The Movellan Incident (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual) was the Time Lord designation for a battle in the Dalek-Movellan War, which they believed took place in the 46th century. After Davros was awoken in the remains of the Dalek City on Skaro, he sent a taskforce of Bomber Daleks, strapped with explosives, to destroy the Movellan ship that was also on the planet. The two forces met on the ground surrounding the craft, with the humans and the Fourth Doctor also taking part.
Premature detonation of the explosives meant that the attack failed. This defeat was significant in that it was a precursor to the imprisonment of Davros by the Movellans.
History[]
Background[]
Time Lords who scrutinised Dalek history during the Last Great Time War understood that a Dalek Civil War, which followed their failed invasion of Earth's galaxy in the year 4000, resulted in a lengthy period when the Daleks were absent from Skaro. As the centuries passed, the Dalek City fell into ruin and became buried deep underground. Contained within the city was Davros, who was in suspended animation ever since the Daleks' attempt to kill him during the Genesis Incident. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual)
The Daleks search for Davros. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe)
According to one account, during the 22nd century Dalek invasion, Daleks in occupied London raided the Ministry of Defence vaults. From its records, they became aware that Davros survived his apparent death on Skaro, and that he would acquire and activate the Hand of Omega, resulting in the apparent destruction of Skaro. According to the Dalek Prime himself, he had the frozen Davros moved from Skaro to Antalin, a planet which had been terraformed to resemble Skaro, and that the entire Movellan War was fabricated as part of the ultimately successful plan for Antalin to be destroyed in Skaro's place. (PROSE: War of the Daleks)
Following a failed "reinvasion" of Earth, the Daleks were forced to turn their attention away from humanity in light of the Movellan threat. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks)
Events leading to the battle[]
When the war between the Daleks and the Movellans led to a frustrating stalemate, the Daleks resolved to recover their creator, Davros, and get him to reprogram their battle computers to destroy the Movellan forces. When the Fourth Doctor held Davros hostage, he demanded all Dalek prisoners who were being used as slaves in order to find Davros be let go. Approximately forty humanoids were released. The Doctor escaped and the Daleks planned to evacuate Davros from Skaro before the Movellans could attack.
At the time the Movellans were programming their nova device. This bomb would ignite the atmosphere and destroy Skaro. A signal had been sent to a deep space cruiser to come to Skaro. Davros armed approximately forty Daleks with explosives.
The plan was that, before the Movellan ship could take off, the Daleks, carrying more than half a megaton of explosives, would press against the hull and Davros would detonate them to destroy the ship so the Doctor would not be able to help the Movellans defeat the Daleks in the space war. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)
The conflict[]
Led by Tyssan and with help from the Fourth Doctor, the humans reprogrammed two Movellans and took full control of their ship. They planned to leave Skaro and were unaware of the Dalek force approaching. Davros did not know this and believed it was still manned by Movellans and the Doctor.
The humans armed themselves with Movellan weapons and Tyssan ordered a charge on the Daleks. The Daleks opened fire; the humans' weapons made no impact on them.
Off the battlefield, Davros had the detonator with him, ready to destroy the ship. The Doctor made his way into the Dalek base and confronted Davros, only to be held at gunpoint by the Dalek expedition leader. He blinded the Dalek by throwing his hat onto its eyestalk. As it fired around the control centre, nearly hitting Davros, the Doctor placed an explosive on its casing and pushed it down a hall, where the explosive detonated, destroying the Dalek.
Tricking Davros, the Doctor detonated the explosives, and the Daleks, still engaged in the fighting, exploded before they could reach the ship. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)
Aftermath[]
The cruiser never arrived and the nova device was never activated. The humans and the reprogrammed Movellans left Skaro to meet with a high-security ship from Earth. Davros, their prisoner, was placed in a cryogenic freezer and was to be put on trial for his crimes against the whole of sentient creation. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks) Tyssan arranged for the Earth Protection Corps to take custody of Davros. While en route the ship charged with transporting Davros rescued the Tenth Doctor and Anya Kingdom from Mto and was subsequently pursued by a Dalek saucer which captured it in a tractor beam. The crew opted to awaken Davros to attempt to negotiate, however an attack by Movellan forces interrupted their capture and caused them to crash land on Kembel. There the Movellan Prime Rocket, led by the First Movellan, landed and captured the Doctor and Davros whilst the secret Dalek faction on Kembel captured Anya and the ship's commander. (AUDIO: The Dalek Defence) Davros attempted to use the guise of brokering an alliance between the Daleks and Movellans against humanity to infect the Movellans with a virus, however the Doctor stopped it spreading beyond Kembel. Earth Protection forces invaded Kembel and overcame the Dalek presence, recapturing Davros. (AUDIO: The Triumph of Davros) Davros' punishment was to be placed in suspended animation for all eternity whilst still remaining conscious.
In Davros' absence, the Daleks lost the war after the Movellans developed a virus which attacked the organic parts of the Daleks. Ninety years after his capture by humanity, the defeated Daleks attempted to rescue Davros in hopes of him providing a cure. He instead came to the belief his creations had failed and turned on them, (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks) going on to found his own faction of Daleks. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks) This schism culminated in the Imperial-Renegade Dalek civil war. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
In the post-Time War universe, this incident was covered as a part of known Dalek history in The Dalek Conquests, a documentary which was itself produced following the Van Statten Incident on Earth in 2012. (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests)
Behind the scenes[]
Dating[]
The first two editions of The Doctor Who Programme Guide set Destiny of the Daleks in c. 4500, a date which would be later used in AHistory, Timelink and The Dalek Handbook. Following the Programme Guide, the script for Resurrection of the Daleks referred to the year 4590, which would be established in the novelisation of Resurrection of the Daleks.
DWM 77's History of the Daleks dates the incident to c. 8740, long following the Dalek Civil War of 7500.
The Terrestrial Index claimed that the Daleks came into conflict with the Movellans by the end of the 26th century. Eventually, the Daleks lost the war after making their ill-fated attempt to retrieve Davros from Skaro in the early 27th century.
Other matters[]
- The 2010 edition of The Visual Dictionary, which is considered invalid by this wiki for being non-narrative, states that the Daleks "travelled through time to seek help from their ancient creator" during the war with the Movellans.
