros alone to be an agent of an alien, time travelling race of Time Lords who wish the Daleks exterminated. Meanwhile, in the bunker, the Daleks recognise the Kaled Davros as 'alien' and execute him.

The Daleks (1963?)
The surviving Thals absorb the smaller group of Kaled refugees into their society and migrate to a plateau on the far side of the planet to escape the radiation. Over the next thousand years they develop both a pacifist philosophy and drugs that help reverse and prevent mutation. They lose almost all of their technology however, and their history is passed down orally, with the help of basic pictograms. They come to remember the Kaleds as 'Dals' and -perhaps confusing tales of Davros' Scientific Corp - believe them to have been great scientists and teachers. The Daleks, for their part, finally dig their way to the surface and - believing themselves the only survivors - construct the Dalek City in which to build their Ideal Society. In order to preserve their limited resources, their travel machines are adapted to run on static electricity in the floors of the city.

Ultimately, food shortages force the Thals to begin foraging closer and closer to the Dalek City. Horrified to discover the Thals survive, the Daleks immediately begin to plot their extermination. However a Thal doctor leads a party that sabotage the Daleks' power supply - crippling their travel machines. The Thals move in and begin to loot the city of technology, food and resources.


The Power of the Daleks (2156?)
Unknown to the Thals, the Daleks survive but are helpless without their travel machines. Before long the Thals, uncomfortable in the Dalek City, retreat back to their plateau with their stolen technology and the Daleks return power to their machines. Unwilling or unable to leave their city to deal with the Thals, they begin sending out probes to other planets - looking for a potential new home. Disgusted and horrified by the discovery of alien life forms on other worlds they discover the secrets of transdimensional engineering and even begin to send probes containing cryogenically frozen Daleks into the surrounding galaxies. One such probe is sent to the Milky Way where it crashes on the planet Vulcan. The crew fail to revive and some time later Vulcan is colonized by humans from Earth.

The humans discover the probe and revive the crew. The Daleks pretend to have peaceful intentions and trick the humans into adapting the colony to allow their travel machines free movement. They promptly take over the colony but, at the last moment, an Examiner from Earth manages to shut off their power - rendering the travel machines useless again. At least one of the travel machines, however, has a power reserve.


The Dalek Invasion of Earth (2164)
The Daleks either succeed in retaking Vulcan or escape from the humans. Either way, Skaro is informed of humanity's existence and the location of Earth. In the meantime, the Daleks have conquered much of their own galaxy and established a Dalek Empire - the ruler of which has taken the title Dalek Supreme. With resources no longer an issue it orders all Dalek travel machines upgraded to function in any environment. Eager to absorb the Milky Way into the Empire, the Dalek Supreme develops an invasion plan.

Taking the biodata from Vulcan, a virus designed to wipe out 90% of humans is developed and released on Earth. The remaining 10% are forced to work in mines to adapt the Earth's fissionable core into an enormous engine. The plan is to parade the ruined Earth through the Milky Way as both a ghoulish reminder of the cost of defying the Daleks and a mobile stonghold from which the Daleks can strike at the rest of the galaxy. The Dalek Supreme takes personal command of the invasion force, but it and it's fleet is destroyed in the enormous explosion caused by human sabotage.


Frontier in Space (2572?)
Although the exact fate of the invasion fleet is never learned, the Daleks decide that do not yet have the resources to conquer the Milky Way. A new Dalek Supreme siezes power and turns it's attention to consolidating their grip on their own galaxy and redoubling efforts to stamp out the elusive Thal Resistence. Over the next two hundred years, it grows envious of the expanding Earth and Draconian Empires and begins planning for the future. It sends an expeditionary force of 10,000 Daleks to the planet Spiridon, just outside the Earth Empire's borders. There they are hidden in an underground base and placed in suspended animation. As planned, the Earth Empire soon expands, leaving the Dalek force within it's outer defences. Eventually, an alien called the Master materializes and offers the Dalek Supreme a plan for the conquest of the Milky Way in return for a share of the galaxy.

The Master hires Orgon mercenaries and begins to sow the seeds of war between the Earth and Draconian Empires - planning for the resulting war to leave both too weak to resist the Dalek invasion. An Earth Ambassador investigates and the Master informs the Daleks that the 'Ambassador' is actually the Doctor - an agent of his own time travelling race of alien Time Lords and an enemy of the Daleks. Regardless, the Doctor exposes the Daleks' involvement and the Draconian and Earth Empires form an alliance against them.

Doctor Who (2572?)
The full-strength Draconian and Earth Empires declare war on the Dalek Empire and prepare to invade it. Unprepared for this turn of events, the Daleks' survival is by no means a certainty. Understanding that a scapegoat must be found, but equally determined that scapegoat won't be itself, the Dalek Supreme orders the Master dragged back to Skaro.

After his show trial establishes that the Master was completely and solely responsible for the war he is executed. Before he dies, however, he surprisingly requests a transmission be sent asking the Doctor to transport his remains back to their home planet of Gallifrey. Even more surprising, the Doctor actually materializes, steals the Master's remains and manages to escape - confirming the Master's stories of the danger he represents.


Planet of the Daleks (2572?)
With the Milky Way's allied fleets on the move, the Dalek Supreme orders the task force on Spiridon woken. From behind the enemy's battle lines they will strike at the enemy from the rear as the main Dalek fleet engages them from the front.

This is the Daleks' only real hope of victory and the Dalek Supreme goes to lead the task force itself. Realizing that the destruction of the task force could mean the end of the Dalek Empire, the Thal Resistence send their only functioning ship to Spiridon. The Thal sabotage team meet the Doctor there and they join forces to destroy the task force and kill the Dalek Supreme.


Death to the Daleks (2719?)
Despite the humiliating defeats they suffer early in the war, the Daleks prove to be vicious and cunning enemies. The new Dalek Supreme issues an extermination order for the Doctor to be killed on sight and, wiping out the last of the Thal Resistence, settles in for the long haul. The "Dalek War" turns into a long and bloody conflict and the human troops, in particular, develop a deep hatred of them. As with all protracted campaigns, resources begin to become an issue for both sides.

At one point, a mystery virus infects humans. When it's discovered that the only effective treatment requires a rare mineral, the race is one to gather as much as possible while the Daleks try to deprive them of it. When a large amount of it is discovered on the planet Exillion, a Dalek and an Earth task force battle over it. With the help of the Doctor, the Dalek task force is destroyed and the humans handed the cure.


The Evil of the Daleks (2866?)
A kind of peace is finally achieved. The Daleks entrench themselves so deeply on Skaro and in the surrounding star systems that the cost in human and draconian lives of rooting them out would be unspeakable. At the same time, the two Milky Way Empires are satisfied that the Dalek war machine has been smashed and will never again be stong enough to challenge them. Left with only a fraction of it's predecessors' territory the leader of the Daleks takes the new title Emperor Dalek in an attempt to convince everyone of its strength. The Emperor Dalek's reign is based on a platform of rebuilding the Empire. Increasingly suspecting the Time Lords of being responsible for its troubles, it orders investigation into time travel in order to challenge them and reverse past defeats. It also promises its Daleks that will finally deliver up their greatest enemy: the Doctor.

The Daleks finally develop a form of time travel based on 'time corridors' but these require 'gates' at each end and so can't be used to go any further back into the past then their own invention. It's only when the Daleks discover that two 19th century human scientists created a gate that the Daleks can draw up their plans. Discovering historical references to a Doctor who mysteriously appeared in a Police Box in 1966 and thwarted an alien invasion, the Emperor Dalek orders a squad of Daleks to sieze control of the 19th century gate. Another gate is then hidden away until 1966. Forcing one of the human scientists to travel to the 1966 gate and steal the TARDIS, the Daleks lure the Doctor back first to the 19th century gate and then to the gate on Skaro. There, they attempt to force him to give up the secrets of Time Lord technology and to use that technology to spread the 'Dalek Factor' throughout Earth's history. This would cause humanity to become more Dalek-like and to side with the Daleks instead of the Draconians when war broke out. However, the Doctor infects a number of Daleks with the 'Human Factor' and these 'Daleks with souls' resist the Emperor Dalek's plans. Civil war breaks out and the Dalek Capitol is completely destroyed.

[Nuallain]

And part two..

Destiny of the Daleks (2900?)
With the Emperor Dalek dead and the Capitol destroyed, the Dalek Empire is at an all time low. Although the humanized Daleks are exterminated, the fledgling Movellan civilization of sentient androids begins to grow in power within the Daleks' own galaxy. Soon they seek to depose the former masters. Realizing that the Daleks' identical 'genetic hardwiring' makes it possible to predict their every move, the Movellans develop a computer model of Dalek behaviour. Discovering this, the Daleks develop a similar model of a Movellan positronic brain.

Using these models, the two groups become utterly deadlocked. To break it, the Movellans release a virus lethal only to Daleks. The Daleks realize they need a being capable of random thought but sympathetic to their plight but this seems a tall order until evidence is uncovered in the Capitol's ruins that Davros may be alive. Despite the efforts of the Doctor and another Time Lord, Davros is found and revived. However, the Civil War and the conflict with the Movellans have left Skaro open to attack from Earth forces. Learning of Davros' existence and of his role in the Daleks' creation, the Earth Empire send a task force to Skaro and they arrest him for war crimes.


Resurrection of the Daleks (3000?)
Davros is found guilty of all crimes committed by his Daleks and sentenced to spend eternity in suspended animation. With Skaro occupied by hostile forces, and their numbers decimated by the Movellan virus, the next hundred years see the Daleks devolve into little more than groups of bandits - each led by its own "Dalek Supreme" trying to secure its claim to the Emperor Dalek's throne. Although these groups have discovered how to open time corridors to locations without the use of a gate, they are so low on resources that they need to fill out their numbers with brainwashed human mercenaries. The Earth Empire, meanwhile, is also in decline and is almost at the point of collapse.

One such 'Dalek Supreme' comes up with a wildly overcomplicated shopping list of objectives to accomplish. It performs a daring raid to rescue Davros and attempts to have him cure the Movellan virus. However, it also tries to tie the extermination of the Doctor; the conquest of Earth and the destruction of the Time Lords into the same plan. Davros, however, decides that he needs to rebuild the Daleks from scratch and releases the Movellan virus to kill his rescuers. His Kaled body is also attacked by the virus, however, and the entire ship is destroyed by a human mercenary whose brainwashing has broken down.


Day of the Daleks (3000?)
Another, rival, Dalek group – this one using Orgon mercenaries - believes that reversing the defeat of the Dalek invasion of Earth holds the key to returning them to greatness. They open a time corridor to 22nd century Earth and –arriving ahead of the main invasion force – wait to warn that era’s Dalek Supreme not to extract the Earth’s core. Over the next generation the Daleks consolidate their power on Earth.

However, a group of human rebels come to believe that the assassination of a 20th century government official would cause a better armed Earth to repel the Daleks. They steal Dalek time travel technology and go back to kill him. The Daleks attempt to stop them, but only attempt in convincing Earth’s governments of the need for their weapons. Future history now changes so that the Dalek group is wiped out as they arrive from their time corridor and they never make contact with the 22nd century Dalek Supreme.


Revelation of the Daleks (3040?)
Eventually, the Earth Empire falls and its colonies become independent worlds. Without the Empire to police them, the Daleks again begin to grow in strength. Retaking Skaro as their own a new Dalek Empire is declared and the various factions reunited under a new Emperor Dalek. The Emperor Dalek creates an elite guard of Imperial Daleks who purge the race of any potential rivals. Spreading out from Skaro, the Daleks begin consolidating power in their own galaxy once more and are, save the Time Lords, the most powerful force in the universe.

The Emperor Dalek learns that Davros survived the destruction of his ship and fled to the planet Necros. There, posing as the Great Healer, Davros is developing a new race of Daleks – this time using humans as his raw materials. Aware of the potential threat to its authority, and disgusted by the experiments, the Emperor sends his Imperial Daleks to arrest him and bring him back to Skaro for trial.


Remembrance of the Daleks (3063?)
The show trial of Davros does not go as the Emperor Dalek expected. Davros succeeds in turning some Daleks to his side and instigates a civil war. Having the Emperor Dalek executed, Davros assumes that title himself and sets about *improving* the Dalek race. Horrified by his experiments, a group of dissident Daleks follow a new ‘Dalek Supreme’ in a war of resistance. Davros, meanwhile, turns his attention to destroying the Time Lords and assuming their place in the universe. He orders a fleet of Timeships constructed and begins working toward developing TARDIS technology.

Davros pieces together the legend of Omega and Rassilon and discovers that the Hand of Omega – the stellar manipulator that turned a star into the Eye of Harmony – was on Earth in 1963. He orders his fleet back in time to find it, but the Dalek Supreme’s spies learn of it as well and head back to an earlier point in time. There they use a brainwashed human child to make their strategies more random, in case Emperor Davros uses computer models against them. The Doctor attempts to prevent the Hand of Omega from being found, but Davros’ forces capture it. Too late, he learns that his information was planted by the Doctor. The Hand of Omega has been preprogrammed and, as soon as Davros activates it, it converts Skaro’s own sun into a black hole – destroying the heart of the Dalek Empire, Davros’ timefleet and Davros himself. The distraught Dalek Supreme commits suicide rather than be taken alive.


The Daleks’ Master Plan (4000)
Although much of their forces were offworld at the time, the destruction of Skaro is a major blow to the Daleks. Entering a period of intense paranoia they develop an isolationist policy and concentrate on reinforcing the borders of their galaxy. They also return to the ancient practice of calling their leader Dalek Supreme – the mantle of Emperor tainted by Davros’ failure. They later discover, however, that Davros’ plans were a partial success when they learn how to use the Skaro Black Hole to power new, TARDIS-style, timeships – though many Daleks come to doubt that the Doctor ever existed at all. In the Milky Way a new Galactic Federation is formed, uniting all races equally. Each star system is governed by a Guardian, though none are as highly regarded as the Guardian of the Solar System – the home of Earth. Over time, the citizens of the Federation come to think of the Daleks as myths of the past.

After almost a thousand years, the Daleks ready themselves for new conquest. Striking deals with the rulers of the five nearest galaxies they prepare a massive invasion fleet to conquer the Milky Way. The key to their plans is a new superweapon – the Time Destructor. The current Guardian of the Solar System is nostalgic for the days of Empire and cuts a deal with the Daleks to provide them with a power source for the Time Destructor in exchange for being made ruler of a new Earth Empire – which will in turn pay tribute to the Dalek Empire. However, the Doctor steals the power source and flees with it. Ultimately he sabotages the Time Destructor and the Dalek Supreme, his Task Force and the Guardian are all killed.

The Five Doctors (c4000?)
At some point in this era, a lone Dalek is abducted by a Time Scoop and brought to a strange planet where it is destroyed by the Doctor.

The Chase (4000?)
Humiliated, the Daleks plot the course of the Doctor’s TARDIS through time/space and intercept it as early in its journey as they can. They hope to assassinate the Doctor and undo all the damage he has caused. However, the death squad they send is wiped out and their time machine destroyed.

[Rowana]

Great job everyone! I won't make my own attempt as I'm not very good with dates. It's very true that Doctor Who is not the most consistant of shows, especially where the Daleks are concerned. But I think you guys did a fantastic job ordering all the events! If it helps, The Dalek Survival Guide has a lot of Dalek history and stuff in it. Plus it's fun to read.

[creed462]

I thought that the doctor had distroyed them in Death to the Darleks

[Metarock Sam]

No because they had time travel capabilities they survived. Plus Davros created new versions of Daleks.

[Flyboy]

Very Very Cool. Good work guys.

Now... am I right in thinking, that for the Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords, all the Daleks from all eras of time disapeared to fight? So in essence the daleks from the new series don't need to be slotted into the timeline?

[creed462]

I wonder if davros is still alive.

[Metarock Sam]

Well you never know. Anything's possible. However some theories are stating that Adam from the new series may become the next Davros.

[creed462]

That would be scary, but only Davros can be Davros.

[Metarock Sam]

Well I was watching Revelations of the Daleks today I dont quite get why there was two versions of Davros was he cloning himself aswell as the synthetic protien or something like that ?

[creed462]

I thought that was a decoy

[4thDoctor]

It's questions like this that can drive a linear mind mad. 4thDoctoriO.gif