War of the Daleks (novel)

War of the Daleks was the fifth novel in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures series. It was written by John Peel, released 6 October 1997 and featured the Eighth Doctor and Sam Jones.

It features the Daleks, Davros and several Thals. This novel is also notable for significantly attempting to retroactively rewrite every televised Dalek story from Destiny of the Daleks onwards, It also features a reference to every single TV story featuring the Daleks from The Daleks through to Remembrance of the Daleks.

Concerning a continuity issue brought up by the 1996 telemovie, this novel gave a possible explanation for the planet Skaro reappearing after the Seventh Doctor supposedly used the Hand of Omega to destroy it in Remembrance of the Daleks. Instead, he was apparently duped into destroying Antalin, a sacrificial decoy used by the Daleks.

Publisher's summary
The Doctor is repairing the TARDIS systems once again when it is swept up by a garbage ship roving through space, the Quetzel.

When another ship approaches and takes the Quetzel by force, the Doctor discovers that he and Sam are not the only unwitting travellers on board - there is a strangely familiar survival pod in the hold. Delani, the captain of the second ship, orders the pod to be opened. The Doctor is powerless to intervene as Davros is awakened once again.

But this is no out-and-out rescue of Davros. Delani and his crew are Thals, the sworn enemies of the Daleks. They intend to use Davros as a means to wipe out the Daleks, finally ridding the universe of the most aggressive, deadly race ever to exist. But the Doctor is still worried. For there is a signal beacon inside the pod, and even now a Dalek ship is closing in...

Plot
The story opens up with the Doctor and Sam in the TARDIS doing some maintenance when they are collected by a ship which holds an escape pod containing the Dalek Emperor Davros. A group of Thals arrive; they want Davros to alter their species so they will be better able to fight the Daleks. A force of Renegade Daleks then arrive and take the Doctor and Davros, along with others to Skaro. Before landing on Skaro, the Doctor discovers that the coordinates he believed were Skaro's were actually those of the planet Antalin.

Since Davros's return, the Dalek Prime has met considerable resistance with a number of Imperial Daleks forming. Initiating a final civil war on Skaro, the Dalek Prime has all the Davros loyalists revealed and exterminated. In the mean time he releases the Doctor to leave Skaro. The Doctor discovers a planted device on board the TARDIS which would allow the Daleks to survive in case the Dalek Prime failed. He jettisons it into the vortex.

With the Imperial Daleks defeated, Davros is sentenced to death by matter dispersal. Prior to his downfall he had implanted a Spider Dalek as a spy amongst the Dalek Prime's forces. Davros is placed in a disintegration chamber and his atoms dispersed. His fate is left open when his data is either erased from the disintegrator or transmatted across space to a safe location.

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Sam Jones
 * Davros
 * Dalek Prime
 * The Daleks
 * Ayaka
 * Balatan
 * Chayn
 * Cathbad
 * Delani
 * Dyoni
 * Harmon
 * Loran
 * Dryn Faber

Daleks

 * Skaro means "home" in the original Kaled language.
 * Davros still has Dalek supporters on Skaro. They started to appear shortly after word of their creators' survival after the original Daleks shot him, and believe that because Davros is their creator he should be in command.
 * Davros used the Hand of Omega, which destroyed what he thought of as Skaro.
 * Several types of Daleks appear: Strider Daleks, Spider Daleks, Marine Dalek.
 * Movellans, it is suggested, are of Dalek manufacture. They were designed to fool Davros into thinking his creations were in trouble several times.
 * The Daleks are always on the lookout for new sources of metals and chemicals for their war effort.
 * Dryn Faber notes the Daleks are paranoid and cautious.
 * One of the Daleks' motives for the safety of Skaro was because the planet has a number of industrial facilities and war factories. Losing them would have only hampered the Daleks plans.
 * When Sam enters the war room, she is taken by surprise by the number of Daleks currently deployed in all their wars.
 * The Doctor says the Daleks "have no interest in anything but conquest and war. Art, decoration, poetry, music - it's all irrelevant to them."
 * At Davros's (or the Dalek Race's, depending on how you see it) trial the Daleks play a recording of Professor Rachel Jensen concerning Coal Hill School and the battle that took place there.
 * The Dalek Prime is one of the original Daleks. It is the leader of all the Daleks and it is the ancestor of many Daleks currently around.

The Doctor's items

 * The Doctor has another sonic screwdriver, which he uses to kill the Daleks with high frequency shock waves.
 * The Doctor's jacket came from a costume shop in San Francisco.

Foods and beverages

 * Sam Jones is vegetarian.

Individuals

 * Sam cries out, "I'm too young to die!", before breaking into hysterical giggles that turn into odd laughter. She's been in the TARDIS for around six months.
 * The Doctor, Sam, the Thals and the crew of the Quetzel are taken by the Daleks to Skaro.
 * Space Security Service agents are trained to be one-man armies; Marc Cory is mentioned by Dryn Faber after he's destroyed a Dalek facility which was attempting to mine precious metals. (during an interlude).

Planets

 * It is suggested that the Seventh Doctor destroyed a planet called Antalin rather than Skaro.
 * Terakis is destroyed by a Thal bomb in order to wipe out half of the Dalek Eighth Fleet. Terakis was inhabited by a primitive society, and were considered expendable by the Thals.

Species

 * Mechanoids have fought the Daleks on more than one occasion.
 * A Slyther makes a brief appearance (during an interlude).
 * Some Draconians make an appearance (also during an interlude). They die in battle against Dalek Killcruisers.
 * Varga plants are mentioned briefly as the crew of the Quetzel consider what could be within the pod.

TARDIS

 * The Doctor removes the TARDIS lock to discover how the Master got through the lock in San Francisco.
 * The Doctor refers to the TARDIS as a "Type 40 TT capsule" when he and Sam arrives on the Quetzel. 

Vehicles

 * The Quetzel has a Bussard Ram Jet which Sam learnt from reading Jane's Spaceships.

Story notes

 * The meaning of Dalek colours (at this point in their history anyway) is revealed in this novel: Grey Daleks are the foot soldiers with limited intelligence; the Blue Daleks serve as corporals and sergeants; the Red Daleks have some intelligence and autonomy from the Dalek command structure; Black Daleks are smarter still; the Gold Daleks are the elite; and at the top is the Dalek Prime.
 * This story was the first to feature a Dalek inside the TARDIS, which did not happen again until TV: The Parting of the Ways.
 * Counting the Interludes, every single Dalek story is referenced in some way (except Death to the Daleks).
 * The Dalek Prime looks like the Dalek Emperor from The Dalek Chronicles.
 * The Dalek Prime previously appeared in John Peel's Dalek novelisations The Chase, The Mutation of Time, The Evil of the Daleks (as the Dalek Emperor) and was mentioned in Mission to the Unknown. This is the Dalek Prime's first role in an original story. The second and only other would be AUDIO: The Four Doctors, its only role outside of a novel.
 * War of the Daleks began life as a four-part TV story, but when the series was cancelled it was shelved, then was put forward by John Peel as a possible Virgin New Adventures novel. It was rejected, before finally becoming an Eighth Doctor Adventure. Peel noted in an interview, "Another reason for the story was to bring back Skaro. I feel that its destruction in Remembrance [of the Daleks] - was a bad move, as did Terry Nation. When I sought his permission for War, he asked me to try and rectify the destruction, which I think I've done very sneakily."
 * This is the only Doctor Who novel to feature Davros as a character.
 * The novel was released the same day as the Past Doctor Adventure novel Illegal Alien, another proposed TV story that was scrapped due to the show's cancellation and featured another popular recurring enemy. Additionally, like War, Illegal Alien was also the fifth novel of its line.
 * There are two planets called Antalin. One appears in the Human Space Interlude and the other is a decoy for Skaro, which is a main story element of the book.

Retcon
War of the Daleks is controversial for its retconning of every Dalek story from Destiny of the Daleks to Remembrance of the Daleks, although it is not really a true retcon. The retcon also makes reference to other Dalek stories.

Continuity

 * The Doctor basically retells the events of TV: The Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks to Sam, Chayn and the others.
 * In conversation with the Dalek Prime the events of (in addition to the above stories) TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Day of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks are discussed in varying levels of detail.
 * The Dalek factory ship is suggested to be the factory ship in TV: The Power of the Daleks. This however contradicts the fact that those Daleks were powered by static electricity and there are no silver Daleks in the Dalek ranks (from what we are told).
 * Sam complains about the lack of a kitchen in the TARDIS; there is one in PROSE: The Room With No Doors, PROSE: Autumn Mist and Escape Velocity.
 * In the 'Human Space' Interlude, TV: The Daleks' Master Plan is briefly visited upon.
 * In the 'Draconian Space' Interlude, Draconians first appeared in TV: Frontier in Space.
 * In the 'Hesperus' Interlude Mechanoids appear; they first appeared in TV: The Chase and fought the Daleks early in their space travels. (COMIC: Eve of War, Impasse)
 * The Doctor says he took a trip to Skaro for the Master's trial. (TV: Doctor Who)
 * The Doctor mentions he left hints about the Hand of Omega in order for Davros to destroy Skaro. (COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks)
 * The Doctor comments, "I was starting to get worried that you'd discovered religion." This does happen, in TV: The Parting of the Ways.