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 based in part on the observations of The Discontinuity Guide and the Dalek timeline theory that first appeared in it.

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 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")

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 - 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).

Series basics
Broadly speaking, on top of the two timelines, 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.

How the post-Time War era 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 Davros, as well as a cohesive Dalek fleet led by the Dalek Emperor that possessed enough control over time travel to fight the Time Lords.

Timeline 1

 * TV: The Daleks
 * TV: The Evil of the Daleks
 * TV: The Power of the Daleks
 * TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
 * Set in the 22nd century.


 * TV: Day of the Daleks
 * The Daleks have invaded Earth before. The Daleks travel back in time to 21st century Earth to do so again.


 * TV: The Space Museum (cameo)
 * TV: The Chase
 * TV: Death to the Daleks
 * TV: Frontier in Space
 * Set in 2540.


 * TV: Planet of the Daleks
 * TV: Mission to the Unknown
 * TV: The Daleks' Master Plan
 * Mission to the Unknown and The Daleks' Master Plan are set around 4000.
 * Order based on The Discontinuity Guide's theories published on the Doctor Who classic series website.

Timeline 2

 * TV: Genesis of the Daleks
 * The Doctor interferes with the Daleks' history. Davros is put into a dormant state.


 * TV: Destiny of the Daleks
 * Davros is awakened. At the end of the story, Davros is put in suspended animation.


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


 * TV: Revelation of the Daleks
 * TV: Remembrance of the Daleks
 * Order based on The Discontinuity Guide's theories published on the Doctor Who classic series website.

Post-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
 * A Dalek that crashlanded on 20th century Earth.


 * TV: Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways
 * The Dalek Emperor, who ended up in the Sol system circa the year 199,900.


 * TV: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
 * TS: 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 shifts, leading into further stories. Tardisode 13 is set during the Battle of Canary Wharf.


 * TV: Daleks in Manhattan / 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 / 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 25 planets appeared in the Earth's sky.


 * TV: The Beast Below (cameo)
 * TV: Victory of the Daleks
 * Continues The Beast Below's cliffhanger. Survivors of what appears to be that of the Doctor Donna's attack on Davros' Dalek army awake the New Dalek Paradigm.


 * TV: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
 * TV: Asylum of the Daleks
 * The Daleks' memories of the Doctor are wiped by Oswin Oswald.

Timeline 1

 * These stories involve the Doctor from before the events of Genesis of the Daleks relative to his timeline, and are likely to be set here.


 * TV: The War Games (cameo)
 * PROSE: Hide and Seek
 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Fear of the Daleks
 * 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
 * COMIC: Bringer of Darkness

Timeline 2

 * TV: Doctor Who
 * WC: Shada
 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus
 * PROSE: Love and War
 * PROSE: The Also People
 * PROSE: GodEngine
 * PROSE: Alien Bodies
 * PROSE: War of the Daleks
 * PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks
 * PROSE: Father Time
 * PROSE: The Last Resort
 * PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows
 * PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles
 * PROSE: Warmonger
 * PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks
 * Takes place during a version of the Second Dalek War.


 * PROSE: Natalie's Diary
 * PROSE: Private Investigations
 * PROSE: The Best Joke I Ever Told
 * PROSE: The Eighth Wonder of the World
 * PROSE: Museum Peace
 * PROSE: Mission to Galacton
 * AUDIO: The Genocide Machine
 * AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element
 * AUDIO: The Mutant Phase
 * AUDIO: Dust Breeding
 * AUDIO: Seasons of Fear
 * AUDIO: The Time of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Jubilee
 * AUDIO: The Juggernauts
 * AUDIO: Terror Firma
 * AUDIO: Return of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Renaissance of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Davros Mission
 * AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Enemy of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Patient Zero
 * AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Four Doctors
 * AUDIO: The Five Companions
 * AUDIO: The Curse of Davros
 * AUDIO: The Elite
 * AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Lucie Miller
 * AUDIO: To the Death
 * AUDIO: The Great War
 * AUDIO: Fugitives
 * AUDIO: Tangled Web
 * AUDIO: X and the Daleks
 * COMIC: Return of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Dalek Revenge
 * COMIC: Doctor Who and the Dogs of Doom
 * COMIC: Nemesis of the Daleks
 * COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!
 * COMIC: Fire and Brimstone
 * COMIC: Children of the Revolution
 * COMIC: Metamorphosis

Post-Time War

 * TV: The Wedding of River Song
 * GAME: Evacuation Earth
 * GAME: Return to Earth
 * GAME: The Mazes of Time
 * GAME: The Eternity Clock
 * GAME: City of the Daleks
 * PROSE: The Nightmare of Black Island
 * PROSE: I am a Dalek
 * COMIC: Carnage Zoo / Flight and Fury / The Living Ghosts / Extermination of the Daleks
 * COMIC: The Only Good Dalek
 * COMIC: The Dalek Project

Unclear

 * Either no incarnation of the Doctor, an unclear incarnation, or multiple incarnations pre- and post-Genesis appear in these stories.


 * 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: The Dalek Factor
 * PROSE: Kalendorf
 * PROSE: Alby
 * PROSE: Suz
 * PROSE: Mutually Assured Survival
 * AUDIO: The Destroyers
 * AUDIO: Death and the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Invasion of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Human Factor
 * AUDIO: "Death to the Daleks"
 * AUDIO: Project Infinity
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Two
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Three
 * AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Four
 * AUDIO: The Exterminators
 * AUDIO: The Healers
 * AUDIO: The Survivors
 * AUDIO: The Demons
 * AUDIO: The Warriors
 * AUDIO: The Future
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 1
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 2
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 3
 * AUDIO: The Fearless: Part 4
 * AUDIO: Arbitration
 * AUDIO: Innocence
 * AUDIO: Purity
 * AUDIO: Corruption
 * AUDIO: Guilt
 * COMIC: Genesis of Evil
 * COMIC: Power Play
 * 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
 * COMIC: Invasion of the Daleks
 * 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: Sara Kingdom: Space Security Agent
 * 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: Return of the Daleks
 * COMIC: Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer
 * COMIC: Return of the Elders
 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * COMIC: Happy Deathday