Genesis of the Daleks

by: Terry Nation

Part Five

Original Air Date: 5 April 1975
Running time: 23:27

HARRY: Doctor, please, don't tell. Doctor.

DOCTOR: All right, all right! Just leave them alone.

DOCTOR: The Dalek invasion of the Earth in the year 2000 was foiled because of an attempt by the Daleks to mine the core of the planet. The magnetic properties of the Earth were... Mars... the Daleks were defeated by a virus that att*cked the insulation on the cables in their electrical systems. ...In the space year seventeen thousand was halted by the intervention of a fleet of w*r rockets from the planet Hyperon. The rockets were made of a metal that was completely resistant to Dalek firepower. The Dalek Task Force was completely destroyed.

DAVROS: This seems an opportune moment to end this session. Nyder. Release the prisoners. Take them to the detention area.

DAVROS: Interrogation will continue later. And I must thank you, Doctor. What you have told me will be invaluable.

DAVROS: All this information, this foreknowledge, will be programmed into the Dalek memory banks. Take them away.

DAVROS: Doctor, stay a moment. Sit down. Let us talk together now, not as prisoner and captor, but as men of science. There is so much I wish to know. Nyder, take charge of the tape.

NYDER: Immediately, Davros.

DAVROS: It will be your responsibility, and remember, it is priceless. It's value beyond computation.

SARAH: Ah, thank you.

HARRY: Who are you?

GHARMAN: My name's Gharman.

HARRY: Gharman?

GHARMAN: Until a few hours ago I was head of the Military Elite Scientific Corps.

SARAH: And now you're a prisoner like us? What happened?

GHARMAN: Wait.

GHARMAN: I was trying to organise a movement against Davros. He found out. Now, what's happening out there? Has there been any attempt to take away control from Davros?

SARAH: Not that we know of.

GHARMAN: Nothing?

HARRY: He's still very much in charge.

GHARMAN: I don't understand. You see, Davros tricked me into giving him the names of the group who were plotting against him. Have there not been mass arrests by now? Executions?

SARAH: It all seemed pretty quiet out there.

GHARMAN: But Davros knows that we're planning action against him. Why hasn't he moved to stop it? Why?

HARRY: Perhaps that'd be too obvious, even for Davros.

GHARMAN: Well, if that's true, he's being too clever for his own good. Every moment he delays, our movement grows in strength.

SARAH: I hope you're right.

GHARMAN: I know I am. Many of us believe that production of the Daleks must end. I believe now that we are in the majority. If we act soon, we can break his power.

HARRY: We're not in much of a position to act at the moment, are we.

GHARMAN: If only I could get word to them now.

SOLDIER: Halt! State your business.

KAVELL: I wish to question the prisoners.

SOLDIER: Nobody is allowed to communicate with the prisoners unless they have a pass signed by Davros.

SOLDIER: Stay where you are!

KAVELL: I seem to have mislaid it. I'll come back later.

DAVROS: Now, future errors will be eradicated. Defeats will become victories. You have changed the future of the universe, Doctor.

DOCTOR: I have betrayed the future. Davros, for the last time, consider what you're doing. Stop the development of the Daleks.

DAVROS: Impossible. It is beyond my control. The workshops are already fully automated to produce the Dalek machines.

DOCTOR: It's not the machines, it's the minds of the creatures inside them. Minds that you created. They are totally evil.

DAVROS: Evil? No. No, I will not accept that. They are conditioned simply to survive. They can survive only by becoming the dominant species. When all other life forms are suppressed, when the Daleks are the supreme rulers of the universe, then you will have peace. Wars will end. They are the power not of evil, but of good.

DOCTOR: Davros, if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that k*lled on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life, would you allow its use?

DAVROS: It is an interesting conjecture.

DOCTOR: Would you do it?

DAVROS: The only living thing, a microscopic organism reigning supreme. A fascinating idea.

DOCTOR: But would you do it?

DAVROS: Yes. Yes. To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power, to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes, I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods. And through the Daleks, I shall have that power!

DAVROS: Release me.

DOCTOR: No, Davros.

DAVROS: Don't touch that switch.

DOCTOR: Why not?

DAVROS: It controls my life support systems. I could not survive thirty seconds without them.

DOCTOR: Order the destruction of the incubator section.

DAVROS: Destroy the Daleks? Never.

DOCTOR: I mean it, Davros. Next time I press that switch, it stays pressed. Now give the order!

DAVROS: Even if I do this, there will be no escape for you.

DOCTOR: I'll take that chance. Now give the order.

DAVROS: Press the communicator switch.

DAVROS: This is Davros. Elite unit seven will go to the incubator room. All survival maintenance systems are to be closed down. The Dalek creatures are to be destroyed.

DOCTOR: Tell them the order cannot be countermanded.

DAVROS: This order cannot

DAVROS: This is Davros, this is Davros. My last order is cancelled, repeat, cancelled. No action is to be taken.

NYDER: What do you want done with this?

DAVROS: For the moment he must be kept alive. He has knowledge that is vital to our future, and I will drain every last detail of it from his mind. And then, he will learn the true meaning of pain.

NYDER: I will take him to the detention room.

DAVROS: The dissidents. What progress are they making?

NYDER: Feeling against you is rising. Many of the scientific corps are openly speaking against you. Even some of the military are joining them.

DAVROS: As I expected.

DAVROS: They will take action soon?

NYDER: Almost certainly. They outnumber those of us who are loyal. Davros, why don't you let me take a squad of Elite men I can trust? In an hour, I could wipe out their leaders.

DAVROS: You think like a soldier, Nyder. Rebellion is an idea in the mind. Suppress it, and it hides away and festers. No. My way is best.

NYDER: As you wish. On your feet!

DAVROS: All Dalek units! All Dalek units!

DALEK: Davros has commanded all Dalek units to disengage and return to the bunker immediately.

DALEK 2: I obey.

BETTAN: Shush. There's something moving out there.

SEVRIN: The whole of the Thal city is burning. The Daleks are moving through it, section by section, hunting down the survivors.

BETTAN: Then there's no one left?

SEVRIN: No, I covered a fairly large area and found no one. No one living, that is.

BETTAN: So we're on our own.

SEVRIN: You're still going to att*ck the main entrance though, aren't you?

BETTAN: There's no point in delaying any longer. We'll move more safely under the cover of darkness. Come on, get ready, we're moving out.

NYDER: Open up.

HARRY: Not exactly as planned, Sarah.

HARRY: How's the Doctor?

SARAH: I don't know.

HARRY: He's a bit groggy but he'll be all right.

GHARMAN: Come on, Kavell, we've a lot to do.

KAVELL: What about the guards? Suppose they won't come over to our side?

GHARMAN: They'll be disarmed and held in custody until we've presented our ultimatum to Davros.

DOCTOR: No, wait, wait. Davros knows what you're planning. I heard him talking to Nyder.

GHARMAN: If he knows, why hasn't he taken action against us?

KAVELL: Perhaps because he knows its futile. There are too many of us.

DOCTOR: No, it's not that. I don't know what he's got prepared for you, but believe me, he's ready.

GHARMAN: Well, even so, there'll still be too many for him.

DOCTOR: Just be careful. Be careful.

KAVELL: I think we can take care of things. Thanks for the warning.

SARAH: No point in telling you to rest, I suppose?

DOCTOR: No, there isn't. We've got to recover that Time Ring.

SARAH: Because without it, we'll never get off this planet. But where is it?

DOCTOR: It's on the desk in the main laboratory. And then there's that tape recording that Nyder took. We've got to get it back at all costs. It would make the Daleks invincible. Come on.

GHARMAN: Ready? Now remember, we resort to v*olence only if there is no other way.

GHARMAN: Stay perfectly still. Take their w*apon.

GHARMAN: No! That was stupid. A stupid waste of life. Our intention has always been to make a bloodless revolution. There's been enough of k*lling and v*olence. All right, take him away and lock him up with the others.

GHARMAN: Start passing these out to our people.

KAVELL: Gharman. Gharman, they're coming over to our side in droves. We've the backing of a good eighty percent now.

GHARMAN: Good. Good. What about the hard core Davros people?

KAVELL: They've all been rounded up. We're winning, Gharman. We're winning.

GHARMAN: Then let's finish it off.

NYDER: Davros, they're taking over. We must act quickly. In another hour they could be totally in control. Do you hear me, Davros? I have a dozen crack men hiding in section nine. Let me order them into action. Davros!

DAVROS: I hear you.

NYDER: Then what are we going to do?

DAVROS: I want you to find their leaders and hand over your w*apon to them.

NYDER: Surrender?

DAVROS: Order all members of the Elite guards still at liberty to do the same.

NYDER: Do you know what you're saying?

DAVROS: I know precisely what I am saying. Now, I will command and you will obey. You will do as I order! You will inform the rebel leaders that I have given these orders to avoid bloodshed. Tell them I submit, and will listen to their demands. That is all.

NYDER: Then we are admitting that we're beaten.

DAVROS: That is what they will believe.

NYDER: You mean that

DAVROS: You and they will find out exactly what I mean all in good time. Now carry out my orders.

DOCTOR: Shush.

DOCTOR: Useful. Ah. This is something rather more useful.

SARAH: They're expl*sives, aren't they?

DOCTOR: Yes. expl*sives and detonators. It seems almost providential.

SARAH: Why? What are you going to use them for?

DOCTOR: The Time Lord gave me three options. There's only one still open. Genocide.

HARRY: Genocide?

DOCTOR: Yes. I'm going to k*ll everything in the incubation room. I'm going to destroy the Daleks forever.

GHARMAN: Where is Davros?

KAVELL: You said that Davros had agreed to meet us here.

NYDER: He'll be here.

DAVROS: You have something to say to me?

GHARMAN: Davros, we wish to make our views plain to you concerning our work here.

DAVROS: With what authority do you speak? With whose backing?

GHARMAN: We speak for virtually all the Elite scientific corps and many of the military. We represent the majority.

DAVROS: Very well. Continue.

GHARMAN: Nobody disputes that in the past, under your guidance, we've made incredible progress in many fields of science.

DAVROS: You did not come here to flatter me. You came to offer an ultimatum. Confine yourself to the terms of that ultimatum.

GHARMAN: Very well. The initial concept of the Dalek was to build a life support system and a travel machine for the creature that we know our race will ultimately evolve into.

DAVROS: You disapprove of that?

GHARMAN: No, but we believe that concept has been perverted. You have tampered with the genetic structuring of the creature to create a ruthless power for evil. We cannot permit this to continue.

DAVROS: Then what do you suggest?

GHARMAN: All work on Dalek projects is to cease immediately. The creatures that have been conditioned and programmed are to be destroyed. If these terms are met, we will then be proud to work under your guidance on the rebuilding of our society. 

DAVROS: And if I refuse?

GHARMAN: If you refuse, you will be placed under arrest. The Daleks will be destroyed and our work here will then continue under a new, democratically elected leader.

DAVROS: Have you finished?

GHARMAN: Well?

DAVROS: You might at least do me the courtesy of giving me time to consider.

SARAH: The Daleks are in there?

DOCTOR: The flesh and blood part of them. Indeed they are flesh and blood.

HARRY: Some of them can move about.

SARAH: Well, how do I see?

DOCTOR: Press the button.

DOCTOR: Pay it out quickly, Harry.

SARAH: You're not going in there, are you?

DOCTOR: They're harmless enough, I think. Just unpleasant.

HARRY: You don't want me to come in, do you, Doctor?

DOCTOR: There's no need, Harry. It just remains to put the charges where they'll do the most damage. It shouldn't take me more than a couple of minutes.

DAVROS: I have made my decision. I accept your ultimatum. On one condition.

GHARMAN: Go on.

DAVROS: That you allow me to speak to a full meeting of the Elite, both scientific and military. Anyone you elect may speak against me. When this is done, a vote will be taken. I will abide by the decision of the majority.

GHARMAN: You already know the decision of the majority. You will lose, Davros.

DAVROS: With such confidence, you can hardly deny my request. It was you who introduced the word democracy.

GHARMAN: Do we accept his proposition?

GHARMAN: Very well, it's agreed.

DAVROS: The meeting will take place in one hour from now. Arrange it. You may go.

DAVROS: Ours is the victory, Nyder. We have won! They talk of democracy, freedom, fairness. Those are the creeds of cowards. The ones who will listen to a thousand viewpoints and try to satisfy them all. Achievement comes through absolute power, and power through strength. They have lost!

SEVRIN: The entrance to the bunker is just beyond the next rise. That's where they must be heading.

SARAH: What's taking him so long?

HARRY: It's a very delicate operation, Sarah. Still, he should have finished by now.

SARAH: Doctor? Doctor, are you all right?

DOCTOR: Sarah!
{"type": "series", "show": "Doctor Who", "episode": "12x15 - Genesis of the Daleks - part 5"}