'Circuit Breaker': 05-'Dawn of the Daleks' (1 Part) by Dulce Montoya and Dan Watters

The TARDIS takes the Fugitive Doctor to Skaro - but not the war-torn world she was expecting; instead she arrives inside an underground bunker, where she meets a commune of Kaleds living in an idyllic farmland setting. A scientist named Flis explains that they were driven underground by the Daleks - who even now are breaking into the bunker to exterminate those they see as impure. As a massacre begins, Flis leads the Doctor and a group of survivors into the tunnels beneath the bunker, and they soon emerge onto the real planet's surface. Flis tells the Doctor of another bunker where they can hide - but unfortunately it is situated under a nearby Dalek factory. Making their way across the perilous surface, the group falls victim to a trap of deadly hand-mines: several of the Kaleds are pulled under the surface to their deaths, but the Doctor is saved from a similar fate by Flis, who uses a sonic device to deactivate the mine. Arriving at the factory, the Doctor, Flis and her fellows sneak past the controller overseeing the construction of many different types of Daleks, and they soon locate the hatch to the bunker. Realising that the Daleks are preparing an army with which to take over the universe, Flis uses the hand mine to summon more of the deadly traps. Flis is exterminated, but the hand mines rebel against their creators, and destroy every Dalek in the factory. After the remaining Kaleds reach the safety of the tiny bunker, the Doctor gives them the time ring she was sent to deploy, then returns in the TARDIS to the UNIT Black Archive. Osgood and Andrew are surprised to see the Doctor back so soon, and are encouraged by her new-found willingness to help people...

Art by Sami Kivelä
Coloured by Valentina Bianconi
Lettered by Richard Starkings and Comicraft's Tyler Smith

Publication Date:
August 2026

Notes:

*Featuring the Fugitive Doctor, Petronella Osgood and Andrew Turner

*Published by Titan Comics (Issue 2 of 2)

*This story was part of the multi-platform 'Doctor Who' project 'Circuit Breaker'; BBC Books was just one of many media companies partnering for this epic tale, including BBC Studios, BBC Audio, Big Finish Productions, 'Doctor Who Magazine', East Side Games, Penguin Random House and Titan Comics

*Variant covers: