Emperor of the Daleks
Encyclopedia
Emperor of the Daleks was a black-and-white
comic strip
based on the television series Doctor Who
. It ran primarily in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine
, written by John Freeman
and novelist and future television series writer Paul Cornell
. The story used elements of previous television
canon, as well as the canon used by the comic strip, reviving popular characters such as "Dalek Killer" Abslom Daak and the Star Tigers. It also attempted to bridge the gap between Revelation of the Daleks
and Remembrance of the Daleks
.
Like much of published Doctor Who storylines, its canonicity is unclear, though the strip at this point was adapting the New Adventures of Doctor Who
series of novels published by Virgin Books
.
homeworld of Skaro
, the Daleks place their creator Davros
on trial for crimes against their race. Coming to his aid is the sixth incarnation
of Davros' eternal enemy the Doctor
, who offers to take Davros to a planet where he can create new lifeforms for good if he is willing to change, Davros agrees. During the rescue, The Doctor makes a sly reference to the Hand of Omega
.
Incensed with yet another humiliating delay at the hands of the Doctor, the Emperor Dalek make use of his empire
's delicate time-travel capabilities to snatch Abslom Daak from the brink of death, and pose as humanoid delegates of Earth
. They deceive Daak and offer a way of reviving his long lost love Taiyan in exchange for the capture of the Doctor. Daak agrees.
The TARDIS
materialises on the planet "Hell", a world the Doctor had visited earlier in his seventh incarnation
in Daak's previous appearance, Nemesis of the Daleks. The Doctor is now accompanied by Bernice Summerfield
, and it isn't long before the two discover that Daak's former team the "Star Tigers" are alive and well, having been presumed dead when their vessel crashed in the previous story. Drunk and downbeat, the Tigers are ill-prepared for the return of Daak, who soon captures the Doctor and Benny, as well as his old teammates, and returns all of them to the "Earth Delegates", who reveal themselves as Daleks and capture all of them.
The Doctor agrees to take the Daleks to the planet where he has hidden Davros, but both groups discover that the world was Spiridon. Davros has activated the long dormant Dalek army hidden there, converting them to the white and gold colour scheme applied to the Daleks he created on the planet Necros in Revelation of the Daleks
. Davros leads a successful coup d'état
on Skaro, destroying the Emperor Dalek, but his wheelchair is split in half by Abslom Daak's chainsaw, triggering his self-destruct mechanism which seemingly obliterates the Dalek City. The Doctor, Benny, the Star Tigers, and Daak escape the city in the TARDIS.
Shortly afterwards, the Seventh Doctor meets up with his Sixth incarnation at a bar as his group of friends celebrate. He assures the Sixth Doctor that time will show him that Davros will doom him and Skaro to oblivion.
Back on Skaro, Davros's body is pieced together by his loyal Dalek forces with a new casing, they inform Davros he has claimed the mantle of "Emperor". Much of Davros' memory has been affected by the explosion, but as he regains his composure, he recalls the Doctor referencing the Hand of Omega, and vows to find it when he faces the Doctor in what he believes will be their next and possibly final confrontation.
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
based on the television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It ran primarily in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, written by John Freeman
John Freeman (editor)
John Freeman is a British writer/editor/designer known for his work with Marvel UK, and on Doctor Who Magazine and The Really Heavy Greatcoat.-Biography:...
and novelist and future television series writer Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....
. The story used elements of previous television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
canon, as well as the canon used by the comic strip, reviving popular characters such as "Dalek Killer" Abslom Daak and the Star Tigers. It also attempted to bridge the gap between Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 March and 30 March 1985...
and Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 October to 26 October 1988....
.
Like much of published Doctor Who storylines, its canonicity is unclear, though the strip at this point was adapting the New Adventures of Doctor Who
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
series of novels published by Virgin Books
Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a United Kingdom book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.-History:...
.
Plot
On the DalekDalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
homeworld of Skaro
Skaro
Skaro is a fictional planet from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who created by the writer Terry Nation as the home planet of the Daleks and, at times, the centre of the Dalek Empire....
, the Daleks place their creator Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
on trial for crimes against their race. Coming to his aid is the sixth incarnation
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
of Davros' eternal enemy the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
, who offers to take Davros to a planet where he can create new lifeforms for good if he is willing to change, Davros agrees. During the rescue, The Doctor makes a sly reference to the Hand of Omega
Hand of Omega
The Hand of Omega is a fictional device from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.In Remembrance of the Daleks the Seventh Doctor explains that the "Hand of Omega" is the mythical name for the remote stellar manipulator invented by Omega, the first of the Time Lords of the...
.
Incensed with yet another humiliating delay at the hands of the Doctor, the Emperor Dalek make use of his empire
Dalek Empire
The Dalek Empire refers to the sphere of influence of the Daleks, a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Dalek Empire is also a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, featuring the Daleks. The series begins in...
's delicate time-travel capabilities to snatch Abslom Daak from the brink of death, and pose as humanoid delegates of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. They deceive Daak and offer a way of reviving his long lost love Taiyan in exchange for the capture of the Doctor. Daak agrees.
The TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
materialises on the planet "Hell", a world the Doctor had visited earlier in his seventh incarnation
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
in Daak's previous appearance, Nemesis of the Daleks. The Doctor is now accompanied by Bernice Summerfield
Bernice Summerfield
Bernice Surprise Summerfield is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures...
, and it isn't long before the two discover that Daak's former team the "Star Tigers" are alive and well, having been presumed dead when their vessel crashed in the previous story. Drunk and downbeat, the Tigers are ill-prepared for the return of Daak, who soon captures the Doctor and Benny, as well as his old teammates, and returns all of them to the "Earth Delegates", who reveal themselves as Daleks and capture all of them.
The Doctor agrees to take the Daleks to the planet where he has hidden Davros, but both groups discover that the world was Spiridon. Davros has activated the long dormant Dalek army hidden there, converting them to the white and gold colour scheme applied to the Daleks he created on the planet Necros in Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 March and 30 March 1985...
. Davros leads a successful coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
on Skaro, destroying the Emperor Dalek, but his wheelchair is split in half by Abslom Daak's chainsaw, triggering his self-destruct mechanism which seemingly obliterates the Dalek City. The Doctor, Benny, the Star Tigers, and Daak escape the city in the TARDIS.
Shortly afterwards, the Seventh Doctor meets up with his Sixth incarnation at a bar as his group of friends celebrate. He assures the Sixth Doctor that time will show him that Davros will doom him and Skaro to oblivion.
Back on Skaro, Davros's body is pieced together by his loyal Dalek forces with a new casing, they inform Davros he has claimed the mantle of "Emperor". Much of Davros' memory has been affected by the explosion, but as he regains his composure, he recalls the Doctor referencing the Hand of Omega, and vows to find it when he faces the Doctor in what he believes will be their next and possibly final confrontation.
Continuity and connections
- A Big FinishBig Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio adventure, Return of the DaleksReturn of the DaleksReturn of the Daleks is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Synopsis:...
(also featuring Sylvester McCoySylvester McCoySylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
's Seventh Doctor), also features the hidden Dalek army of Spiridon being reactivated. - In the new series episode The Stolen EarthThe Stolen Earth"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
, Davros is again in his trademark wheelchair with no sign of damage or his imperial shell. - Prior to this story, a cloneCloningCloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
of Abslom Daak had appeared in the New Adventures novel DeceitDeceit (Doctor Who)Deceit is an original novel written by Peter Darvill-Evans and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice. Also included is Doctor Who Magazine comic character Abslom Daak, in his first appearance outside of DWM...
. - Davros and the Sixth Doctor's experiences following their departure from Skaro is explored further in a prequel strip, "Up Above The Gods", published several months after this story had concluded.
- The concept of Davros being rebuilt within a new Dalek casing after the remains of his original body had been destroyed in an explosion was explored again with the Big Finish audio adventure The Juggernauts.