Vulcan (Invasion of the Daleks)


 * For the god of the same name, see Vulcan (god).

Vulcan was a planet which supported a human colony.

General information
Vulcan was roughly 12 parsecs away from any other colony. The atmosphere was breathable by humans. It had very little radiation and the average temperature was 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees F). It was a young, volcanic world, with nutrient-rich soil, but with no native life. It did have pools of fuming mercury. Vulcan's day was just a few hours shorter than Earth's.

Vulcan was colonised after humans discovered the mineral riches of the planet. It was the third such colony. The human colony was almost taken over by Daleks who had been found in a crashed spacecraft underground, then reactivated by a scientist called Lesterson. (DW: The Power of the Daleks)

Other information
Coincidentally, the name Vulcan was also given the home planet of Mr. Spock in the Star Trek television series, as indicated by Donna Noble's comparing of the Doctor's attempt to read a possessed Nazi soldier's mind with something a Vulcan (namely Spock) would do. (AG: The Nemonite Invasion)

Behind the scenes

 * Scientists of the 19th and 20th centuries hypothesised the existence of a planet between the orbit of Mercury and Sol, and sometimes referred to that planet as Vulcan. This theory has since been discredited. The Taking of Planet 5 makes reference to this.
 * As noted above, the Star Trek character Spock came from the fictional planet Vulcan. Star Trek only just beat Doctor Who in introducing the concept of an alien world called Vulcan by a few weeks, as it debuted not quite two months before Power of the Daleks aired. The two shows seem to have selected the name independently.