The Genesis Incident was the Time Lord designation for the mission they gave the Fourth Doctor, to interfere with the creation of the Daleks at the hands of Davros. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975)., PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).) Documents from the Celestial Intervention Agency regarded the mission as "the infamous Deliavatsud Intervention", named after one possible identity of the Time Lord messenger who gave the Doctor his mission. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem ^[+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1986).)

The incident was one of the most important events in the origins of the Last Great Time War. (PROSE: Meet the Doctor, et. al)

Dating[]

The Time Lords' identified the Genesis Incident as taking place in the year 34 AD, After Davros. Using the Earth dating system, they placed Davros' youth and the creation of the Daleks within ancient history, prior to the 2nd century. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).)

History[]

Origin of the Daleks[]

On the planet Skaro, during the later part of the Thousand Year War between the Kaleds and the Thals, both sides suffered mutations caused by nuclear, biological and chemical agents. Some of the mutant survivors, known as mutoes, survived in the wastelands. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).) Shan, a young Kaled scientist, authored a paper which formulated a solution to the threats of perpetual war or mutually assured destruction. With both Kaleds and Thals competing for resources, she claimed that the only way out of this dilemma was through a process she called "the Dalek Solution". Davros presented the paper to the Kaled Council as his own, though he omitted several of Shan's more controversial conclusions, such as the fact that the Kaled race would be completely replaced by the new species. (AUDIO: Davros ^[+]Lance Parkin, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003).)

Another account had it that the name Davros gave his creations came from a prophecy found in the forbidden Book of Predictions, written in the extinct language of the Dals, which stated "...and on that day, men will become as gods". In the original language, the final word was pronounced "Dal-ek". (AUDIO: Guilt ^[+]Scott Alan Woodard, I, Davros (Big Finish Productions, 2006).) In yet another account, information from the Matrix on Gallifrey stated that Davros created the word Dalek as an anagram of the word Kaled, to represent the reconfigured Kaled life form within. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).)

Later, Davros, now crippled, became one of the Kaled Scientific Elite. He concluded that the Kaled race would have to evolve into a new species, not only to survive but thrive in the ever-worsening conditions of the planet e.g. able to breathe the poisoned air and eat irradiated food. (AUDIO: Davros ^[+]Lance Parkin, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003).) It was Davros's view that although the resultant species need not be aesthetically pleasing, they would require a strong intelligence and survival instinct. He also held the view that natural selection and evolution would logically conclude with one species in total control of the world, with all other life-forms gone. Although other Kaleds did not relish the idea of such a world, Davros would later instill this belief into his creations on a universal scale.

According to Ronson, Davros produced "the ultimate creature" their race would become by treating living cells with chemicals and accelerating the mutations. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).) However, later accounts state that the earliest Dalek creatures were also created from Kaled infants (AUDIO: Guilt ^[+]Scott Alan Woodard, I, Davros (Big Finish Productions, 2006).) and "undesireables" within the Kaled Dome, such as artists. (AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro ^[+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)

He had begun experiments on living subjects to ensure the survival of, and later deify the Kaled race. Due to the radiation and chemical pollutants in the atmosphere, infant mortality rates and still-births were rising in the Kaled domes. Davros pushed through legislation enabling authority (and ownership) of all Kaled infants under five years of age to be delivered to Pediatric Facility K99, which he used as a laboratory for surgical experiments. Davros later transplanted the irradiated brain from Baran, a captured Thal spy, into a Mark I Travel Machine, ironically meaning that the very first functional Dalek was technically Thal, rather than Kaled in origin. (AUDIO: Guilt ^[+]Scott Alan Woodard, I, Davros (Big Finish Productions, 2006).)

During the last days of the war, Kaled artists were deemed "not necessary" and forcibly recruited for a "special project". They too were forcibly mutated, requring multiple implants to stop their screams of pain. (AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro ^[+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) According to Klinus, the pain was ever-present even after being installed into their travel machines. Obeying orders marginally lessened the pain, but only temporarily.

The Daleks believed, at a later much stage in their history when they were led by the Dalek Prime, that although he took credit for the travel machines' designs, Davros had actually stolen them from other Kaled scientists. (PROSE: War of the Daleks ^[+]John Peel, adapted from War of the Daleks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) Alternatively, a historical chronicle stated Davros based the Dalek travel machine design off his own life support system, which it credited him with designing, (PROSE: The Whoniverse ^[+]George Mann and Justin Richards, BBC Books (2016).) whereas another account stated Davros had designed a new chair to replace an initial, dilapidated wheelchair after noting the fear his first prototype struck in General Ravon. (PROSE: Davros Genesis)

Davros did not immediately show the results of his Dalek experiments to the Kaled Scientific Elite. He improved and developed the shell for the organic components of the Daleks, housing them in tank-like and armed Mark III Travel Machines similar to his own life support chair. He maintained a nursery of embryonic Dalek young. As well as nurturing the physical form of his creations, Davros shaped their minds. The Daleks did not understand concepts such as pity. It did not exist in their "vocabulary bank[s]". (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).)

The Time Lords Intervene[]

The Daleks were brought to the attention of the Time Lords by the Second Doctor during his trial, as he told them that they were the most dangerous of all his foes. (TV: The War Games) It was suggested by The Dalek Conquests (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, BBC Audio (2006).) that the Third Doctor negating an alternate timeline in which the Daleks successfully conquered Earth by starting World War III in the late 20th century, (TV: Day of the Daleks) was noticed by Time Lords, (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, BBC Audio (2006).) who accepted the Doctor's plea to guide the TARDIS to Spiridon, where the Doctor neutralised the Dalek army in 2540. (TV: Planet of the Daleks)

Although Dalek dominance was kept at bay, the Time Lords continued to observe them growing stronger and more dangerous. They put aside their policy of non-interference (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, BBC Audio (2006).) after their "latest temporal projections" foresaw a future where the Daleks had accomplished their long-held goal of wiping out all other lifeforms. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975)., PROSE: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terrance Dicks, adapted from Genesis of the Daleks (Terry Nation), Target novelisations (Target Books, 1976).) The Time Lords judged that the Daleks were too dangerous to continue to persist (WC: Monster File: Daleks ^[+]Justin Richards, Captain Jack's Monster Files (2008).) and decided the mutants were a threat to the survival of all of reality. (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor ^[+]Steven Moffat, adapted from The Day of the Doctor (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).) Beyond having seen how the Daleks were "malignant infection" on the universe, the Time Lords came to fear for their own safety in the face of the Dalek menace, even believing the Daleks were the long prophesied enemy who would emerge (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) to destroy them. (PROSE: The Whoniverse ^[+]George Mann and Justin Richards, BBC Books (2016).)

Early in his fourth incarnation, the Doctor, along with companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, were diverted to Skaro, where the Doctor met a Time Lord messenger, who claimed that the Time Lords had foreseen a time when the Daleks had destroyed all other lifeforms and became the dominant creature in the universe. The Doctor's mission, given to him by the Time Lord was to either avert the creation of the Daleks (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).) — an act of retro-genocide, which members of the "interventionist elite" were rumored to indeed be doing in secret in the lead up the War in Heaven (PROSE: The Book of the War ^[+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) — or affect the Daleks' genetic development so that they evolved into less aggressive creatures. Alternatively, the messenger proposed the Doctor could learn enough about their very beginnings so as to discover some inherent weakness. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).)

As told by Celestial Intervention Agency documents, the messenger was the final incarnation of Deliavatsud, a director of the CIA who went rogue in an attempt to subvert the APC Net's predictions of total Dalek domination. According to The Dalek Problem, it was the Duplicate Incident that pointed to the continued threat the Daleks posed despite their low numbers following the Movellan War, which led the Time Lord Council to begin gathering information on the Daleks. On the orders of the Office of Multihistorical Research, the CIA began to intercept and reorganise some of the reports. In the years after this, Deliavatsud, whose administration had failed to recongise the threat of the Daleks for 25,000 years, finally consulted the APC Net about the Daleks in 101,197 TL. Learning of the danger they posed, Deliavatsud hastily launched the Fourth Doctor's mission to Skaro by stealing a Time Ring as a way to unlawfully Time Scoop the Doctor and his companions to Skaro. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem ^[+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1986).) In a bootstrap paradox, the Duplicate Incident had long followed the Genesis Incident from the perspective of the Doctor, by then in his fifth incarnation. and Davros, with the Time Lords later understanding that the Daleks' duplicate plot was a direct response to the Time Lords' intervention. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).)

By another account, the messenger was Ferain, a member of the CIA. (PROSE: Lungbarrow ^[+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) According to one other account, this messenger was Valyes, who was sent in disguise by Narvin after the Daleks invaded Gallifrey in the future. (AUDIO: Lua error in Module:Cite_source at line 420: attempt to index a nil value.) By yet another account, the leader of the team who identified the Daleks' threat to the universe and developed a plan to stop them was named Jelpax. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties ^[+]Gary Russell, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) Published during the Time War, the Time Lords' own Dalek Combat Training Manual claimed that the High Council had decided to send the Doctor to Skaro. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).)

The Doctor on Skaro[]

Although there was dispute between accounts on whether the Daleks themselves learnt of alien life through this mission, (AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro ^[+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) meeting the Doctor proved the existence of life beyond Skaro and the possibility of time travel to Davros himself. He was overjoyed to find these alien lifeforms believed his "children" were a great threat to their existence, thinking it proved that he was a genius and that the Daleks were indeed superior to all others. From this moment forward, Davros actively wanted his Daleks to advance beyond Skaro and believed that was an inevitably, ultimately wishing for them to control all space and time. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) After the early Daleks all but wiped out the Thals and destroyed their home city, the Doctor rallied an ultimately failed coup against Davros and was finally presented with a chance to wipe out the Daleks by destroying their incubation room, only to falter at the last second. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).)

Pondering whether he could alter Dalek development to turn them into a merciful force (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) and finding himself unable to commit genocide, he questioned if such an act would make him "no better than the Daleks" and whether "some things" in the universe would be better with the fear of the Daleks uniting people, only to believe did not need to make the decision when it seemed the anti-Davros coup had worked out. Instead, the Daleks returned to the Kaled bunker and wiped out those who opposed Davros, leaving the mad scientist in control of the surviving Kaleds. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).) Believing his people had been right and realising Davros would never allow mercy to be introduced into his "children", (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) the Doctor returned to the incubation room to finish his mission, only for his work to be cut short. By his estimation, he had only set back Dalek history by a thousand years. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).)

With the rise of the Daleks no longer able to be altered, (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) the Doctor and his companions left Skaro after watching the Daleks betray and gun-down their creator for his supposed inferiority, although he told Sarah and Harry of his hope that something good could emerge from the destruction the Daleks inflicted upon the universe. They also parted ways with the surviving Thals and Mutos, (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).) who fell under the leadership of the Thal soldier Bettan. She went on to found the Thal tribe whose descendants the First Doctor encountered during his first visit to Skaro. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks) She also had some kind of involvement in the Time War and foresaw its "final event". (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Time War) Meanwhile, the first Dalek Davros had created, (PROSE: The Evil of the Daleks) the Dalek Prime, cemented its control over its race despite being locked underground for the time being. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks ^[+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).)

Ironically, whilst the Thals would endure, human historians understood that the remaining Kaleds were utterly eradicated by the fledgling Daleks, with only Davros himself being known to have survived. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) Indeed, one Dalek would later observe that the Daleks, having originally been devised as a way to preserve the Kaleds, had failed in their mission. (TV: The Power of the Doctor)

Aftermath[]

Impact on timeline[]

Accounts differed on whether the Doctor's actions on Skaro actually changed the Daleks' timeline. One indicated there was a change, with thousands of worlds freed from the Daleks' rule. (PROSE: A Device of Death ^[+]Christopher Bulis, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) Another account indicated the mission had been part of a bootstrap paradox: time had not been changed, and the Doctor's mission had always been part of Dalek history. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem ^[+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1986).) Several historical texts indeed discussed the Genesis incident in the context of Dalek history, doing so without any mention of it possibly changing history. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017)., Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).) Another account claimed the Daleks being confined to their bunker indeed set off a new timeline, with that account also claiming Skaro's restoration after the Shoreditch Incident was part of a "third timeline." (PROSE: Whotopia: The Ultimate Guide to the Whoniverse) Yet another account claimed the Doctor's actions on Skaro created a new timeline, but it was unclear how much of that timeline was actually different from the prior one. (PROSE: The Dalek Handbook)

According to one account, after Davros's Daleks were buried for a thousand years by the Doctor's efforts, the Kaleds evolved into the humanoid Daleks, with the Thousand Year War having come to an end. However, after the neutronic exchange that wiped out the "humanoid Dalek", or Dal, civilisation, the Dalek Prime created by Davros reemerged from underground, and, passing itself off as a new mutation, directed the new, "natural" mutant Daleks to climb into Dalek War Machine casings, seeing it as an easy way to expand its fledgling race. It then set itself up as the new race's leader. The Dal-descended Daleks remained subservient to the Dalek Prime and the other few Daleks made directly by Davros, as programming within the casings directed them to act so. (PROSE: The History of the Daleks) This event matched an alternative Dalek "origin story" (COMIC: Genesis of Evil) that both human historians and Time Lords suggested was part of a different timeline. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017)., Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).)

Thal rebuilding[]

Dr. M. Christopholos' The history of the Thals, a historical account of the Daleks attack on the Thal Dome, depicted the attackers as flying bronze Daleks. (PROSE: Creation of the Daleks)

Time Lord reflection[]

The Time Lords considered the Doctor's mission a failure, at least in the immediate term. By one account, in the fallout, they observed that changes to the timeline had freed thousands of worlds from the tyranny of the Daleks, but not the millions hoped for. Following the Doctor's subsequent actions in the weapons research facility of Deepcity, however, the Time Lords foresaw the rise of a race of robots that would challenge the Daleks and lead to the fall of the Dalek Empire. (PROSE: A Device of Death ^[+]Christopher Bulis, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) By another account, the Celestial Intervention Agency's own documentation, the mission to Skaro had ended up a bootstrap paradox, as the Doctor's actions only ensured the timeline they were already living in had come to pass. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem ^[+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1986).)

In that account, the mission was remembered as "the infamous Deliavatsud Intervention." Whilst the Doctor was found innocent "on technical grounds" due to being forced into the mission, Deliavatsud's blatant rejection of the non-intervention policy resulted in him being disintegrated by the High Council as punishment, which forced the CIA's further interventionist activities to be handled in secret. Not only did this leave the CIA crippled for years, but a large amount of Deliavatsud's research into "the Dalek Situation" was taken and destroyed by the High Council, so the newly-appointed Chief of Multihistorical Research, Professor Qualen, was selected to research into the future of "The Dalek Problem".

Speaking at the First Clandestine Symposium to Consider Policy Regarding the Dalek Expansion with an address titled "The Mechanical Marauders", Qualen reflected upon the Doctor's mission and possible future actions Gallifrey could take against the Daleks. Believing they would be unable to attack the Daleks at their origins, heargued that the CIA needed to handle anti-Dalek interventionism on "a case-by-case basis" in the name of keeping Gallifrey and "crucial time lines" safe, while allowing "non-crucial points" to fall to the Daleks if an intervention there would not result in the protection of these "crucial" points nor totally defeat the Dalek threat.

Qualen believed even the assassination of Davros during the attack that left him crippled would only delay the evolution of the Daleks by "a few thousand years". He believed that the only true way to wipe out the Daleks before their rise would to be destroy both the Thals and Kaleds during their final battle, defending this proposed genocide by arguing it would save the many more lives the Daleks destroyed. However, he believed the Doctor's presence during the rise of the Daleks had forever closed off such option and would instead create a time loop, but also came to believe that the Daleks were destined to arise whether or not the Doctor's mission had succeeded; based upon Davros' own research, he believed that the ongoing nuclear civil war on Skaro would have inevitably resulted in the creation of the Daleks "or something very like them." (PROSE: The Dalek Problem ^[+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1986).) Indeed, the Dalek Prime once claimed Davros had interfered with their development by bringing them into being earlier than they were destined to, (PROSE: War of the Daleks ^[+]John Peel, adapted from War of the Daleks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) although Davros proclaimed at other times that the Daleks only acted the way they did because he made them in his own image. (AUDIO: The Davros Mission, et. al)

As the Time Lords predicted, (PROSE: A Device of Death ^[+]Christopher Bulis, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) the Daleks engaged in a destructive war against the Movellans. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks) Although the Dalek Prime later claimed the war had been staged, (PROSE: War of the Daleks ^[+]John Peel, adapted from War of the Daleks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) the Daleks sought revenge on the Time Lords in the aftermath of the Movellan conflict and the subsequent Dalek civil war. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks)

Dalek response[]

The Daleks eventually learned of the Time Lords' attempt to subvert their development, which they henceforth viewed as the Gallifreyans having launched a pre-emptive strike and act of aggression, so the Daleks planned to strike back at Gallifrey. Thus, while it was the total opposite of the Time Lords' intention, (PROSE: The Slyther of Shoreditch ^[+]Mike Tucker, The Target Storybook (BBC Books, 2019).) the incident had generated Dalek hostilities towards the Time Lords that would eventually lead to the War. (WC: Monster File: Daleks ^[+]Justin Richards, Captain Jack's Monster Files (2008)., AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, BBC Audio (2006)., The Innocent ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, Only the Monstrous (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2015).) The Time Lords also recognised the abduction of Daleks to the Death Zone as an "act of aggression" that contributed to the outbreak of the Time War. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021)., TV: The Five Doctors, AUDIO: The Five Companions)

Remembering how he had held the fate of the Daleks in his own hands during his fourth incarnation, the Eleventh Doctor himself referred to it as the "first shot". As such, the Doctor blamed themself for starting the Time War. (COMIC:Hunters of the Burning Stone ^[+]Scott Gray, DWM Comics (2013).) Whilst different incarnations of the Doctor had different thoughts on whether destroying the Daleks in their entirety was right, (TV: Journey's End, et. al) the Eighth Doctor and the War Doctor believed they should have destroyed the Daleks when they had the chance. (AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks, The Innocent ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, Only the Monstrous (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2015).)

The Time War[]

Main article: Origins of the Last Great Time War

The Eternity Circle later considered the Time Lords' act of trying to prevent their creation to be the beginning of the Last Great Time War, (PROSE: Engines of War ^[+]George Mann, BBC New Series tie-in novels (BBC Books, 2014).) as did the Dalek Time Strategist. (AUDIO: The Eternity Cage ^[+]Andrew Smith, Agents of Chaos (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) The Eleventh Doctor shared this opinion, believing he had fired the "first shot" of the War. (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone ^[+]Scott Gray, DWM Comics (2013).) The Time Lord Rojan saw the incident as an early event of the Time War before hostilities escalated. (PROSE: The Stranger) Despite this, the Matrix on Gallifrey did not foresee the Last Great Time War as a fallout of the Genesis Incident, it later being theorised that the conflict was too far in the future relative to the Genesis Incident for the supercomputer to link the two. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords ^[+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).)

While puppeteering events of the Shoreditch Incident to his ends, the Seventh Doctor encountered a Time Lord operative who had no idea what the Doctor was doing in the time zone. The Time Lord was in fact the same Gallifreyan who had given him the mission to alter Dalek history at their genesis long ago, with his department having taken a specific focus on the Daleks to try and ensure they did not develop the advanced time travel technology needed to wage their planned time war against Gallifrey. Meeting with the Doctor, the Time Lord warned the renegade of the brewing conflict and helped him taken an Imperial Slyther, which was tracking the Hand of Omega but only managed to lock onto the scent of Brian Donlevy after the weapon hid its energy signature. After helping the Doctor kill the beast, the Time Lord promised the Slyther would be given a dignified treatment because it was merely a pawn of the Daleks. However, he made sure to warn the Doctor once more of the coming Time War, revealing that whatever he had planned for the Imperials and Renegades would merely be a skirmish compared to the brewing conflict. As he explained, the War was already spreading "its tendrils" through space and time in concerning ways that not even Gallifrey understood. He warned that the Doctor that they were "destined" to soon meet again. (PROSE: The Slyther of Shoreditch ^[+]Mike Tucker, The Target Storybook (BBC Books, 2019).)

During the conflict, Lord President Eternal Rassilon met Narvin, who had instigated the plot according to one account, (AUDIO: Lua error in Module:Cite_source at line 420: attempt to index a nil value.) and expressed his approval for his scheme, though Narvin claimed his choice of agent had been hasty. (AUDIO: Assassins)

Ironically, scholars on wartime Gallifrey came to believe that if the Time Lords had allowed the Dalek timeline to evolve without interference, and so let Davros refine his creations at that early crucial stage, then they might have become the less aggressive creatures that they had sought to create. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).)

During the Time War, the Time Lords held the Anti-Genesis codes which enabled the user to reach the creation of the Daleks, though were forbidden to use them. The War Master stole them and used them to interfere even earlier in the Daleks' creation, (AUDIO: From the Flames) supplanting Davros and creating an alternate race of Daleks loyal to him. (AUDIO: The Master's Dalek Plan) He arranged for his Daleks to ambush and kill the Fourth Doctor and his companions upon their arrival. (AUDIO: Shockwave) The Master's interference was later undone by himself, along with a parallel universe counterpart of his and the Dalek Time Strategist. (AUDIO: He Who Wins)

Inspired by the Time Lords' methods, the Daleks conducted further experiments on their own race in alternate timelines. The result was the creation of the unstable and unpredictable Skaro Degradations, which the Daleks deployed as a weapon of war. The Time Lords also made other attempts to "re-engineer" Dalek history, only for the Daleks to always survive and assert themselves into every possibility they brought about, as if the universe wanted the exterminators to be a part of history. (PROSE: Engines of War ^[+]George Mann, BBC New Series tie-in novels (BBC Books, 2014).)

Remembrance[]

Having been rescued from death in the Time War, Davros was embroiled in the Planetary Relocation Incident and came into contact with both the Tenth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. Recalling his "death" at the hands of the Daleks, Sarah Jane was shocked to hear his voice, while Davros was pleased to see her among the Children of Time. (TV: The Stolen Earth, Journey's End)

Receiving the Twelfth Doctor on the rebuilt Skaro during the Hybrid Incident, Davros replayed several of their prior confrontations to him, ending on the Fourth Doctor rhetorically asking if one could kill a child who would grow up to become a totally evil and ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice)

Human historians in the post-Time War universe were aware of conflicting accounts of the creation of the Daleks which did not involve Davros, most notably their creation at the hands of Yarvelling, a scientist of the blue-skinned Humanoid Daleks. Historians suggested that these alternative "origin stories" may have temporarily became true as the Time Lords "reached back to reconstruct the past" during the Time War. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).)

Alternate realities[]

In a parallel universe, (COMIC: Fire and Brimstone) the Doctor was sent to Skaro by the Master, who was President of the Time Lords, to prevent the Daleks' creation by Davros. The Master exploited the Doctor's interference to seize control of the Daleks himself, turning them against Davros and then ordering them to pursue the Doctor through time. (PROSE: The Chronicles of Doctor Who?)

In a parallel universe, according to legend the Time Lords attempted to wipe out the Kaleds whilst they were still a nascent species. The Kaleds and Thals worked together to fight back, destroying the Time Lords and creating a centuries-long peace between the two factions. (AUDIO: Palindrome)

In another reality, Sarah Jane Smith successfully convinced the Fourth Doctor to destroy the Daleks in the incubator chamber. This had massive consequences for time, creating millions of alternate timelines including aberrant versions of the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry subsequently tried to escape Skaro via their Time Ring, but were ambushed by a prototype Dalek. Before the Doctor could die, he was extracted from Skaro by Narvin. (AUDIO: Dust Devil ^[+]John Dorney, Genesis (Doctor of War, Big Finish Productions, 2022).) In the aftermath of the Doctor's genocidal actions, the Kaleds, Thals and surviving Daleks came together into the Unified Skaroan Alliance and developed time travel from the leftover time ring. They sought to control the universe, instigating a Time War. (AUDIO: Aftershocks) Narvin informed the mortally-wounded Fourth Doctor his actions had failed to stop the Daleks and had caused a Time War. He provided the Doctor with an elixir so he could regenerate, with the Doctor choosing to become the Warrior. (AUDIO: Dust Devil ^[+]John Dorney, Genesis (Doctor of War, Big Finish Productions, 2022).) The War ultimately ended when the Warrior used the power of the Key to Time to avert the conflict, returning a part of him back to his fourth incarnation who now did not cross the wires in the incubation room on Skaro. (AUDIO: The Key To Key To Time)

Alternate timelines[]

Some accounts suggested that the Fourth Doctor's mission to interfere with the creation of the Daleks on behalf of the Time Lords created an alternate timeline, leaving behind the original version of history altogether rather than merely altering it. This was never reversed. (PROSE: A Sourcebook for Field Agents ^[+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1985).) By another account, according to the Celestial Intervention Agency's own documentation, the mission to Skaro had ended up a bootstrap paradox, as the Doctor's actions only ensured the timeline they were already living in had come to pass. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem ^[+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1986).)

The Time Lords observed that changes to the timeline had freed thousands of worlds from the tyranny of the Daleks, but not the millions hoped for. Following the Doctor's subsequent actions in the weapons research facility of Deepcity, however, the Time Lords foresaw the rise of a race of robots that would challenge the Daleks and lead to the fall of the Dalek Empire. (PROSE: A Device of Death ^[+]Christopher Bulis, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).)

Regardless, numerous observers including the Doctor themself saw the mission as the "first shot" (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, BBC Audio (2006)., The Innocent ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, Only the Monstrous (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2015)., The Eternity Cage ^[+]Andrew Smith, Agents of Chaos (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016)., PROSE: Engines of War ^[+]George Mann, BBC New Series tie-in novels (BBC Books, 2014)., Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017)., COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone ^[+]Scott Gray, DWM Comics (2013).) of what ultimately became the Last Great Time War, a conflict which had far-reaching consequences across the history of the universe. (PROSE: The Whoniverse ^[+]George Mann and Justin Richards, BBC Books (2016)., Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe ^[+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017)., Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).) Indeed, the Daleks did at some point become aware of the Time Lords' attempt to subvert their development, which they henceforth viewed as the Gallifreyans having launched a pre-emptive strike and act of aggression. (PROSE: The Slyther of Shoreditch ^[+]Mike Tucker, The Target Storybook (BBC Books, 2019)., WC: Monster File: Daleks ^[+]Justin Richards, Captain Jack's Monster Files (2008)., AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, BBC Audio (2006)., The Innocent ^[+]Nicholas Briggs, Only the Monstrous (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2015)., The Eternity Cage ^[+]Andrew Smith, Agents of Chaos (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) The Tenth Doctor later admitted that, for the Daleks, their history was "confusing enough" before the Time War. (PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks ^[+]Trevor Baxendale, BBC New Series Adventures (BBC Books, 2009).) In a parallel universe in which he chose to destroy the Daleks, the Fourth Doctor was embroiled in the Time War as it started prematurely, regenerating into the Warrior. (AUDIO: Dust Devil ^[+]John Dorney, Genesis (Doctor of War, Big Finish Productions, 2022).)

By the Time War, there were some Gallifreyan scholars who believed that, had the Time Lords allowed the Dalek timeline to evolve without interference, and so let Davros refine his creations at that early crucial stage, then they might have become the less aggressive creatures that had sought to create. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual ^[+]Richard Atkinson and Mike Tucker, BBC Books (2021).)

Behind the scenes[]

Various "invalid" sources[]

• The Discontinuity Guide made the claim that, originally, Davros was killed and forgotten, and that the Fourth Doctor's interference with the creation of the Daleks created a new timeline where Davros survived, the Doctor's warnings about the Daleks having made Davros paranoid enough to activate a force field in his chair. As a result, whilst the Daleks originally had a solid, cohesive empire, always with one purpose, Davros' presence reduced them to "a mess of squabbling factions" which were "incapable of the unity needed to develop dimensionally transcendental time travel." Published before the Last Great Time War was established in Doctor Who lore, The Discontinuity Guide went on to claim that "whilst Davros lives the Daleks will remain disorganised, and will never become the threat that the Time Lords so feared."^[1]

Speculation[]

• The Dalek Handbook claims that the Genesis Incident took place circa 1450. This is based on the assumption that The Daleks takes place circa 1963, with the First Doctor having returned Ian and Barbara to the correct time period after An Unearthly Child, but not the correct place. References in The Daleks to the neutronic war having taken place more than 500 years prior therefore produces the approximate 1450 date. However, the in-universe short story, Peaceful Thals Ambushed!, alternatively suggests the Thal-Dalek battle took place in 2064, logically relegating Genesis to the 1560s. Numerous editions of AHistory also suggest totally different dates.
  • It is also suggested that the Time Lords had ignored the Daleks' original wave of conquests and their development of time travel technology before the combination of the Daleks' large-scale efforts to alter history along with the Master's alliance with them and the Doctor's subsequent appeal for help motivated the Time Lords to notice the Daleks, foreseeing the potential future which led them to enacting the Genesis Incident.
• The Dalek Handbook speculates on how the Doctor's interference, dubbed the "(re-)creation of the Daleks", changed the timeline, whether the Daleks were indeed set back a thousand years or if history played out more or less the same.
  • As the Doctor did not hear Davros mentioned prior to the Genesis Incident, the book claims it was likely that Davros was exterminated and forgotten in the original timeline. As the ruins of the Kaled City still stood during the Movellan Incident of the early 46th century, it was suggested that the city of Kaalann had not yet been built in this timeline while noting the absence of Thals and continued presence of radiation, indicating the neutronic war was even more devastating in the new timeline. The apparent absence of the Dalek Emperor during the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War is taken as evidence that the Daleks may or have not avoided the Dalek Civil War in the new timeline.
• While the book leaves it up in the air if time really changed that much, it claims that the Daleks adopted a more ruthless and effective persona in the new timeline, albeit at the cost of their cunning and, as time went by in the lead up the Dalek-Movellan War, their organic origins. Still, numerous other sources present their own ideas as to whether the Doctor's actions in Genesis of the Daleks actually changed Dalek history. In effect, it is up to an individual fan to pick and chose what they believe to be the case.
• In The Dalek Handbook, it is also suggested that the Time Lords' next step was to create the Movellans to fight the Daleks, though other theories as to the Movellans' origin are brought forward.

Deleted scenes[]

• In a deleted scene from the end of Return of the Cybermen, the Time Lord messenger would have appeared in the TARDIS to tell the Fourth Doctor that his failure to succeed in his mission had caused his own history to reoccur in slightly different ways and may lead to a Time War. This was meant to explain the contradictions between Return of the Cybermen and Revenge of the Cybermen, as well as between The Haunting of Villa Diodati and Mary's Story, and Human Nature and Human Nature ^[+]Paul Cornell, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1995)..^[2]

Footnotes[]