Howling:Pre-Time War Daleks erased from history? Maybe not...

Remember that bit in Dalek where the lone War-era Dalek says that it cannot detect any others of its kind anywhere in the universe in the year 2012 AD? Many people have long pointed to this as an indication that the Time War somehow removed all Daleks from all moments in time. But now I'm not so sure that is the case. The graphic novel The Only Good Dalek, by Justin Richards, set after the Time War, has characters specifically refer to events of the classic series story The Daleks' Masterplan, even mentioning Sara Kingdom and Bret Vyon as having been enemies of the Daleks. So it would appear that some classic series adventures involving the Daleks are still part of history. 194.168.208.42 11:26, November 18, 2011 (UTC)

It' all still part of history. That part of history just occured before the Time War. The Dalek in Dalek was from after the Time War, when the Daleks had all been exterminated. Episodes like The Dalek Invasion of Earth still happenned, because the Daleks and Time Lords in that episode were from before the Time War. The Dalek, who was checking up on his race after they were all destroyed in the war, naturally couldn't find any information on them. Besides, did the Daleks even exist yet in the 21st century? Didn't most modern day and historical Dalek episodes feature time travelling Daleks?Icecreamdif talk to me 16:47, November 18, 2011 (UTC)

Well, the Daleks in The Dalek Invasion of Earth weren't time travellers, and Genesis of the Daleks occurs around five hundred years prior to the era of The Dead Planet, which is widely considered to take place before Dalek Invasion of Earth. So I'd say there were definitely Daleks on Skaro at least a couple hundred years before the 20th century. 82.2.136.93 11:02, November 19, 2011 (UTC)

All right, that makes sense. I've gotten a head ache every time I've tried to work out the chronology of events in Doctor Who. Especially with how difficult it is to fit Genesis of the Daleks and The Daleks together. Anyway, the rest of my point still stands. Nobody was erased from history during the timewar. The Daleks were physically destroyed "burned" at the end of the Time War, and they all died. Dalek history before the Time War was unaffected, however, and the Daleks still did plenty of exterminating before the Time War. After they were destroyed, they were exctinct for a bit, and the Doctor wasn't about to purposefully cross his own timeline and encounter Daleks from before the Time War. That would just be taking the stupid risk of alterring history and allowing the Daleks to win the war.Icecreamdif talk to me 18:06, November 19, 2011 (UTC)

Well all those Dalek stories in the classic series took place in a timeline where Gallifrey had not been destroyed in the past (relative to our present). We know from newer stories such as School Reunion and The Sontaran Stratagem that Gallifrey's been gone for a good while now. So those classic stories won't occur in the future, because that particular timeline is no longer valid, due to the massive change in history. 82.2.136.93talk to me 12:19, February 12, 2012 (UTC)

I don't think it's as simple as that. The French Revolution still happened, even though the Doctor visited it "in a timeline where Gallifrey had not been destroyed". Any changes to history caused by the destruction of Gallifrey left that part of our history intact. The same is true of many, many other incidents -- the Great Fire of Rome, the Great Fire of London, the extinction of the dinosaurs, the travels of Marco Polo, the Trojan War, the Second World War, etc., etc. Earth's past as seen from the early 21st century hasn't changed hugely. Why would the same not be true of Earth's past as seen from (say) the late 51st century or the mid-305th century? And why would it be only Earth's past that stayed intact? The only thing special about Earth in the early 21st century is that that's where we are seeing things from. It's a literally egocentric view. As far as I can tell, the effect of the time lock is that, wherever in history the Doctor now goes, the destruction of Gallifrey will appear to be in the past -- because it's in his past and is locked there. We cannot assume that "those classic stories won't occur in the future" any more than we can rely on classic stories not having occurred in the past. --89.240.243.180talk to me 15:08, February 12, 2012 (UTC)