Doctor Who/Recap/S4/E09 The Evil of the Daleks

"Anyone would think that it's a little game, and it's not. People have died. The Daleks are all over, fit to murder the lot of us, and all you can say is that you've had a good night's work. Well, I'm telling you this, we're finished. You're just too callous for me. Anything goes by the board, anything at all. You don't give that much for a living soul except yourself. Just whose side are you on?"

- Jamie gives the Doctor a piece of his mind.

At the end of the previous story, the TARDIS was nowhere to be found - turns out it's been stolen by Edward Waterfield, a Victorian antique dealer who has been sent forward in time by the Daleks to capture the Doctor and Jamie.

The Daleks are trying to understand "The Human Factor" - the special quality humans possess that has enabled them to defeat the Daleks so often. Jamie is forced to complete a test - the rescue of Waterfield's daughter Victoria - while being monitored by the Doctor. With the "Human Factor" isolated, the Doctor implants it into three Daleks, who become amiable and playful.

Everyone is suddenly whisked off to Skaro where it turns out that actually the Daleks are trying to isolate "The Dalek Factor" - the impulse to kill and destroy - and implant it into humans, with the TARDIS being used to spread this throughout time and space. The Doctor implants more Daleks with the Human Factor and a civil war breaks out as the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria escape. With her father dead, Victoria comes along aboard the TARDIS as the Doctor watches the destruction of the Dalek city and muses that this must surely be their final end.

Note that this is probably the only time the show really meant it when they said the Daleks were destroyed; this was intended to be the final Dalek story ever in Doctor Who, as their creator was busy trying to sell a Dalek series to America. It didn't take, but it was still five years before they returned to the show. Thus this is probably the closest we'll ever get to a "last Dalek story."

Only the second episode remains.


 * Asshole Victim: Kennedy.
 * Compelling Voice: Arthur Terrall hears a Dalek constantly telling him "OBEY!"
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Maxtible is the Victorian version of this trope.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: The Emperor Dalek.
 * The Dulcinea Effect: The Daleks' plan relies on Jamie being prepared to risk his life to save Victoria, whom he hasn't even met at that point. He does just that.
 * Famous Last Words: Although the Daleks do of course eventually return, this was intended to be the last use of them and they don't reappear for a good few years.
 * Gambit Pileup
 * Madness Mantra: killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL
 * Mad Scientist: Although he's not really much of scientist at all, Maxtible fits the trope, and he gets madder as the serial progresses.
 * Mind Control Device: The Daleks use one on Arthur Terrall on Earth. When the story moves to Skaro, the Doctor and the Daleks both try to use the same machine on each other.
 * Missing Episode
 * Off-the-Shelf FX: Louis Marx toy Daleks were used in the filming of the final Dalek civil war sequences (some raw film for which survives).
 * Oh Crap: The Doctor has one of these moments when Maxtible mentions using static electricity in the experiments.
 * Smug Snake:.
 * The Voiceless: Kemel
 * Voice of the Legion: The Emperor Dalek.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Jamie towards the Doctor, twice. See quote at the top.
 * The X of Y