2060s Dalek invasion of Earth

The 2060s Dalek invasion of Earth was a conflict between Earth's World Government and the Dalek Empire. Although Dalek and human forces directly clashed on several recorded occasions, the war was largely characterised by a lack of fighting. Within the solar system, tensions gradually rose in official circles as news arrived of the Daleks' technologicial advancements. On Skaro, the Daleks' directive to invade and conquer the entire universe evolved, as they encountered more humanoid species, into a specific desire to stamp out the quality which the Dalek Prime labelled "human spirit".

Despite Earth being a Skaro blindspot for some time, the Daleks eventually discovered its location after a passenger spacecraft from the planet landed on Skaro. The Emperor immediately launched his fleet for an invasion. However, the culmination of multiple years of hostility was foiled in most part by the outside involvement of the Elders, powerful telepaths who had seeded Earth in the distant past. Just one ship survived the onslaught, carrying the Emperor and his closest advisors, the Black Dalek and the Red Dalek, who vowed as they fled to return for another opportunity to invade. Kaslan, leader of the Elders, acknowledged this inevitability, telling Commander Trent and his men that the Daleks would be resisted by "another" at some point in the future.

Rise of the Daleks
On 30 January 2065, TV 21 issued its first news piece about Skaro. It stated that a neutron bomb had accidentally exploded on the planet, completely destroying the Dalek capital city Dalazar. War Minister Zolfian and scientist Yarvelling were reported to be the only survivors of the catastrophe. Further details about the story were available on the twentieth page of the publication. (PROSE: Stingray Attacked!) Radiation from the bomb mutated the original race of Daleks, prompting them to repurpose Yarvelling's War Machine into casings for their survival. (COMIC: Genesis of Evil) A photograph depicting one of the new Daleks accompanied the article. (PROSE: Stingray Attacked!)

On 13 February, the Space Agency released a report revealing that only hours after work on the new Dalek City had been completed, evidence of a spacecraft entering Skaro's atmosphere had been picked up on the Electron Displacement Recorder. It also noted that the Dalek Emperor ordered "immediate evasive action". (PROSE: Fireball Surrenders!) A week later on 20 February, a Space News Agency report clarified that the Daleks had spread sand over their city as protection and camouflage. It also elaborated on the intent of the unidentified enemy, claiming that the sole purpose of their mission appeared to be the mining of sand and that slaves were ordered to collect the very sand which covered the Dalek City. The story concluded with a statement indicating the Daleks were expected to make a counter-attack. (PROSE: Titan Declares War!) By 13 March, the Daleks were reported to have captured the hostile spacecraft which was identified as Krattorian. Further reports reaching the London office suggested that the slaves were progressing their plans to overthrow their "evil master" Kest. (PROSE: Superjet Shot Down)

On 20 March, the Space News Agency publicised the fact that the Daleks had discovered the missing link they needed to begin their conquest of space. For the first time, this information gave rise to concern in official circles because as the statement communicated, if the Daleks managed to achieve their aims, then the whole universe would be in danger. (PROSE: Jungle Terror!) This revelation prompted the News Agency to develop methods in order to monitor Dalek activity on a more reliable basis; further reports were obtained in full colour via a hyper-space video-phone. (COMIC: Power Play)

On 3 April, the Space News Agency reported that the Dalek City had been struck by lightning. This occurrence aroused much speculation on Earth because the Daleks were known to be experimenting with a particularly dangerous new metal. (PROSE: Stingray Hunts Aliens) On 24 April, the Agency released details on the events of the succeeding days. The Dalek Robot Brain had ordered Zeg and the Emperor to fight a duel to the death. The situation arose when Zeg, a worker in the invention shop, discovered a new hardening metal. He offered to share his knowledge with the rest of his species on the condition that he was made Emperor. (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid!) The hyper-space video-phone recorded that the Emperor won the duel when he crushed Zeg's casing with the extreme cold of liquid oxygen. (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks)

Around this time, Universal Secret Service agent Graham Page discovered TV 21's Dalek-focused bulletins, which were published weekly on Wednesday mornings. (PROSE: Graham Page) Agent Howard Whitehead was also proactive in defending against the possible Dalek threat. He had an idea for how to make model Daleks, composed of such materials as plastic glass, plasticine, matchsticks and wood. Whitehead sent the plans to Senior Special Agent Twenty One who commended him for using his brain. Twenty One also informed him that HQ used his blueprints to create several models and that a mock battle was planned between them and their models of the World Government Army. (PROSE: From Howard Whitehead)

In Campden Town, New London, Mars, an amateur radio astronomer picked up a mysterious repeating message: "All you have left is fear. The Daleks are coming!" On 22 May, it was reported that the communication had filled the entire planet with speculation and alarm, but that the signal had not yet been picked up by any astronomers on Earth. In any event, the Space News Agency assured the general public that the Daleks did not pose any threat because Skaro was so many millions of light years away from the solar system. (PROSE: Tempest Awarded V.M.)

First contact
Agent Peter Ayliffe, who was relatively new to the Universal Secret Service, wrote to Twenty One to tell him of the Identicode he invented for the Dalek Emperor. Ayliffe requested that Twenty One print details of the Identicode if it pleased the Emperor so other Special Agents would be able to use it. Twenty One assigned Agent 0031 to travel to Skaro and personally deliver the invention but, as Twenty One stated in his reply to Ayliffe, 0031 was never heard from again. (PROSE: From Special Agent Peter Ayliffe)

Soon after this, Twenty One received a letter from Agent J. Webster which claimed that their mother had "won" them a "Dalek Suit" the previous Wednesday. Although Twenty One congratulated Webster on the Dalek Suit, believing it to be simply a representation of a Dalek, Webster exhibited several behavioural changes consistent with that of the genuine article. Webster asserted to have "bec[o]me a Dalek" to the extent of self-identifying as "Special Agent Dalek" and imprisoning and disintegrating his former "pals". (PROSE: From J. Webster)

The Daleks' conquest of space
The hyper-space video-phone recorded the Daleks' attempted invasion and eventual destruction of Alvega, Skaro's closest neighbor. The Dalek Prime vowed from that point onwards to destroy anything they could not conquer. (COMIC: The Amaryll Challenge) On 26 June, Space Station KZ 24 reported that the main Dalek Fleet had left Alvega and started heading in the general direction of the solar system. According to the laser beam interceptor operator on KZ 24, the Emperor ordered part of his fleet to stay on Alvega while he led the rest to fresh conquests. Following the report, the Malagan Planet System of Galaxy Andromeda ordered the full mobilisation of its army in case of any attempted occupation. In their first act of direct hostility towards the Daleks, the Solar System pledged its full support for Malagan if needed. (PROSE: Daleks Seek New Conquests)

As the Daleks continued their conquest, more people on Earth became aware of their presence, with them even being referenced in an accompanying illustration to a 21st century version of the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet. Agents of the Universal Secret Service also started to more frequently mention them in their communications to Twenty One. Derek Connell knew reports on Dalek activity were obtained via hyper-space video-phone, (PROSE: From D. Connell of Essex) and R. Miles noted these among a list of news stories they kept up with. (PROSE: From R. Miles) J. Gray complimented TV 21 on their coverage of the Daleks, agreeing that a headline feature to affirm their threat to humanity was a good idea. (PROSE: J. Gray) The Daleks also took over large swathes of popular culture when a film called Dr. Who and the Daleks was produced with Peter Cushing in the title role. (PROSE: Peaceful Thals Ambushed!, From Agent 671107) Imagery from the film was so prominent that Kevin Dibben was surrounded by it when he was promoted to Senior Special Agent and awarded the TV Century 21 Golden Award. (PROSE: Senior Special Agent No.2) Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, the London agent for International Rescue, (COMIC: The Vanishing Ray) interviewed Roberta Tovey, Jennie Linden and Roy Castle regarding their positions as co-stars. Although all three were acting, the reality of the Dalek threat was not underplayed: Penelope speculated that Roberta had experienced sleepless nights during filming, and Roy openly admitted he was more scared than when he was in his horror film. Likewise, Lady Penelope's driver Parker was visibly terrified when she told him they were going to have lunch "with the Daleks", and it was not until she elaborated that he calmed down. (PROSE: Lady Penelope Investigates the stars of the Sensational new film Dr. Who and the Daleks!)

After their destruction of Alvega, the Daleks set their sights on the mineral-rich planet Solturis, which subsequently reported sightings of a Dalek invasion fleet; the World Government was said to be watching developments carefully. (COMIC: The Amaryll Challenge) Indeed, they were kept abreast of events through accounts from both the Solturian News Agency and Space News Agency. (COMIC: The Penta Ray Factor) One such article, released on 31 July, noted that Prince Jareth had been called in by Mirva to investigate another prophecy of Lurr which was possibly related to his continuing opposition to the Daleks. (PROSE: Peaceful Thals Ambushed!) The Solturians ultimately succeeded in defeating the Daleks' and the traitor Geltis' plan to destroy the capital city Bulos with the Pentaray. The Dalek Emperor had already left Solturis when its forces on the planet were crushed, but its fleet was recalled to deal with a crisis on Skaro before it could renew hostilities. (COMIC: The Penta Ray Factor) MI5 had at least one copy of a Solturian News Agency report which depicited the fatal shots Jareth fired at the Dalek forces. It was stored on Captain Blacker's boat and destroyed along with with the ship when Carl blew it up after killing Blacker and stealing the blueprints to a nuclear weapon which could have threatened the safety of the world. Jimmy Bondson successfully retrieved the plans with help from International Rescue. (TV: The Man from MI.5)

Radio station N92 intercepted an urgent call from the Black Dalek to the Emperor about a radioactive dust cloud threatening their homeworld. News of this spread to the rest of the universe on 11 September. Acording to TV 21 ' s science correspondent, if the cloud had been exposed to Beta-Gamma rays, it could destroy a Dalek in "next to no time". (PROSE: Ice Planet Mystery) This prediction was validated by reports on 25 September about the Daleks' losing battle against a rust plague which could destroy a Dalek in under half a minute. Although the Black Dalek released no information on the number of casualties, station S.N.A. 5 estimated that up to half of the home army had been destroyed. They also had images of Daleks in Dalek Tracking station PZ8 just prior to succumbing to the plague. The report plainly concluded that unless effective action was taken, all the Daleks on Skaro would be destroyed. (PROSE: Daleks Suffer Heavy Losses!) Upon the Emperor's return, he realised the Black Dalek was the carrier and ordered that his casing be reconstructed in the recasting furnace. (COMIC: Plague of Death)

On 23 October, TV 21 reported on a Monstron Space Republic videophone in which President Yequan announced an advanced invasion probe of Skaro. Speaking to four thousand million fighting troops, Yequan proudly proclaimed, "The robot-like Daleks of Skaro will feel the strength and might of the Monstrons. We shall conquer all". (PROSE: Fireball Explosion!) Two Monstrons, Kenex and Yeq, and a small army of Engibrains were able to land on the planet initially undetected due to the rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of the rust plague. (COMIC: Plague of Death, The Menace of the Monstrons) News reached TV 21 on 6 November that the Monstron invaders had launched an attack on the Dalek City. (PROSE: FAB1 Back in Action!) On 4 December, TV 21 stated that the invasion came to an abrupt when the Monstrons' extinct volcano base suddenly exploded into action, destroying the enemy bridgehead. It was noted that nobody knew how or why the volcano became reactive but that it was sure to give the Daleks an opportunity to rebuild their city yet again and reorganise their defences against any further surprise attacks. (PROSE: World Weather Chaos!) A hyper-high frequency report received from Space Station K11 later revealed that a single Dalek, belieing itself to be the only survivor of the attack, avenged its people by firing its gunstick into the volcano and triggering its eruption and the destruction of the Monstrons. (COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons)

Humanity's involvement increases
The Universal Secret Service's interest in the Daleks began to spike in this period. Agent Philip Bevan wrote to Twenty One with some theories regarding the anatomy of the robot-like species, but these were overshadowed by word of Bevan's own comic Thriller, a potential rival to TV 21. (PROSE: From Philip Bevan) E. Oglesby also wrote in to provide a list of equipment in their possession, including a Dalekode. Twenty One told Oglesby it was a good report, reminding all agents to take good care of the items and warning them "they never know when they might need it". (PROSE: E. Oglesby) Twenty One also ensured that agents were keen followers of recent Dalek history in case it proved relevant, as evidenced by V. Mason reporting on and retelling the story of Zeg the Red Dalek. (PROSE: Password Report on Red Dalek)

On 11 December, a space spy satellite reported a new build-up of forces on Skaro. According to video screen reports from the satellite, the Daleks had already built a space station for the purposes of refuelling. Shortly afterwards, the leader of the planet Oric sent a plea for help to World President Nikita Bandranaik, stating that the Daleks were intent on space conquest and that an attack on Oric would be a "forerunner" to one against the Solar Empire. The World Security Council met in Washington to discuss the plea, but informed sources claimed no help was to be sent at present (PROSE: Help Plea from Planet) due to the ongoing weather crisis which was devastating Earth at this time. During December and into January 2066, Earth was faced with the havoc of uncontrolled weather for the first time in fifty years. A dramatic rise in temperature led to extensive melting of ice and a three foot rise in the level of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The northern hemisphere, in particular Holland, Belgium, England, as well as the low-lying areas of America and Canada, were the worst affected by widespread flooding, with millions of refugees being forced to leave their homes. (PROSE: World Weather Chaos!) By Christmas, martial law had been declared in the northern hemisphere, and troops deployed to all major cities as rioters and mob armies rampaged through places such as New York and Amsterdam. (PROSE: World Emergency) The World Senate called upon the World Aquanaut Security Patrol to investigate the root cause of the troubles, and Commander Sam Shore ordered Stingray, (PROSE: World Weather Chaos!) manned by Captain Troy Tempest and Lieutenant Phones Sheridan, (COMIC: Curse of the Crustavons et al.) to the North Pole. Bandranaik later confirmed they had orders to destroy any aliens they found to be responsible. (PROSE: World Emergency) Order was finally restored by 8 January, with long periods of sunshine helping rescuers somewhat in the clearing up of mess. (PROSE: Time Barrier Busted)

All was not lost for Oric, however, as Space Station M2 reported that a Mechonoid ship was heading for Skaro. (PROSE: Help Plea from Planet) Although the ship proved to not be any form of direct assistance to Oric, the Mechonoids began hostilities with the Daleks when they started targeting them with the suspicion ray. This bought the inhabitants of Oric more time, as the Daleks chose to focus on retaliation and preparing for an impending war rather than exploring their planet for its minerals. (COMIC: Eve of War) On 1 January 2066, TV 21 reported that "the Universe" was waiting to see if the Daleks and the Mechonoids were going to clash in a galactic war after the species from Skaro came up against an enemy equally as clever, ruthless, and mechanical for the first time in their history. The Dalek War Control Room was pictured alongside the article just as an order was given to destroy a Mechonoid spaceship. (PROSE: Daleks Hit Back!) The ship was successfully destroyed, but so was the Dalek flying saucer with the Red Dalek Leader aboard. The skirmish ended with the Mechonoids warning the Daleks to stay out of their skies. (COMIC: Eve of War)

The Daleks subsequently began to search other planets for new weapons to use in their fight; The Space News Agency documented their successful invasion of Phryne via hyper-space video-phone. The Phrynians served as archivists for the histories and artefacts of a hundred planets, and after the Daleks made short work of Phryne's invisibility shield, the Controller killed himself to ensure the invaders never got hold of his secrets. The remaining Phrynians, led by Saf, went into hiding so that they might one day have a chance to fight back. (COMIC: The Archives of Phryne)

As noticed by the Space News Agency, the Daleks started to track the rogue planet of Skardal after the Astrodalek witnessed its creation. Skardal later impacted with Omega Three, putting it on a collision course with Skaro. (COMIC: The Rogue Planet) On 26 March, TV21's Dalek correspondent reported that the Dalek Emperor had ordered an emergency squad to intercept the planet, which was now "careering wildly" through space, and alter its course. (PROSE: Thunderbird Two) They successfully diverted a meteor storm so that the meteorites would draw Skardal away from Skaro and onto a path with Mechanus, the planet of the Mechonoids. (COMIC: The Rogue Planet) Alarmed by the coming war between the Daleks and the Mechonoids and the likelihood of being targeted by the victor, the Zerovians of Zeros sent the humanoid robot 2K to prevent either side attaining victory. Learning of Skardal, 2K stole a Dalek missile and set it on a course with the planet. He separated the rocket from the warhead, which began a journey back to Skaro, requiring the Daleks to fire their anti-missile rockets to destroy both the warhead and Skardal. 2K then landed on Mechanus and told the Mechonoids that the Daleks had purposely destroyed the rogue planet to save them. He persuaded them to call off the war, but the Mechonoids allowed him to escape to warn his creators that the Daleks and Mechonoids were still enemies. The Space News Agency published a detailed summary of the execution of the Zerovians' plans, spanning several reports. (COMIC: Impasse)

A specially-assigned correspondent from the Hyper-Space News Agency relayed a report to Earth about a Terrorkon who broke through an electric barrier and attacked several Daleks stationed at the Lake of Mutations. It stole a missile and went through an underground lake and into a cave deep in the mountains. After the missile was damaged by fallen rocks, the Dalek Prime ordered that the Dalek City be evacuated. News soon reached London offices from far out in hyperspace that the Emperor had commanded all Daleks to evacuate immediately in case of an explosion. A Red Dalek, accompanied by the Emperor, followed the Terrorkon into the cave and successfuly defused the missile, which had been discarded and accidentally activated by the creature for being inedible. The two of them watched as the Terrorkon was devoured by a giant eel, prompting the Emperor to call for an in-depth search of their homeworld in order to discover all its dangers. (COMIC: The Terrorkon Harvest)

The looming discovery of Earth
On 16 July, Hyper-Space News Agency correspondents watched Skaro closely for news of the Daleks' latest activities because their war plans, which were abundunce in evidence during the last months, had been shelved. Reports indicated that they were carrying out an unprecedented scientific invenstigation into their own planet. (PROSE: "Come In, Tempest") This investigation uncovered sand creatures in the desert, areas of mutated jungle, and stones with special properties. In the Polar Mountains, they inadvertently awoke three humanoid Daleks who had been frozen alive in ice when the neutronic war shifted the poles. Yvric believed he could exchange knowledge with their descendants in return for becoming one of their leaders, but he was promptly mistaken for an invading android and exterminated without a second thought. Witnessing this atrocity, Lodian told Zet that just before they were frozen, he and Yvric had discovered a planet named Earth nine galaxies away and built a spacecraft to get there. While Lodian intended to use the spacecraft to warn Earth of the Daleks, Zet betrayed him by knocking him out and handing him over to the Dalek machines, hoping to bargain with them. However, Lodian escaped and was pursued back to their secret base by Zet and several Daleks. Determining that Zet would tell the Daleks of Earth even if he successfully escaped in his ship, Lodian made the ultimate sacrifice and blew up the ship, killing himself, Zet, and the surrounding Daleks. Correspondents from the Hyper-Space News Agency relayed detailed reports of the entire affair back to Earth. (COMIC: Legacy of Yesteryear)

On 17 September, reports from "secret sources" revealed crisis conditions on Skaro. The Dalek Emperor was believed to be organising a full-scale search for the single Dalek who questioned an imperial order. It was said that the Dalek required a reason for clearing mutated plant-growth in the path of a highway project. The TV 21 report relayed from a Hyper-Space News Agency correspondent reiterated that the Dalek code was one of absolute obedience, so the development of free will, should it spread, could subvert and destroy the entire race. (PROSE: Daleks Face Destruction) It did spread, and hordes of Daleks began to adorn themselves with flowers because the command to "protect beauty" had been given as a Dalek order. Soon the rebels turned on their own kind for crushing such beautiful things as flowers. Eventually, the "one in a million" Dalek, who had developed human-like qualities in its "diseased brain" due to an accident in its manufacture, revealed itself and proclaimed itself the new Emperor. The Dalek Prime, aware that time alone would be its destruction, confronted the Dalek on its purported strength, observing that the flowers on its casing were already dying. He ordered his loyalists to annihilate it; as he turned away, he stated that "beauty [was] for human beings" and that to "destroy human beings" was the true Dalek directive. (COMIC: Shadow of Humanity)

The Daleks captured the Jevon ship Guardian, which was on its way from Jevo to Arides on a mission to wipe out a species of mutated plants. The pollen of these planets was deadly to all human and animal life, and it would threaten all life in the universe if it flowered and spread through space. Taken before the Emperor, Commander Kirid was able to convince him that the Arides pollen was also a threat to the Daleks, so the Emperor released them to complete their assignment. However, Kirid's ruse was discovered when the Daleks stole the weapon which purportedly poisoned the plant and found it to be an ordinary Ultra Gamma Gun. The Daleks then tracked down the Guardian and destroyed it with all of those aboard just after Kirid had successfully performed the spraying of the real poison. However, as the Prime watched the devastation, he briefly doubted himself. He contemplated whether the Daleks had really defeated "this amazing human spirit" and noted the "real test" was yet to come, that being "the war on human beings everywhere". TV 21 reported upon the incident, with one part of it being printed alongside a message from USS HQ to the magazine. (COMIC: The Emissaries of Jevo)

Agent Jeremy Palmer of the Universal Secret Service wrote in to USS HQ from Norfolk. He attached a photograph depicting himself wearing a Dalek Suit which had been constructed by his father. The disguise was built with a wooden frame, half a school globe suitably painted, and black plastic covering resembling a metalert casing. It moved about on casters. It was so realistic that it inspired Headquarters to investigate the possibilities of using similar camouflage in the event agents were ever sent to Skaro on spy-missions. (PROSE: Agents In Action) Agent Richard Barnes showed off his own Dalek model soon after with his comprehensive collection of TV21 instalments. Barnes kept up to date with all aspects of the USS through the Contact 21 page. (PROSE: Agents In Action)

Intent on removing their blindspot of Earth, which was in another part of the universe hidden from Skaro due to skycurve, the Daleks engineered a meteor storm which forced the human passenger spacecraft Starmaker to make an emergency landing on Skaro. After capturing three of those on board, children Tom and Jennie and Captain Flint Fleet, the Dalek Prime ordered the penetration of the ship's force field and its destruction. Fleet, Tom, and Jennie were able to escape incarceration; Fleet and Tom witnessed the deaths of the other passengers, including Tom and Jennie's parents, from Dalek Headquarters, but they decided not to tell Jennie of the grisly fates forced upon her friends and family. The trio found a Dalek transporter to leave Skaro and warn Earth of the incoming threat. They were able to get away quietly unopposed because the Daleks presumed their safety and had stationed no guards outside their ships. Despite their lack of prisoners or hostages, the Daleks nevertheless discovered the location of Earth in the next universe but one from a piece of burnt paper found in the rubble of the Starmaker. Speaking to a room full of his forces, the Dalek Prime announced that they would go in search and conquer. (COMIC: The Road to Conflict) This ominous proclamation was the last contents of any reports relayed back to Earth using TV 21's hyper-space communications scanner. (PROSE: Information Service)

Attempted invasion
Universal Secret Service agent Simon Bucks, who normally operated in Bickley in Kent, wrote into USS HQ with an "amazing" report containing a photograph taken in the Scottish town of Lairg. Bucks speculated that the subject of the image could have been a form of Dalek, perhaps even "an advance guard sent to spy out the land for an imminent full-scale invasion". Agent Twenty One responded that USS action-group operators were already on their way to Lairg to investigate with clear orders to destroy any metal invaders from Skaro who might be in the area. (PROSE: Have Daleks Invaded Scotland?)

In 2067, T.J. Younger replaced Nikita Bandranaik as World President due to the latter's ill health. Younger never publicly acknowledged the Dalek threat. (PROSE: Information Service) While TV 21 were unable to deliver reports on the Daleks, they continued to publish news about Earth's security organisations. These included the escapades of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol's vessel Stingray, (PROSE: Stingray Storm!) the World Space Patrol's ship Fireball XL5, (PROSE: Ambush!) and the Martian exploration vehicle Zero X. (PROSE: Mars Ship Hi-Jacked) It was not until Steve Zodiac, the best known of all World Space Patrol astronauts, was believed dead while patrolling the Astran border (PROSE: Mars Ship Hi-Jacked, World Mourns Dead Space Hero) that TV 21 responded to the many requests for information about the termination of their stories about the Daleks. TV 21 revealed that the hyper-space communications scanner, which relayed reports back to the Fleet Street offices, had broken down, and that they had been led to believe that the Daleks themselves were responsible and therefore had taken over its complete control. (PROSE: Information Service)

Passing through the solar system on its way to Earth, the Dalek Fleet converged with an unusual fleet of spacecraft of an organic construction which was also heading for Earth. Believing that the occupants must also have had plans to invade, the Dalek Prime ordered their destruction. However, their new enemies had already scanned the Daleks with their mind-seeking devices and immediately launched a counter-attack, annihilating several Dalek ships. While confusion reigned on the Dalek Flagship and further retaliation only yielded more casualties, the Daleks suspected the mind-reading capabilities of their foes and retreated towards Titan. Finding a human mining base on the moon, the Daleks demonstrated their power by wiping out Colony Five and capturing six of its men to do their bidding. Instilled with the necessary knowledge and experience of the Daleks' plight, Commander Trent and Johnson were coerced into helping them to protect their own homeworld. Their attack failed and they were confronted with a being who identified himself as Kaslan. Kaslan explained that he belonged to a race of Elders who existed between the physical and sub-etheric dimensions. He further stated that their "invasion fleet" was actually a medium through which thoughts and energies could be directed and that they had "seeded" Earth in the distant past and had returned to "purify" it after man's abuse. As Trent and Johnson were just pawns, Kaslan freed them of the malevolent influence. According to him, the Daleks would invade Earth in the future to be resisted by "another", but that until the work of the Elders was done they had to intervene. Kaslan's mind then reached out to touch those of the Daleks, creating blind self-destruction as the Dalek Fleet fired upon itself. The Emperor was spared to suffer the "ultimate humiliation", but with the battle over, Kaslan freed Trent to pursue the Prime himself in order to seek revenge for his fallen comrades.

Outnumbered by Trent's squad, the Dalek Prime sought advantage of their pursuers' limited experience of Dalek technology by retreating into the planetary rings of Saturn. Trent was able to pick off one of the Dalek saucers with a lucky shot, leaving only the Emperor's ship remaining. As they watched it on the scanner, Trent speculated that the Emperor must have panicked and dived out of the way but that they were now travelling too fast to pull out and would resultantly burn up in Saturn's atmosphere. Disappointed they were unable to fire the kill shot, Trent and his men returned to Titan. However, the Daleks had operated their nul-grav system to avoid destruction. Certain they would have another opportunity to invade Earth and flanked by the Black Dalek and the Red Dalek, the Dalek Prime vowed that they would not fail the next time. (COMIC: Return of the Elders)

Remnants of the invasion force
Even after the destruction of the Dalek Fleet (COMIC: Return of the Elders) and humanity's loss of the hyper-space communications scanner, (PROSE: Information Service) the Universal Secret Service continued to monitor the dormant Dalek threat through more direct means. Contact 21 Field Agent Nigel Rawlands was given a mission to inflitrate "an enemy organisation" and so, using his initiative, Rawlands designed and made a Dalek disguise. The outer casing of the disguise was indistinguishable from a real Dalek, and Rawlands later reported that the mission was successfully accomplished. (PROSE: Dalek Disguise)

One of the final reports regarding the Daleks on Earth came from Agent W. Cregan, who operated from London. He attached a photograph of an encounter he had with a Dalek. Cregan stated that he was fully prepared for combat with the alien until it suddenly said "Shake hands. Welcome." Unsure how to proceed, he followed the Daleks' request and shook hands with its gunstick, although he added in his report that he heavily suspected that it was really spy. (PROSE: Friendly Dalek)

In September 2067, a new security organisation named Spectrum was officially launched. Headed by former USS second-in-command Colonel White, it was announced that Spectrum was to take over all of the Universal Secret Service's commitments on Earth, (PROSE: SPECTRUM is Green) including those sparse reports of Dalek activity. (PROSE: Daleks on the Move?) USS agents who had previously reported on the Daleks, such as Philip Bevan, (PROSE: From Philip Bevan) transferred to Spectrum as Spectrum Shades because of this. (PROSE: Comic Shades) However, even before Pete Tracker could publish a headline proclaiming that "Spectrum [was] Green", most of the organisation's resources were diverted elsewhere. (COMIC: SPECTRUM) Captain Black, who had led a troubled expedition to Mars to investigate strange radio signals received from the area, (PROSE: Capt. Black Mars Expedition Lost!) finally returned to Glenn Field but vanished from the base without trace immediately on arrival. (COMIC: SPECTRUM) It was later discovered that Black had fired upon the Mysteron City in a moment of panic while commanding the Zero X mission, inadvertently beginning the Mysteron War, while the real Black was thought deceased with his image being used as an indestructible agent of the Mysterons. (PROSE: Rogues Gallery) Although Spectrum did occasionally deal with other matters, its existence became so entwined with the Mysteron threat that World President Younger once disbanded the organisation when it appeared they had been defeated. After six months of inactivity, he stated that they had "suceeded so well that there [was] no further need for Spectrum as a seperate organisation" and that its craft and personnel would be reassigned in the near future. (COMIC: Traitor Black Gives In!) The conflict ultimately lasted until 2069 at the absolute earliest. (PROSE: Stingray Strikes Back!)

In 2068, Spectrum Shade Gregory Kaser discovered a Dalek presence on Venus during a mission he conducted for the Planetary Exploration Organisation. While taking aerial reconnaissance photographs over the Magnax continent, he spotted a crashed Dalek ship and a Dalek moving away from it. Although initially puzzled as to why there were Daleks on the planet, Kaser soon remembered their threat from some months previously to find and conquer Earth. He then worked out the Dalek was heading in the direction of the Earth colony in the northern sector of the continent. After he had completed his assignment and returned to Earth, Kaser reported his findings to Spectrum, asking if it signified the start of their invasion of Earth. Colonel White stated in response that the implications of the Daleks' visit to Venus were unknown but that Spectrum would investigate. He also assured Kaser there was not yet any cause for anxiety. (PROSE: Daleks on the Move?)

Aftermath and legacy
Federation Archivist Van Kalik, writing in From Break-out to Empire: Essays on the Third Millennium, did not acknowledge the 2060s conflict between the Daleks and humanity. He said that, although the popular view of Earth before the late 21st century Break-out was a planet "permanently besieged", in actuality humankind was at peace with its neighbours. Relative to the Break-out, he labelled the Cybermen and "Martian" threats as past and the near-destruction of life on Earth in the First Dalek War as still almost a century in the future. (PROSE: Prelude Deceit)

At some point, the human colonists on Vulcan were threatened by a smaller-scale Dalek attack. This was repelled with help from the Second Doctor, Ben Jackson, and Polly Wright. (TV: The Power of the Daleks) The Doctor concluded that the invasion in the 22nd century had not yet taken place, apparently explaining why the colonists were unfamiliar with the threat of the Daleks. (PROSE: The Power of the Daleks) In 2136, Terri Willis told Ben that the Daleks were "just legends". When Ben attempted to convince her he had really encountered them by mentioning Vulcan, Terri told him Vulcan itself was also "practically a legend". (PROSE: The Murder Game)

Having rebuilt from their previous failed attempt, (COMIC: Return of the Elders) the Daleks launched another invasion in 2157. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising) Earth was bombarded by meteorites which carried a plague sent by the Daleks. At first the meteorites were thought to be a result of a cosmic storm, but shortly afterwards, people started dying. The majority of the population of Africa, Asia, and South America died before a cure was found, severely weakening Earth's defences. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) The Terran Security Forces were easily defeated (PROSE: The Final Sanction) and New York City was completely destroyed. The Daleks ultimately held the Earth for a decade. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)

In 2167, (AUDIO: The Mutant Phase) the First Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright arrived in Dalek-occupied London. They worked with resistance fighters to reach the centre of the mining operations in Bedfordshire, where the Daleks' aim was to remove the Earth's core and replace it with a power system to pilot the planet anywhere in the universe. This plan was thwarted when the Bedfordshire mine was destroyed by the Doctor and his companions, (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) fulfilling Kaslan's prophecy exactly one hundred years prior. (COMIC: Return of the Elders)

Absence in reprints
Perhaps uniquely for a Dalek invasion, most events in the 2060s conflict were not depicted in later stories. Even in reprints of The Daleks, including in otherwise comprehensive and faithful collections such as The Dalek Chronicles or the 2020 graphic novel The Daleks, the framing banners which tied the events of the stories back to Earth were absent. The content of this banner varied in the original releases, but the two most common variations attributed the stories to a "report from the Space News Agency via hyper-space video-phone" or a "report relayed from a Hyper-Space News Agency correspondent".

Several instalments of The Daleks were reprinted in Terry Nation's Dalek Annual 1977 and Terry Nation's Dalek Annual 1978. On these occasions, the "Stop Press" feature in the final panel of each part, which regularly tied into other news stories in the contemporaneous setting of TV Century 21, was also absent and instead replaced with new narration.

In 1980, Doctor Who Magazine reprinted the stories from Genesis of Evil to The Menace of the Monstrons as The Dalek Tapes. Not only did The Dalek Tapes lack the extra context afforded to the stories at the time of their first publications, it replaced it with a new premise. According to the The Dalek Tapes, the Doctor discovered the titular tapes after landing in a "mouldering, ancient library on a twilight world", and the tapes themselves were narrated by an unidentified individual. This new context of decaying records and a potentially unreliable narrator cast doubt on the Dalek creation tale featuring the humanoid Daleks in the wake of the 1975 broadcast of Genesis of the Daleks, which contained an alternate, much more popular account featuring Davros and the Kaleds.

The most significant factor contributing to the absence of the 2060s war is the lack of prominence which has been given to the Dalek content in TV21 outside of their solo strip. The cover stories were framed as in-universe front pages which detailed the stories featured in the issue in the guise of news reports, and it was these that explicitly dated the events of The Daleks to the 2060s, each issue incrementing weekly to exactly one hundred years into the future from the release date. Other series in TV21 were also significant to the tale of the progressing invasion: for example, the 21 short story From Special Agent Peter Ayliffe, while appearing to simply be a letter sent into the magazine by a young child, in actuality marks the first ever interaction between humanity and the emerging Dalek Empire.

The final story of The Daleks printed in TV21, The Road to Conflict, was intended to lead into Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., an adaptation of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, despite being set a century before either. When the series was continued in 1997 with Return of the Elders, the Dalek Fleet was destroyed with the Dalek Emperor vowing to return. Although the story has since been perceived as a failed version of the 22nd century Dalek invasion, it explains the century-long time gap (as the Daleks would have to rebuild their fleet) and provides an in-universe reason as to why the Daleks were no longer mentioned in TV21 shortly after The Road to Conflict and a final couple of 21 stories.

Inextricable connections to the world of Gerry Anderson supermarionation
The 2060s Dalek invasion was also unprecedented in its volume of crossover involvement with stories, characters, and concepts from another franchises. TV Century 21 was written with the intent that all the stories and articles printed within described a single fictional future history of the solar system, with a couple of series set in the present day only accessible via the use of a time machine. Although the most noteworthy aspect of this premise was the explicit reveal of a shared universe in the Gerry Anderson-produced supermarionation series (which was only prominently advertised on television through the appearance of Zero X in Thunderbirds and later in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons), The Daleks was no exception to this rule: it was made clear that events pertaining to the Dalek invasion of Earth were occurring concurrently with Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Captain Scarlet comic stories.

The most regular format for these crossovers were the cover stories, framed as the front page of an in-universe periodical which detailed the contents of the issue as news stories. The Daleks shared the headlines with stories relating to Fireball XL5 and Stingray both on ten occasions each and with Thunderbirds six times. Although there was little interaction between the stories, the relationship between the series was not understated: Tempest Awarded V.M., for example, featured an image of a Dalek alongside a large colour photograph of Captain Troy Tempest of Stingray. The "Stop Press" panel at the conclusion of each part of The Daleks also provided crossovers between the Doctor Who universe and the supermarionation universe on an almost-weekly basis for both years that the strip featured in the magazine. Although the single panel sometimes hosted appearances from regular characters such as Penelope Creighton-Ward of Thunderbirds, Commander Zero of Fireball XL5, and Phones Sheridan of Stingray, they were often more peripherally centred. For example, despite the mention of the Canadian Forest Fire Patrol in The Archives of Phryne, the organisation was not seen or heard from in the corresponding Thunderbirds story Blazing Danger.

The crossovers between the two franchises reached unprecedented levels with the broadcast of The Man from MI.5 on 20 January 1966. In the opening scenes, Carl, the lead antagonist of the episode, boards the boat of British Secret Service agent Captain Blacker. After killing him, Carl rifles through multiple desk drawers before locating the blueprints of a nuclear weapon and exploding the ship. Among the various documents in the drawers were several issues of the in-universe TV 21 publication. Viewers were afforded a brief glimpse of the back page of TV21 32, which hosted the final instalment of The Penta Ray Factor, framed as a report from the Solturian News Agency. The report's presence was narratively significant for indicating that other security organisations on Earth (in addition to the Universal Secret Service) were taking an interest in the Daleks' conquest inching ever closer to the solar system. From a real world perspective, The Man from MI.5 marked the first televised crossover between Doctor Who and another franchise and the first time the Daleks made a televised appearance outside of their parent show, ironically on the BBC's main competitor ITV. Constituting only the seventh ever Dalek story on television, The Man from MI.5 was also notable for being the televised debut of the Dalek Emperor, predating his Who debut in The Evil of the Daleks by over a year.

The most explicit narrative crossover between a Who and Anderson property in the magazine came in TV21 28 with the release of the short story Lady Penelope Investigates the stars of the Sensational new film Dr. Who and the Daleks!. As the Lady Penelope Investigates mini-series usually featured interviews with fictionalised versions of celebrities, as the title implied, one might expect a non-fictional look into the making of Dr. Who and the Daleks, but this was not the case. The cover story Peaceful Thals Ambushed! made it clear the film was based on a real-life event, and the seriousness of the Dalek threat should it reach Earth was extremely evident. Parker, another mainstay of Thunderbirds, was terrified by Lady Penelope's suggestion that they would be having lunch "with the Daleks", and Roberta Tovey and Roy Castle both testified as to their fear of the Daleks, the latter openly admitting he was more scared than when he worked on horror films.

There were also multiple instances of events happening in Anderson-based strips implicitly influencing humanity's response to the Dalek invasion. In the cover story Help Plea from Planet, after a meeting of the World Security Council, informed sources stated that no help would be sent to Oric should the Daleks invade despite the desperate pleas of the Oric leader. This decision was influenced by the Stingray story Arctic Weather Menace which both the preceding and succeeding DWU cover stories, World Weather Chaos! and World Emergency, tied in to. Those stories stated that mass flooding had caused riots and the displacement of millions of refugees, resulting in the declaration of martial law in the northern hemisphere with the World President Nikita Bandranaik himself also heavily involved. These turns of events no doubt impacted the World Government's ability to send troops to Oric, as they were needed on home soil.

In a broader sense, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons as a whole was at the centre of another influential event. In preparation for the start of Captain Scarlet comic stories in conjunction with the start of the series on television, the cover story SPECTRUM is Green was published on 23 September 1967. It revealed that the newly-formed Spectrum would take over all commitments of the USS on Earth, the real world reason for this being the replacement of Contact 21 as the readers' interactive section of the magazine with SPECTRUM Shades. In-universe, however, the USS became a crucial participant of the Dalek invasion when Agent 0031 became the first victim of the conflict, and regular reports continued coming into USS HQ regarding Dalek activity. Even after the conclusion of The Daleks strip in January 2067 and their in-universe defeat in Return of the Elders, the USS still received sporadic reports on the Daleks. It goes without saying that it would have been Spectrum's duty to continue to receive these reports, but none more ever came. This is due to the comic story fittingly-titled SPECTRUM, which serves as a prequel to the television series, in which Captain Black returned to Earth after a mission to Mars but promptly disappeared immediately after Spectrum launches operations. In the first episode of the television series, The Mysterons, it was revealed that Black had fired upon the Mysteron City, therefore unintentionally beginning the Mysteron War, with Black himself used as an indestructible mouthpiece for the Mysterons from then on. Understandably, the Mysteron threat became the main concern for the World Government, and the Daleks, which were seemingly defeated in Return of the Elders, were never mentioned in TV21 again. In The Murder Game, it was revealed that the Daleks were mere legends by 2136, presumably due to adminstrative flaws within Spectrum. The impact of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons on Doctor Who canon can be taken to its logical conclusion: if the Daleks were not forgotten, humanity would have been able to better resist or completely repel the 22nd century Dalek invasion as seen in the First Doctor story The Dalek Invasion of Earth. As well as the substantial difference to Earth history this would have affected, this would also have meant that Susan Foreman would not have left the TARDIS team to wed David Campbell at this juncture.