Movellan

The Movellans are a fictional race of androids from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Originating from outside the galaxy (Romana identified their ship as being from star system "4-X-Alpha-4"), they were adversaries of the cyborg race known as the Daleks, and made their first and only appearance to date in the Fourth Doctor serial Destiny of the Daleks (1979).

Physical characteristics
The Movellans outwardly resemble physically attractive humans, of various ethnicities and both genders. All of the Movellan androids wear white, form-fitting uniforms and wear their hair in silver dreadlocks.

Although who exactly first engineered them is not known, according to the Doctor Who Technical Manual by Mark Harris, they were manufactured using a refined form of cybernetic technology called "biosynthetronic engineering", which mimicked humanoid physiology. Micro-sized hydraulics, biochemical osmotic pumps and millions of artificial nerve cells make sure that every biological action is duplicated perfectly and make them appear almost alive, although they are still cold to the touch. The only attributes that could not be reproduced at all were emotions and morality, which left them as a coldly logical race of machines.

Being androids, the Movellans are stronger and have more endurance than normal humans. However, the major weakness of the Movellan design is each android's external power pack which, being, carried on their belts, is easily removed and completely shuts down the android. The power pack circuitry can also be modified, reprogramming the android to obey human orders.

The standard Movellan sidearm is a small, hand-held photon beam emitter whose power far outweighs its size and draws its power directly from the Movellan operating it. The weapon operates much like a laser, focusing a stream of photons accelerated from a crystal emitter into a beam of variable intensity. The operation of the weapon also emits radiation, but it is shielded by means of a hard shell that shrouds the sidearm. The weapon has both "kill" and "stun" settings.

History within the show
In Destiny of the Daleks, it was revealed that the Movellans encountered the Daleks while both sides were expanding their interstellar empires beyond the bounds of the galaxy and immediately engaged in a war which lasted for centuries. As the Dalek and Movellan warfleets were evenly matched, neither side's purely logical battle computers could find a successful strategy for an attack against the other. The two fleets remained locked in a stalemate for centuries, constantly manoeuvering and probing for weakness but never actually firing a single shot.

The Daleks returned to their homeworld, Skaro, to retrieve and revive their creator Davros, hoping that he could find a way to break the impasse, and the Movellans sent their own expedition to stop them. Davros determined that the first side to take a seemingly reckless gamble would be able to gain the advantage, but the Doctor prevented either side from returning to their respective fleets with this insight, and the deadlock continued for nearly a century.

About ninety years later, the Movellans developed a biological agent which attacked and was almost instantly fatal to Dalek physiology and used this to win the war. This was revealed, although the Movellans themselves did not appear, in the 1984 Fifth Doctor serial Resurrection of the Daleks. Their once great empire reduced to a few scattered colonies, the Daleks sought out Davros again in order that he could devise a counteragent or make the race immune to the virus. However, that plan also went awry thanks to the Doctor's involvement.

Curiously, although the Movellans had indicated their ambition not just to defeat the Daleks but to also conquer the galaxy, the results of the Movellan victory were never alluded to in the television series, nor was there any indication that they continued to conquer new territories.

In the spin-off novel War of the Daleks by John Peel, it was claimed by the Dalek Prime that the Movellans were actually the creation of the Daleks themselves and that the war was faked as part of an elaborate plan to prevent the destruction of Skaro as recorded in history. This novel, like the other spin-off media, is of uncertain canonicity when it comes to the television series. However, War was so badly received by some fans that they even disavow it within the continuity of the novels.

Appearances

 * Destiny of the Daleks — September 1–September 22 1979