Emperor of the Daleks! (comic story)

Emperor of the Daleks! was a 1993 multi-Doctor comic story in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine. Its publication ran across the landmark 200th issue of DWM and the part which appeared in that issue was originally printed in full colour, a highly unusual occurrence in the magazine at that time.

Narratively, the story was remarkable for the fact that it brought together the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, Davros, Abslom Daak and Bernice Summerfield. It, therefore, relied heavily on established continuity and demanded the reader have a fair grasp of Daak's backstory, which had been printed in the magazine ten years earlier. More significantly, the story acted as a prequel to Remembrance of the Daleks, branching Davros's story between Revelation and Remembrance.

As confirmed by footnotes, the story also attempted to retcon the events of the earlier comic Nemesis of the Daleks. Written to take place after the events of Remembrance of the Daleks, it featured a Davros who had wholly lost himself to the persona of Dalek Emperor. Emperor of the Daleks! instead implied that Nemesis featured the Daleks prior to Davros's resurrection and that the Emperor in it was simply the Dalek Prime, although this failed to tally with some lines of the earlier story.

Summary
to be added

Part 1
With his rebellion against the Golden Emperor's Empire on Necros crushed, Davros is placed on trial by the Emperor in the Dalek Court Room on Skaro, being charged with "perverting the destiny of the Daleks". Davros retorts that under the Emperor's rule, the Daleks have strayed from the ideal he had set out for them, thinking more and more like machines instead of advancing and evolving. Some of the Daleks in attendance are swayed by the argument, and, talking among themselves, note that many Scientist Daleks believe that with Davros on Skaro, he should be learned from rather than exterminated. Outraged, the Emperor reasserts that the Daleks are not under Davros's command and sentences him to extermination anyway.

However, the execution is forcibly staid when an asteroid crashes into the Dalek City. This provides just the distraction the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown needed as the Doctor's TARDIS materialises elsewhere in the City. Using a technobot attached to a Dalekanium wire like a balloon, the Doctor activates a computer virus which overrides the Daleks' control of their casings, forcing them to sing "Jingle Bells" instead of exterminating Davros. He then uses another, remote-controlled technobot to lead the liberated Davros to the TARDIS. Davros, who had initially assumed the escape plot was being carried out by Daleks loyal to him, is baffled to realise the Sixth Doctor is saving his life, but accepts his offer to hide in the TARDIS for a few minutes. Moments later, a Dalek patrol break through, forcing the TARDIS to dematerialise with Davros inside — all according to the Doctor's plan.

Back in the Court Room, the Emperor declares Davros not only an inferior being, but a traitor to the Dalek race for consorting with the Doctor. New evidence comes to light which proves that the Doctor arranged for the asteroid-fall with the help of some Thals, and that the whole escape plan was orchestrated in every detail. The Emperor decides to use Abslom Daak, the Daleks' "other greatest enemy", in a ploy to destroy the Doctor and Davros both. When the Black Dalek objects that Daak is believed to have died at the Deathwheel, the Emperor angrily contradicts him, explaining in veiled words that Time can be rewritten if it means the Daleks' survival.

Characters

 * Seventh Doctor
 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Sixth Doctor
 * Peri Brown
 * Abslom Daak
 * Harma
 * Salander
 * Davros
 * Emperor Dalek
 * Black Dalek
 * Special Weapons Dalek
 * Psyche Dalek Three

Technology

 * Davros claims that under the Golden Emperor, the Daleks have made "recent advances in bio-wetware circuitry.
 * Holding onto a Dalekanium wire allows the Sixth Doctor and Peri to survive a blast of Dalek gunfire.
 * Technobots are used by the Daleks to move information across the City when the Dalek City's "landlines" are damaged or otherwise occupied.

Species

 * An Alpha Centauran worked as a bar attendant at the bar the Doctors, Benny and Ablsom Daak go to.
 * The Sixth Doctor notes that although there used to be some Thals on Skaro, they'll "have relocated by now".

Popular culture

 * Benny tells Abslom Daak that his wife "is a dead girlfriend. She has ceased to be!".

Continuity

 * The Sixth Doctor remarks that he got the dalekanium wire from Frobisher. (COMIC: The Shape Shifter et al.)
 * Benny claims to have done a thesis on Ice Warrior humour. (PROSE: Legacy)
 * The Daleks mention events that took place on planet Hell involving Abslom Daak, including his apparent death. (COMIC: Nemesis of the Daleks)
 * The Sixth Doctor pointedly refers to the Hand of Omega in front of Davros, and reveals that he knows where it is. He later tells Peri that he was planting the seeds for a masterplan of which he won't live to see the completion, at least in his present incarnation. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
 * Davros gains an army of Daleks and ends up in a different casing. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)