Skaro
Encyclopedia
Skaro is a fictional planet from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 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...

 created by the writer Terry Nation
Terry Nation
Terry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...

 as the home planet of the Dalek
Dalek
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...

s and, at times, the centre of the Dalek 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...

.

Skaro is a planet of roughly the same mass and dimensions as Earth, and the twelfth planet from its sun. It has a single continent that is divided into east and west halves of almost equal size. When 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....

 first visits the planet in the 1963 serial The Daleks
The Daleks
The Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from 21 December 1963 to 1 February 1964...

, Skaro is a nuclear wasteland, whose principal features are a petrified forest, the endless highly acidic rain, a lake containing the results of Davros' early experiments, and the Dalek city, Kaalann.

It is noted in Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...

 that Skaro is situated in the "Seventh Galaxy", and Skaro's astronomers can identify only seven such stellar formations. This may indicate that Skaro's galaxy or local group of galaxies is distant from other galaxies or local groups, that Kaled technology was insufficient to detect other galaxies or local groups beyond their vicinity, or that there is a barrier of interstellar gas and debris that occludes other spatial areas from Skaro's scrutiny.

History

Before the Daleks arose, Skaro is the home of a humanoid species with two races, the Kaleds (or Dals) and the Thals
Thal (Doctor Who)
The Thals are a fictional race of humanoid aliens from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, originating on the planet Skaro.-History within the show:...

. The races went to war with each other, and the mutations caused by the nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...

, chemical, and biological weapons used are soon seen by Kaled scientists as being the end of their species in its (ideologically defined) "pure" form. In Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...

, the Kaled chief scientist 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...

 accelerates their mutations and places the now mutated Kaleds in tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

-like "Mark 3 travel machines". These cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...

s then become the dreaded Daleks (an anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...

 of Kaleds).

The Daleks eventually drove the Thals from Skaro and rule a devastated planet, its seas dead and its surface devoid of almost all life. However, Skaro is rich in minerals which the Daleks use to build massive armies to conquer and destroy other worlds, building the interstellar Dalek 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...

. Some time afterward, the Daleks abandon Skaro, which is later reoccupied by the Imperial Dalek faction, apparently at the behest of Davros.

Skaro's final appearance in the classic series (in the chronology of Doctor Who universe) is in the story 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....

, in which the Seventh Doctor
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....

 tricks 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...

 and his "pure Imperial Daleks" into stealing 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...

. As per the Doctor's prediction, they attempt to use it on Skaro's sun in order to generate enough energy to recreate the Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...

an time travel experiments. However, the Doctor had already pre-programmed the Hand of Omega prior to the Daleks attaining it, and it turned their sun into a supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...

, resulting in Skaro being completely obliterated.

At the start of the 1996 Doctor Who television movie
Doctor Who (1996)
Doctor Who is a television movie based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Developed as a co-production amongst Universal Television, BBC Television, BBC Worldwide, and the American network FOX, the 1996 television film premiered on 12 May 1996 on CITV in Edmonton,...

, the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....

 is put on trial on Skaro by the Daleks and exterminated. This presumably takes place in the relative past of Skaro's timeline before its destruction, as the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...

 does not comment on it.

Skaro does not appear in any of the Dalek-related stories made from 2005, although a group of Daleks called the Cult of Skaro appear in "Army of Ghosts
Army of Ghosts
"Army of Ghosts" is the twelfth and penultimate episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who which was first broadcast on 1 July 2006...

" (briefly), "Doomsday
Doomsday (Doctor Who)
"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the revival of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006...

", "Daleks in Manhattan
Daleks in Manhattan
"Daleks in Manhattan" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 21 April 2007, and is the fourth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is part one of a two-part story, concluded in "Evolution of the Daleks"...

" and "Evolution of the Daleks
Evolution of the Daleks
"Evolution of the Daleks" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 April 2007, and is the fifth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is the conclusion of the two-part story begun in "Daleks in...

" — in the last of these the Cult threaten to turn Earth into "a new Skaro". In Daleks in Manhattan
Daleks in Manhattan
"Daleks in Manhattan" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 21 April 2007, and is the fourth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is part one of a two-part story, concluded in "Evolution of the Daleks"...

, frustration is expressed on the apparent permanence of humanity compared to the current reduced circumstances of the Daleks after the Time War.

Doctor Who serials that take place on Skaro or feature Skaro prominently are The Daleks
The Daleks
The Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from 21 December 1963 to 1 February 1964...

, The Evil of the Daleks
The Evil of the Daleks
The Evil of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20 May to 1 July 1967. This serial marked the debut of Deborah Watling as the Doctor's new companion, Victoria Waterfield.Evil was initially intended to...

, Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...

, Destiny of the Daleks
Destiny of the Daleks
Destiny of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 September to 22 September 1979. The story introduces Lalla Ward as the newly-regenerated Romana....

 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....

. For Destiny of the Daleks exterior scenes meant to take place on Skaro were shot in Winspit
Winspit
Winspit is an old quarry on the cliffs near Worth Matravers in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England that is no longer in use. More recently it has been used as a set for Doctor Who and Blake's 7....

 quarry.

Other appearances

The canonical
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...

 status of all spin-off media is debatable.

The brief appearance of Skaro in Remembrance of the Daleks is expanded upon in that story's novelisation by original writer Ben Aaronovitch
Ben Aaronovitch
Ben Denis Aaronovitch is a London-born British writer who has worked on television series including Doctor Who, Casualty, Jupiter Moon and Dark Knight...

. The book names the Dalek City as Mensvat Esc-Dalek in the Vekis Nar-Kangji (Plain of Swords). The novelisation also mentions other creatures living on Skaro: yellow and black beetles, as well as mountainous "rock leopards".

In the Eighth Doctor Adventures
Eighth Doctor Adventures
The Eighth Doctor Adventures are a series of spin off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. 73 books were published overall...

 novel War of the Daleks
War of the Daleks
War of the Daleks is an original novel written by John Peel, published in 1997, based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor and Sam. This novel was the first appearance of the Daleks in an original Doctor Who novel; they had not...

 by John Peel
John Peel (writer)
John Peel is a British writer, best known for his books connected to several television series. He has written under several pseudonyms, including John Vincent and Nicholas Adams. He lives in Long Island, New York and his wife is a U.S...

 it is revealed that Skaro had not in fact been destroyed by the Seventh Doctor's actions.

The Daleks, via time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...

, discover records that show Skaro's destruction. After an attempt to change history (in Day of the Daleks
Day of the Daleks
Day of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 January to 22 January 1972.-Synopsis:...

) is unsuccessful, they terraform the planet Antalin to resemble Skaro and manipulate Davros and the Doctor into ensuring that Antalin was destroyed in the original's place. War of the Daleks also reveals that the events of Destiny of the Daleks took place on the terraformed Antalin. The novel also reveals that the name Skaro simply means "home" in the old Kaled language. However, the canonical status of these stories, as with all Doctor Who spin-off media narratives, is uncertain.

Skaro appears in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories The Mutant Phase
The Mutant Phase
The Mutant Phase is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....

 and 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...

 (where we learn that Skaro had two moons: Falkus and Omega Mysterium, names drawn from a chart of Skaro's solar system in a 1976 Marks and Spencer tie-in book - Falkus is there revealed to be an artificial planet created by the Daleks as a last refuge), and was where the Emperor Dalek operated from in The Genocide Machine
The Genocide Machine
The Genocide Machine is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It forms the first serial in the Dalek Empire arc, which continues in The Apocalypse Element and The Mutant Phase...

, and features prominently in the I, Davros spin-off series, looking at Davros's life and the events that led to him creating the Daleks. However in the Dalek 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...

 series (possibly set after Skaro's destruction in 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....

) there is no appearance of Skaro and the Daleks are now operating instead from the Seriphia Galaxy.

Skaro is also the setting for the Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...

 feature film Dr. Who and the Daleks
Dr. Who and the Daleks
Dr. Who and the Daleks was the first of two Doctor Who films made in the 1960s. It was followed by Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D....

 (1965) which is generally regarded as non-canonical, although the story in the film is a copy (with some changes) of the serial The Daleks (naturally shortened since a feature film does not have the same running time as a 7-episode serial).

The BBC-Licensed The Dalek Book (1964) includes a map entitled 'The Dalography of Skaro'. This shows the planet to have three continents (Dalazar, Darren and Davius), five seas (The Ocean of Ooze, The Sea of Acid, The Sea of Rust, The Serpent Sea and the land-locked Bottomless Sea) and three major islands (The Island of Gushing Gold, The Island of Moving Mountains and an island chain named The Forbidden Islands). Dalazar is identified as the location of the Dalek city, Davius as being populated by the Thals and Darren as the site of the neutron bomb explosion which transformed the Daleks from their humanoid form into mutants. The BBC-Licensed The Dalek Outer Space Book (1965) confirms some of these details in a cutaway illustration entitled 'The Strata of Skaro'. A sea called The Ocean of Death is added, together with The Islands of Mist which, from the description, appears to be an alternative name for the Dalek Book's Forbidden Islands.

"Let's Go (To Planet Skaro)" was the third single released by UK punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band The Shapes
The Shapes (UK band)
The Shapes were an English punk rock group that formed in the town of Leamington Spa in 1976. Different in many ways from their peers in the nascent punk subculture, they were known for eschewing the more political stances that were fashionable at the time, instead producing works of a cartoonish...

 and concerned the wedding reception of the Doctor on the planet.

"Exterminate, Regenerate" is a song released by UK "Trock" band Chameleon Circuit
Chameleon Circuit (band)
Chameleon Circuit is a band known for creating music inspired by the British television series Doctor Who. Composed of popular UK YouTube vloggers and Doctor Who fans, the band released their self-titled debut album on 1 June 2009....

 and mentions Skaro from the prospective of 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...

.

Planet Skaro (www.planetskaro.org.uk) is also the name used by a popular Doctor Who fan forum which has been running since 2002.

In City of the Daleks, the Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...

 and Amy
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...

 go to Skaro to put the natural Earth timeline back on track because the Daleks had killed the Human Race in 1963 via the Eye of Time.

The Time War

An article by Russell T Davies in the Doctor Who Annual 2006 states that Skaro, like Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...

, was devastated at the end of the Time War. This suggests that the Daleks had managed to rebuild and/or reoccupy their home planet and is somewhat consistent with War of the Daleks. This is also generally consistent with Dalek Caan's claim in "Daleks in Manhattan" that his planet "is gone... destroyed in a great war".

This may also imply that Skaro survived the events of Remembrance of the Daleks (as portrayed in War'). However, as prior continuity established the existence of alternative Dalek installations and colonies outside their homeworld, Skaro's own survival is unneccessary to account for post-nova remnants.

An alternative explanation could also mean that the Seventh Doctor's actions in Remembrance were particular episodes within the Time War. While the canonical status of the novels is uncertain, Russell T Davies intimated in the Doctor Who Annual 2006 article that various Dalek stories take place as parts of the Time War, such as Genesis of the Daleks, which he refers to as "the first strike
First strike
In nuclear strategy, a first strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing...

".

Despite this, Skaro makes an appearance in the first episode of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games is a series of episodic third-person adventure games, based on the BBC TV series Doctor Who and developed by Sumo Digital. Charles Cecil served as executive producer and worked with Sean Millard and Will Tarratt on the design...

, entitled "City of the Daleks". As current executive producer Piers Wenger
Piers Wenger
Piers Wenger is a British television producer who has been Head of Drama at BBC Wales since January 2009. His work includes the BAFTA-winning Victoria Wood drama Housewife, 49 and the 2007 adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes....

 insists the interactive episodes are canon, surviving Daleks found the "Eye of Time", an artifact of immeasurable power that gives its users unlimited control over space and time. With this power, the Daleks remove Skaro from the Time War and launch an invasion of Earth in 1963, killing off all humanity and conquering Earth. The Doctor subsequently goes to Skaro, discovers the Eye, and releases it back into the Time Vortex before the Daleks find it, thus negating Skaro's post-nova survival outside the Time War and restoring the proper timeline.

See also

  • Dalek
    Dalek
    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...

  • Dalek variants
    Dalek variants
    Since their first appearance in 1963 there have been a number of variant models of the Daleks, a fictional alien race in the long-running BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who.Daleks are not robots...

  • Dalek 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...

  • History of the Daleks
    History of the Daleks
    The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The mutated remains of the Kaled people of the planet Skaro, they travel around in tank-like mechanical casings, and are a race bent on universal conquest and destruction...

  • Cult of Skaro
    Cult of Skaro
    In the television series Doctor Who, the Cult of Skaro was an elite order of Daleks, and the first individual Daleks whose recurring nature has been explicit.-Background:The Cult of Skaro first appeared in the double-episode "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday"...

  • 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...

  • Thals
    Thal (Doctor Who)
    The Thals are a fictional race of humanoid aliens from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, originating on the planet Skaro.-History within the show:...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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