Theory:Timeline - Daleks

This page lists appearances of the Daleks in the order in which they experienced them. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories. This timeline is loosely based on the observations of The Discontinuity Guide and its two Dalek Timeline theory (see below).

Dalek timeline theory in The Discontinuity Guide
In one timeline, Davros created the Daleks, who actually, not just apparently, exterminated him. In this timeline, the Daleks develop full time travel and, except for a brief civil war during the events of The Evil of the Daleks conquer as a united force.

In the second timeline, created by the Fourth Doctor's intervention in Genesis of the Daleks, Davros appears to die, but, in truth survives in a dormant state. The Daleks revive him in Destiny of the Daleks. Later, his survival provokes the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War, which weakens the Daleks, who never develop full time travel during it and never become a serious threat to the Time Lords. The Seventh Doctor destroys Skaro and perhaps all of the Daleks at the end of Remembrance of the Daleks.

Therefore, while Davros existed in both timelines, Dalek stories set prior to Genesis of the Daleks, and those set after, take place in different continuities.

In the real world, Davros had never appeared on-screen because up until Genesis of the Daleks, Terry Nation had not invented the character. Various accounts had given different accounts of the creation of the Daleks, which conflicted to a greater or lesser degree from one another. The character of Davros achieved such popularity that various production teams brought him back in later stories.

The BBC supported the Discontinuity Guide's theory by including it on the Classic Series section of its website. (See "External links")

Reconciling the two timelines
The 2011 reference guide The Dalek Handbook claims that a new timeline is established after the Doctor's intervention in Genesis of the Daleks. However, it is not made clear how much of the timeline is altered. Other material suggests that not all events in Dalek history were changed - the 22nd century Dalek invasion, first encountered by the First Doctor in TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, is later encountered by the Sixth Doctor in AUDIO: Masters of Earth, implying this event was largely unchanged between the timelines, if any change was made at all. Stories featuring later Doctors do not necessarily belong only to the second timeline.

TV: Frontier in Space (set before the Doctor's intervention) shows the origin of the Second Dalek War, a conflict which plays a large part in PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks (set after the Doctor's intervention). The Third Doctor is also show an Imperial Dalek casing in PROSE: The Scales of Injustice, indicating both timelines could be combined or that "crossing" from one to the other was possible.

Other factors to consider
The Daleks have diverged at times, and so multiple timelines may be compatible. Around the 21st century, there are Daleks around the edges of the Mutter's Spiral and on Skaro, just starting to think about putting their own empire together. (PROSE: Alien Bodies) Various Dalek groups also separate to different corners of the universe to prevent the spread of the Movellan virus. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks)

The only dates for some stories are based on comments that different characters make, so their accuracy may be debatable as well.

Series basics
The Last Great Time War splits Dalek history into before Doctor Who's 2005 revival and after, with no Daleks from before the Time War able to interact or cross paths with those after, at least in theory.

How the Time War era and beyond can be reconciled with the Dalek timeline theory, which pre-dates the Time War's introduction, is unclear, as the Time War features both a living, sane Davros, as well as a cohesive Dalek fleet led by a Dalek Emperor that possessed enough control over time travel to fight the Time Lords.

We Are the Daleks!

 * PROSE: We are the Daleks!

Genesis of Evil

 * COMIC: Genesis of Evil

Genesis of the Daleks

 * TV: The Magician's Apprentice
 * TV: The Witch's Familiar
 * Davros as a child meets, and is saved by the 12th Doctor from death by hand mines.


 * AUDIO: Innocence
 * AUDIO: Purity
 * AUDIO: Corruption
 * AUDIO: Guilt
 * TV: Genesis of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Random Ghosts
 * AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro
 * In the default time period (see how rational I can be) of Random Ghosts and The Lights of Skaro, the Daleks haven't yet met the Doctor.

Space and Time Travel

 * COMIC: Power Play
 * The Daleks gain space travel.


 * COMIC: Duel of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Amaryll Challenge
 * COMIC: The Penta Ray Factor
 * COMIC: Plague of Death
 * COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons
 * COMIC: Eve of War
 * COMIC: The Archives of Phryne
 * COMIC: The Rogue Planet
 * COMIC: Impasse
 * COMIC: The Terrorkon Harvest
 * COMIC: Legacy of Yesteryear
 * COMIC: Shadow of Humanity
 * COMIC: The Emissaries of Jevo
 * COMIC: The Road to Conflict
 * The Daleks elect to search for Earth.


 * COMIC: Return of the Elders
 * The Daleks' invasion is initially repelled, but they vow to return.


 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Daleks
 * The Daleks do not yet have time travel. They are ruled by the Golden Emperor. They have conflict with humanity, which is not confined to Earth. Therefore this has been placed during the First Dalek War, before the invasion of Earth.


 * 2157 - PROSE: Lucifer Rising
 * The Daleks are attacking Earth colonies.


 * 2157 - PROSE: GodEngine
 * The invasion has begun; the Daleks also attack Mars.


 * AUDIO: Masters of Earth
 * Set during the First Dalek War.


 * AUDIO: The Mutant Phase
 * Set during the First Dalek War, though not for the future Daleks.


 * 2167 - TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
 * The Daleks' Master Plan, GodEngine, Lucifer Rising and The Mutant Phase date the Dalek invasion to c.2157. The TV story itself is set 10 years later. The Doctor believes that The Daleks is in the Daleks' future.


 * PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks
 * TV: The Daleks
 * 500 years after the Thousand-Year War, and generations before Planet of the Daleks. A Dalek with this design is featured in The Space Museum.


 * TV: The Space Museum (cameo)
 * 2540 - TV: Frontier in Space
 * 2540 - TV: Planet of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Enemy of the Daleks
 * Daleks and humans are at war with one another.


 * COMIC: Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer
 * Set during the Second Dalek War.


 * COMIC: Nemesis of the Daleks
 * Set during the Second Dalek War.


 * 26th century - PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks
 * Set during the Second Dalek War.


 * 2570 - PROSE Love and War / AUDIO Love and War
 * Towards the end of the war.


 * AUDIO: Energy of the Daleks
 * These Daleks have travelled back in time to destroy humanity before the Dalek Wars. They refer to the "Dalek Empire" and have high-functioning Robomen.


 * AUDIO: Death and the Daleks
 * Not long after the Second Dalek War in real time. The Daleks aren't native to this time, and their involvement changes history.


 * AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks
 * Set in the 45th century, but these Daleks have been in cryogenic suspension for 17 centuries.


 * TV: Death to the Daleks
 * TV: Day of the Daleks
 * The Daleks have invaded Earth before and have "discovered the secret of time travel," allowing them to travel back in time to 21st century Earth to do so again.


 * TV: The Chase
 * PROSE: The World That Waits
 * Follows The Chase.


 * AUDIO: The Destroyers
 * Sara is alive.


 * COMIC: Sara Kingdom: Space Security Agent
 * Sara is alive.


 * 4000 - TV: Mission to the Unknown
 * 4000 - TV: The Daleks' Master Plan
 * Sara dies. The Daleks have time machines.


 * PROSE: The Eighth Wonder of the World
 * After The Daleks' Master Plan.


 * AUDIO: Lucie Miller
 * AUDIO: To the Death
 * The Daleks are familiar with the Monk, so after The Daleks' Master Plan.


 * TV: The Evil of the Daleks
 * The novelisation places this story over 1,000 years after Masterplan.


 * COMIC: Children of the Revolution (human factor daleks)
 * The Daleks infected with the human factor hide on the planet Kyrol.


 * TV: The Power of the Daleks
 * The Daleks recognise the Second Doctor and their capsule is bigger on inside, hinting that time travel is involved. The humans have forgotten the Daleks.


 * AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks
 * Humans have forgotten the Daleks.


 * COMIC: Bringer of Darkness
 * Set an unspecified amount of time after Evil.

Return of Davros

 * TV: Destiny of the Daleks
 * "Thousands of years" after the Daleks were created, Davros is awakened and later put in suspended animation. Neverland mentions the year 4949 in relation to the Dalek-Movellan War although this is never supported or contradicted in any other story.


 * TV: Resurrection of the Daleks
 * 90 years after the events of Destiny, Davros is taken out of suspended animation to cure the Movellan virus.


 * AUDIO: Davros
 * Between Resurrection and Revelation. TransAllied, Inc was formed back in the 38th century.


 * TV: Revelation of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Davros Mission
 * AUDIO: Innocence
 * AUDIO: Purity
 * AUDIO: Corruption
 * AUDIO: Guilt
 * Occur during flight from Necros.


 * AUDIO: The Juggernauts
 * Davros crashes on Lethe but is recovered.


 * AUDIO: The Curse of Davros
 * Davros is leading a force of Imperial Daleks


 * AUDIO: We Are The Daleks
 * The Daleks don't recognise the Seventh Doctor. They are Imperial on the cover.


 * COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!
 * Leads into Remembrance.


 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * An Imperial Dalek is in 1963, just before Remembrance


 * TV: Remembrance of the Daleks
 * PROSE: War of the Daleks
 * The Daleks are rebuilding and Skaro apparently wasn't destroyed. A version of Davros dies.


 * AUDIO: Daleks Among Us
 * Some considerable time after Skaro's Destruction. According to the Doctor, there are more Daleks in the universe than there were on Skaro and Davros escapes at the end of the story in a Dalek Time Machine.

Empire and Emperor

 * PROSE: Dead Romance
 * The Daleks and Time Lords now have a treaty.


 * TV: Doctor Who
 * The Daleks execute the Master, and allow his remains to be sent to Gallifrey.


 * AUDIO: The Four Doctors
 * AUDIO: Terror Firma
 * Davros is mentally unstable and literally becomes the Dalek Emperor, with his original personality erased.


 * AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks
 * The Daleks recognise Charley from Terror Firma.


 * AUDIO: The Genocide Machine
 * AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element
 * The Daleks have dimensionally transcendental timeships.


 * AUDIO: The Mutant Phase
 * The Daleks are ruled by a Dalek Emperor.


 * AUDIO: The Time of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Seasons of Fear
 * The Time Lords and Daleks are on good enough terms that Romana rescues the Emperor from a time loop. The Daleks now have their own equivalent of the Eye of Harmony.


 * AUDIO: Invasion of the Daleks
 * The Daleks involved in this invasion of Mutter's Spiral are time active, and not native to the 42nd century.
 * PROSE: Kalendorf
 * Attack takes place during this story
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 1
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 2
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 3
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 4
 * PROSE: Natalie's Diary
 * Takes place during the Daleks' initial invasion.


 * AUDIO: The Human Factor
 * AUDIO: Return of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: "Death to the Daleks"
 * PROSE: Alby
 * Takes place during Alby's search for Suz.


 * AUDIO: Project Infinity
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Two
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Three
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Four
 * PROSE: Museum Peace
 * The Dalek Empire is all but destroyed, though Daleks from other points in their timeline exist between the 42nd and 63rd centuries.

Dalek Supreme

 * AUDIO: Renaissance of the Daleks
 * The Daleks are rebuilding. [elaborate?]


 * AUDIO: The Exterminators
 * Starting here, the Daleks are ruled by a Dalek Supreme.


 * AUDIO: The Healers
 * AUDIO: The Survivors
 * AUDIO: The Demons
 * AUDIO: The Warriors
 * AUDIO: The Future
 * PROSE: Natalie's Diary
 * PROSE: Mutually Assured Survival
 * COMIC: Fire and Brimstone
 * The Daleks are ruled by a Dalek Supreme.

Conflict with the Time Lords

 * AUDIO: The Great War
 * AUDIO: Fugitives
 * AUDIO: Tangled Web
 * AUDIO: X and the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Traitor
 * The Daleks are using the same methods as in the 42nd century invasion of Mutter's Spiral, but, according to Eye of Darkness, they're ruled by a Dalek Supreme rather than a Dalek Emperor. As the Doctor says, "they've done it before and they'll do it again." Things are especially confused by the presence of the Time Controller, whose actions are by definition now interventions in Dalek history.


 * AUDIO: Time's Horizon
 * AUDIO: Eyes of the Master
 * AUDIO: The Monster of Montmartre
 * AUDIO: Master of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Eye of Darkness
 * AUDIO: Arbitration
 * AUDIO: Extermination
 * AUDIO: Ascension
 * PROSE: The Stranger
 * AUDIO: The Innocent
 * AUDIO: The Thousand Worlds
 * AUDIO: The Heart of the Battle
 * AUDIO: Legion of the Lost
 * AUDIO: A Thing of Guile
 * AUDIO: The Neverwhen
 * PROSE: Engines of War
 * WC: The Last Day
 * The Gallifreyan city of Arcadia falls to the Daleks.


 * TV: The Day of the Doctor
 * Set shortly after Arcadia has fallen. The War Doctor survives the Last Great Time War, and with the help of his other twelve incarnations, destroys the fleet of Daleks concentrating fire on Gallifrey on the final day of the Time War.

After the Time War

 * At some point, three separate groups of Daleks survive the Time War independently. Two of the three are effective dead-ends of the timeline.


 * TV: Dalek
 * PROSE: I am a Dalek
 * Two separate lone Daleks survive the Time War by becoming stuck on earth.


 * TV: Bad Wolf
 * TV: The Parting of the Ways
 * The Dalek Emperor survives the Time War and ends up in the Sol system circa the year 199,900.


 * TV: Army of Ghosts
 * TV: Doomsday
 * WC: Tardisode 13
 * The Cult of Skaro and many prisoners within the Genesis Ark, who escaped into the Void. At the end of Doomsday, the Cult emergency temporal shift, leading into further stories. Tardisode 13 is set during the Battle of Canary Wharf.


 * TV: Daleks in Manhattan
 * TV: Evolution of the Daleks
 * The Cult has recently escaped Canary Wharf. At the end of Evolution of the Daleks, Dalek Caan again temporal shifts into the Time War.


 * TV: The Stolen Earth
 * A version of Davros who isn't Emperor appears.


 * TV: Journey's End
 * TV: The Waters of Mars (cameo)
 * Caan is an insane oracle after rescuing Davros from the Time War. The Dalek appearing in Adelaide's flashback is from when the 26 planets appeared in the Earth's sky.


 * TV: The Beast Below (cameo)
 * TV: Victory of the Daleks
 * Continues The Beast Below's cliffhanger. Surviving Daleks, seemingly made from Davros' cells from The Stolen Earth / Journey's End, awake the New Dalek Paradigm.


 * GAME: City of the Daleks
 * TV: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
 * AUDIO: Living History
 * The Dalek is described as bronze, and depicted as a Time War-era Dalek on the cover.


 * TV: The Wedding of River Song
 * GAME: The Eternity Clock
 * TV: Asylum of the Daleks
 * The Daleks' memories of the Doctor are wiped by Oswin Oswald.


 * TV: The Time of the Doctor
 * The Daleks regain their memories of the Doctor through Tasha Lem.


 * PROSE: The Dalek Generation
 * The Dalek Time Controller is in its home time period. The Daleks know the Doctor.


 * AUDIO: Patient Zero
 * The Controller is sent back through Dalek history, to Lucie Miller. The Chase appears to be recent.


 * GAME: The Doctor and the Dalek
 * TV: Into the Dalek
 * Daleks and humans are at war with one another. The Dalek command net has records of the Daleks' post-Time War history.


 * TV: The Magician's Apprentice
 * TV: The Witch's Familiar

Unplaced

 * TV: The War Games (cameo)
 * PROSE: Hide and Seek
 * AUDIO: Fear of the Daleks
 * The Daleks have a crystal-based command network.


 * AUDIO: Glorious Goodwood
 * COMIC: The Trodos Ambush
 * COMIC: The Doctor Strikes Back
 * COMIC: The Exterminator
 * COMIC: Jungle Adventure
 * COMIC: Attack of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Disintegrator
 * COMIC:  *Sub Zero 
 * COMIC: The Planet of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Threat from Beneath
 * WC: Shada
 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus (dream)
 * PROSE: The Also People (dream)
 * PROSE: Father Time (cameo)
 * PROSE: The Last Resort (cameo)
 * PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows (cameo)
 * PROSE: Warmonger (dream)
 * PROSE: Private Investigations
 * PROSE: The Best Joke I Ever Told
 * PROSE: Mission to Galacton
 * AUDIO: Jubilee
 * The Daleks use transolar discs. They invade in 1903.


 * AUDIO: The Five Companions
 * AUDIO: The Elite
 * COMIC: Return of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Dalek Revenge
 * COMIC: Doctor Who and the Dogs of Doom
 * COMIC: Children of the Revolution
 * COMIC: Metamorphosis
 * GAME: Evacuation Earth
 * GAME: Return to Earth
 * GAME: The Mazes of Time
 * COMIC: Carnage Zoo / Flight and Fury / The Living Ghosts / Extermination of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Only Good Dalek
 * COMIC: The Dalek Project
 * TV: The Five Doctors (cameo)
 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors
 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * PROSE: Red for Danger
 * PROSE: The Secret of the Mountain
 * PROSE: The Small Defender
 * PROSE: Break-through
 * PROSE: The Secret Struggle
 * PROSE: The Five-Leaf Clover
 * PROSE: The Log of the "Gypsy Joe"
 * PROSE: Manhunt
 * PROSE: The Outlaw Planet
 * PROSE: The Living Death
 * PROSE: Diamond Dust
 * PROSE: Terror Task Force
 * PROSE: Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!
 * PROSE: Nightmare
 * PROSE: Timechase
 * PROSE: The Doomsday Machine
 * PROSE: Report from an Unknown Planet
 * PROSE: The Fugitive
 * PROSE: The Castaway
 * PROSE: The Seeds of Destruction
 * PROSE: Assassination Squad
 * PROSE: Suz
 * COMIC: Genesis of Evil
 * COMIC: Duel of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Amaryll Challenge
 * COMIC: The Penta Ray Factor
 * COMIC: Plague of Death
 * COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons
 * COMIC: Eve of War
 * COMIC: The Archives of Phryne
 * COMIC: The Rogue Planet
 * COMIC: Impasse
 * COMIC: The Terrorkon Harvest
 * COMIC: Legacy of Yesteryear
 * COMIC: Shadow of Humanity
 * COMIC: The Emissaries of Jevo
 * COMIC: Invasion of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Oil Well
 * COMIC: The Message of Mystery
 * COMIC: City of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Humanoids
 * COMIC: Monsters of Gurnian
 * COMIC: Battle for the Moon
 * COMIC: The Mechanical Planet
 * COMIC: Treasure of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Invisible Invaders
 * COMIC: The World That Waits
 * COMIC: Masters of the World
 * COMIC: The Dalek Trap
 * COMIC: The Super Sub
 * COMIC: The Secret of the Emperor
 * COMIC: The Unwilling Traveller
 * COMIC: The Brain Tappers
 * COMIC: Planet of Serpents
 * COMIC: Flood!!!
 * COMIC: The Return of the Daleks
 * COMIC: Happy Deathday (videogame)

aHistory Timeline
This pre-Time War timeline is from the third edition of aHistory. Most of the dates given here are speculative.


 * 683: AUDIO: Innocence
 * 696: AUDIO: Purity
 * 709: AUDIO: Corruption
 * 709: AUDIO: Davros / Corruption
 * 759: AUDIO: Guilt
 * 760: TV: Genesis of the Daleks
 * 1763: COMIC: Genesis of Evil
 * 1765: COMIC: Genesis of Evil
 * 1765: COMIC: Power Play
 * 1765: COMIC: Duel of the Daleks
 * 1765: COMIC: The Amaryll Challenge
 * 1765: COMIC: The Penta Ray Factor
 * 1765: COMIC: Plague of Death
 * 1765: COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons
 * 1765: COMIC: Eve of War
 * 1765: COMIC: The Archives of Phryne
 * 1765: COMIC: The Rogue Planet
 * 1765: COMIC: Impasse
 * 2020: TV: The Power of the Daleks
 * 2050: AUDIO: The Time of the Daleks
 * 2146: COMIC: The Terrorkon Harvest
 * 2146: COMIC: Legacy of Yesteryear
 * 2146: COMIC: Shadow of Humanity
 * 2146: COMIC: The Emissaries of Jevo
 * 2146: COMIC: The Road to Conflict
 * 2146: COMIC: Return of the Elders
 * 2167: TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
 * 2170: TV: The Chase
 * 2172: TV: Day of the Daleks
 * 2188: AUDIO: Lucie Miller
 * 2190: AUDIO: Lucie Miller / To the Death
 * 2199: PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks
 * 2263: TV: The Daleks
 * 2430: COMIC: The Dogs of Doom
 * 2540: TV: Frontier in Space
 * 2540: TV: Planet of the Daleks
 * 2550: COMIC: Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer
 * 2550: COMIC: Nemesis of the Daleks
 * 2550: COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!
 * 2560: PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks
 * 2560: AUDIO: Enemy of the Daleks
 * 2600: TV: Death to the Daleks
 * 2602: AUDIO: Death and the Daleks
 * 2966: TV: The Evil of the Daleks
 * 2970: COMIC: Bringer of Darkness
 * 2990: COMIC: Children of the Revolution
 * 3340: PROSE: The Dalek Factor
 * 3994: AUDIO: The Destroyers
 * 4000: TV: Mission to the Unknown
 * 4000: TV: The Daleks' Master Plan
 * 4015: COMIC: The Only Good Dalek
 * 4500: TV: Destiny of the Daleks
 * 4590: TV: Resurrection of the Daleks
 * 4600: AUDIO: Davros
 * 4615: TV: Revelation of the Daleks
 * 4615: AUDIO: The Davros Mission
 * 4620: AUDIO: The Juggernauts
 * 4625: COMIC: Up Above the Gods / Emperor of the Daleks!
 * 4663: TV: Remembrance of the Daleks
 * 4693: PROSE: War of the Daleks
 * 4703: AUDIO: Terror Firma
 * 5200: COMIC: Fire and Brimstone
 * 5250: AUDIO: The Mutant Phase
 * 5256: AUDIO: The Genocide Machine
 * 5256: AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element
 * 5425: AUDIO: Invasion of the Daleks / The Human Factor
 * 5425: AUDIO: Return of the Daleks
 * 5426: AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks
 * 5427: AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 1 / The Fearless: Part 2 / The Fearless: Part 3 / The Fearless: Part 4
 * 5430: AUDIO: "Death to the Daleks!" / Project Infinity
 * 5436: AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One / Dalek War: Chapter Two / Dalek War: Chapter Three / Dalek War: Chapter Four
 * 5441: AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Four
 * 7500: AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One / Dalek War: Chapter Two / Dalek War: Chapter Three / Dalek War: Chapter Four
 * 7520: AUDIO: The Exterminators / The Healers / The Survivors / The Demons / The Warriors / The Future
 * 18,000: AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks