'Victory of the Daleks' (Story Code 5.03) by Mark Gatiss

“I am your soldier.” – An Ironside

In the Cabinet War Rooms far below the streets of Blitz-torn London, Prime Minister Winston Churchill overseas his staff as they prepare for another attack by German airplanes. With the air raid siren blaring out a warning, Churchill gives the order to roll out his secret weapon – and a model of a Dalek is pushed across the battle-table… Some time later, the TARDIS materialises inside the underground bunker as the Doctor and Amy answer the P.M.’s telephone summons. After a happy reunion with his old friend, the Doctor follows Churchill up to the roof, where the P.M. wants to show off what he believes will win the war against the Nazi menace. As the Doctor and Amy watch, the P.M.’s scientific advisor, Professor Bracewell, gives the order for his new invention to open fire: a beam of alien energy fires out and shoots one of the enemy planes out of the sky. To the Doctor’s horror, the professor’s ‘Ironside’ is revealed to be one of the most ruthless creatures in the universe: a Dalek! However, instead of immediately killing its sworn enemy, this khaki-coloured Dalek sporting a Union Flag on its dome assures the Doctor that it is a soldier committed to helping Britain… The Doctor tries to convince Churchill that the Daleks are not to be trusted, but the P.M. refuses to believe him; it seems Churchill no longer has the doubts that led him to call the Doctor for help, and is now convinced that Bracewell’s inventions will help him win the war. The Doctor turns to Amy for help, but strangely, she too has never heard of the Daleks... Vowing to expose the Daleks’ true nature, the Doctor takes Amy to Bracewell’s lab, where he questions the scientist about his new invention and the other advanced ideas he has had. After Churchill joins them the Doctor tries provoking one of the Daleks by striking the creature’s metal casing with a huge spanner; the Dalek refuses to retaliate – until the Doctor proclaims the Dalek to be his worst enemy. Turning to its comrade in triumph, the Dalek transmits its assailant’s “testimony” to a saucer in orbit above the dark side of the Moon – the message is received by a third Dalek, who reports the signal’s activation of a machine called a Progenitor. Back in the War Rooms, the Doctor, Amy and Churchill look on as the Daleks open fire on two soldiers and then blast off the professor’s hand – revealing not flesh and blood, but metal and wires: Bracewell is a Dalek android! Proclaiming their victory, the two Daleks teleport back to their ship, leaving the Doctor with the realisation that he was part of his enemies’ plan all along. Leaving Amy with Churchill, the Doctor uses the TARDIS to locate the Daleks’ vessel; as the time-space ship departs, Churchill receives a report that his team have also detected the Daleks. Materialising the TARDIS aboard the Dalek saucer, the Doctor steps out and confronts his enemies, bluffing them into not killing him by pretending a Jammie Dodger biscuit is his the self-destruct control for his ship. When the Doctor remarks on the age of their ship, the Daleks explain that they are the only survivors of the Time War: falling back through time, they detected the signal of a Progenitor, a rare device that contains pure Dalek DNA. The Doctor deduces that when the Progenitor failed to recognise these creatures as Daleks due to their impure lineage, they created Bracewell as a lure for their old enemy, hoping to trick him into testifying that they were genuine. The Daleks then activate an energy beam that turns on all the lights in London, leaving the city wide open for attack by German bombers approaching over the English Channel. When the Doctor orders the deactivation of the beam the Daleks refuse to comply, in turn ordering their enemy to leave so that they can return to their own time; a stalemate ensues – until the Progenitor announces that its reconstruction of pure Dalek DNA is complete. As the Doctor looks on, a white supreme Dalek in a new-look casing glides out of the Progenitor, closely followed by a blue strategist, an orange scientist, a yellow eternal and a red drone – a new paradigm that heralds the restoration of the Daleks! Back in the War Rooms, Churchill and his staff prepare for the imminent attack. Suddenly struck with an idea, Amy leads the P.M. to Bracewell’s laboratory, where the professor sits contemplating suicide, his mind in turmoil from the revelation of his true origin; talked into helping by Amy, Bracewell proposes using a gravity bubble to retaliate against the Daleks… Aboard the saucer, the new Daleks destroy their three inferiors and then turn to face the Doctor; the confrontation is seen in the War Room on a scanner jury-rigged by Bracewell. Having seen through the Doctor’s bluff, the supreme Dalek is about to order the Time Lord’s destruction when he is interrupted by an incoming missile attack – as out in space, a squad of Spitfires commence an attack run on the enemy saucer. As the Doctor seizes the opportunity to race back to his TARDIS, the Daleks open fire on the attacking planes. Using the TARDIS’ systems, the Doctor disrupts the Daleks’ shield, allowing the sole surviving Spitfire pilot, Danny Boy, to score a direct hit on the aliens’ energy emitter; as all the lights go off across London, Churchill, Amy and the War Room staff cheer in triumph. The Dalek supreme contacts the Doctor and orders him to call off the attack, threatening to destroy Earth by detonating an oblivion continuum bomb concealed inside Bracewell. Knowing he has no choice, the Doctor contacts Danny Boy and orders him to return home; but the Doctor is not defeated, and he rushes back to the War Rooms, knocks Bracewell to the floor and sets about defusing the android. Meanwhile, the Daleks activate a time corridor, as their systems begin a countdown to their bomb’s detonation. Unable to deactivate Bracewell with his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor tries calling up the professor’s memories in an effort to use the android’s humanity to override the bomb, and with Amy’s help the crisis is averted. Their plan foiled, the Daleks vow to return, before flying off into the time corridor. The Doctor is devastated that his enemies have won, until Amy and Churchill remind him that he has just saved the entire planet. Some time later, the Doctor and Amy bid goodbye to Churchill and then pay a visit to Bracewell; the professor is expecting to be deactivated, and is overjoyed when the Doctor and Amy give him the opportunity to slip away unnoticed. The Doctor and Amy depart in the TARDIS – failing to notice a familiar, ominous crack in the wall behind the ship…

Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Bill Paterson (Professor Edwin Bracewell), Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill), Nina De Cosimo (Blanche), Tim Wallers (Group Captain Childers), Nicholas Pegg (Dalek 1), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek 2), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek Voice), Susannah Fielding (Lilian), James Albrecht (Group Captain Todd), Colin Prockter (Air Raid Warden), Mark Gatiss (Danny Boy [Voice])*
*Uncredited

Directed by Andrew Gunn
Produced by Peter Bennett
Executive Producers Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC HD):
17th April 2010 @ 6.30 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy

*As well as the usual next episode trailer, this story also featured a preview of the new ‘Doctor Who’ animated adventure games, available for download from the official BBC website in June 2010