Daleks deploy time machine pursuit
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The Dalek time machine, carrying a squad of Daleks and Mavic Chen, prepares to depart from Kembel for its mission to retrieve the taranium and eliminate the time travelers. The Black Dalek initiates the countdown, marking the launch of their pursuit.
The Daleks pinpoint the TARDIS's location on Earth in London, 1966, and relay the coordinates to the task force. The Daleks prepare to use a homing beam to track the time travelers, escalating the pursuit and bringing them closer to confrontation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Relentless, single-minded focus on the mission—no empathy, only the drive to exterminate the Doctor and secure Dalek dominance.
The Black Dalek dominates the scene from its imposing black casing, barking orders with absolute authority. It commands the countdown for the Dalek time machine's departure, directs the homing beam's activation, and ensures the task force locks onto the TARDIS's coordinates in 1966 London. Its voice is a guttural, commanding growl, reinforcing its role as the unquestioned leader of the Dalek forces. The Black Dalek's actions are a masterclass in ruthless efficiency, leaving no room for error or hesitation.
- • Deploy the Dalek time machine to hunt down and eliminate the TARDIS.
- • Ensure the homing beam locks onto the Doctor's coordinates to guarantee a successful pursuit.
- • The Doctor is the greatest threat to Dalek supremacy and must be eradicated at all costs.
- • Time technology is the key to achieving absolute control over all civilizations.
Cold, unyielding efficiency—no hint of doubt or hesitation, fully aligned with Dalek operational protocol.
Dalek 2 stands rigidly in the Dalek Control Room, its eyestalk swiveling to monitor the TARDIS's movements. It reports the enemy ship's preparation to land with clinical precision, its voice grating and devoid of emotion. The Dalek's role is purely functional—verifying tactical data and relaying it to the Black Dalek without hesitation or deviation from protocol.
- • Ensure accurate threat assessment of the TARDIS's movements.
- • Relay critical tactical data to the Black Dalek without delay.
- • The TARDIS is a direct threat to Dalek supremacy and must be eliminated.
- • Obedience to the Black Dalek is absolute and non-negotiable.
Fully aligned with Dalek objectives—no individual emotion, only the drive to execute the mission.
A generic Dalek soldier stands in the background, participating in the countdown and preparing for departure. Its role is purely operational—part of the task force being deployed to hunt the TARDIS. The Dalek's presence reinforces the Daleks' collective, hive-mind mentality, where individuality is subsumed by the greater goal of extermination. Its actions are synchronized with the Black Dalek's commands, embodying the Daleks' mechanical precision and unquestioning obedience.
- • Board the Dalek time machine and prepare for temporal pursuit of the TARDIS.
- • Follow the Black Dalek's orders without question or deviation.
- • The TARDIS and its occupants are enemies of the Dalek Race and must be destroyed.
- • Obedience to the Black Dalek is the highest priority.
Cautiously tense—aware of his vulnerability as a human among Daleks, masking his anxiety with calculated compliance.
Mavic Chen is aboard the Dalek time machine as a reluctant enforcer, his presence implied but not directly shown in the control room. His role is passive yet fraught with tension—he is a pawn in the Daleks' scheme, forced to comply with their demands. While not speaking in this segment, his inclusion in the task force underscores his precarious position: he is both a collaborator and a potential traitor, caught between his ambition for galactic rule and the Daleks' genocidal ambitions.
- • Survive the Daleks' mission without drawing their wrath.
- • Find an opportunity to turn the situation to his advantage, potentially betraying the Daleks.
- • The Daleks are a means to an end, but their genocidal tendencies make them unpredictable allies.
- • His own survival and ambition for power must take precedence over any moral reservations.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Dalek time machine is the centerpiece of this event, serving as both a transport vessel and a weapon of temporal pursuit. It is fully prepared and ready to depart from Kembel, with a squad of Daleks and Mavic Chen aboard. The machine's activation marks the Daleks' shift from reactive defense to proactive offense, enabling them to hunt the Doctor across time. Its departure is signaled by the countdown, and its role in the homing beam's activation ensures the TARDIS cannot escape detection. The time machine embodies the Daleks' technological superiority and their willingness to exploit time itself as a weapon.
The homing beam is the Daleks' technological advantage in this event, a device that bridges the gap between Kembel and 1966 London. Activated by the Black Dalek's command, it locks onto the TARDIS's spacetime bearing, ensuring the Dalek time machine can pursue the Doctor with precision. The homing beam's activation is the climax of this event, symbolizing the Daleks' ability to track their enemies across time. Its glow is a visual and auditory cue of their relentless pursuit, reinforcing the tension and inevitability of their hunt.
The TARDIS is the primary target of this event, its location in 1966 London pinpointed by the Daleks' homing beam. The Doctor's ship is no longer a mysterious variable but a fixed point in spacetime, vulnerable to the Daleks' temporal assault. Its imminent landing on Earth is reported by Dalek 2, triggering the Black Dalek's orders to lock onto its coordinates. The TARDIS's role here is passive but critical—it is the catalyst for the Daleks' proactive hunt, and its presence in 1966 London becomes the focal point of their relentless pursuit.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Dalek Control Room is the nerve center of this event, a sterile, high-tech environment where the Daleks orchestrate their temporal assault. Its walls amplify the grating voices of the Daleks, and the air hums with the sound of machinery, creating an oppressive atmosphere of efficiency and menace. The control room's consoles glow under harsh lights, reflecting the Daleks' clinical approach to genocide. Here, the Black Dalek issues commands, Dalek 2 reports on the TARDIS, and the homing beam is activated—all actions that reinforce the Daleks' dominance and their relentless pursuit of the Doctor.
London, 1966, is the target location of this event, pinpointed by the Daleks' homing beam as the TARDIS's landing site. Though not physically present in the scene, its significance is central—it becomes the focal point of the Daleks' temporal pursuit. The Black Dalek's command to lock onto the TARDIS's coordinates in 1966 London transforms this ordinary city into a battleground in the Daleks' war against the Doctor. The date and location are revealed with clinical precision, underscoring the Daleks' ability to weaponize time itself. The implication is that London, 1966, is no longer a safe haven but a trap set by the Daleks.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Dalek Race is the driving force behind this event, with the Black Dalek as its unquestioned leader. The organization's genocidal ambitions are on full display as they deploy their time machine to hunt the TARDIS, weaponizing their temporal technology to track the Doctor across time. The Daleks' collective action—from the countdown to the homing beam's activation—embodies their ruthless efficiency and single-minded focus on extermination. This event marks a critical escalation in their campaign, shifting from reactive defense to proactive offense in their war against the Doctor.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
Within this episode
"The Doctor's evasive actions from the Monk and Daleks run parallel, as both parties are actively pursuing them and causing the time travelers to try and escape."
Doctor deflects Steven’s technical questions"The events aboard the Dalek time machine occur parallel to the TARDIS materializing in Trafalgar Square."
TARDIS lands in 1966 New Year’s EveAcross episodes
"The Doctor's earlier exploitation of the Daleks' reliance on the taranium core (Episode 15) is mirrored by the Daleks' own reliance on the taranium core for the Time Destructor (Episode 17), creating a callback to the taranium's critical role."
Doctor exploits Visian-Dalek conflict"The Doctor, Sara, and Steven's theft of the Dalek pursuit ship (Ep15) and their subsequent escape force the Daleks to escalate to temporal warfare (time machine pursuit in Ep17)."
Desperate Launch Under Dalek Fire"The Black Dalek's dismissal of Mavic Chen in Episode 15 (cand_evt_scene_6a3fd2800a510221_01) directly results in the Daleks' immediate prioritization of their temporal weapon project, as seen in Episode 17 when Dalek 2 reports the Time Destructor's operational status. Chen's failure to secure leverage over the Daleks accelerates their autonomous actions."
Chen’s Failed Negotiation with Black Dalek"The Black Dalek's confirmation of the stolen pursuit ship landing on Kembel (Ep 15) leads directly to its deployment of a time machine pursuit in Ep 17, tracking the TARDIS to Earth."
Black Dalek confirms stolen ship landing"Dalek 2's subordinate role in reporting the Vi'sian attack in Episode 15 (cand_evt_scene_381e1112abf33106_02) mirrors its role in the Dalek Control Centre in Episode 17 (cand_evt_scene_cd423ae806256c3a_01), where it continues to function as a precise, efficient subordinate reporting on operational status and task force advancements."
Doctor exploits Visian-Dalek conflict"The Black Dalek's dismissive attitude toward Chen's negotiation in Episode 15 is consistent with the Black Dalek's later authoritarian control over the Dalek forces in Episode 17, particularly in deploying the time machine pursuit."
Chen’s Failed Negotiation with Black Dalek"The Daleks' pursuit strategy evolves from localized encirclement on Mira (Episode 15) to a coordinated temporal assault (Episode 17), using advanced tracking (homing beam) and Chen's compliance."
Doctor exploits Visian-Dalek conflict"The Daleks' failed search for the Doctor and his companions after the Visian attack (Episode 15) escalates into a coordinated temporal assault using the Time Destructor and a time machine (Episode 17). The Daleks' inability to capture the Doctor leads to more drastic measures."
Doctor exploits Visian attack for escape"The Doctor and his companions' narrow escape in Episode 15 leads to the Daleks' deployment of a time machine for temporal pursuit in Episode 17, escalating the conflict across time."
Steven’s desperate TARDIS escape"Chen's failed negotiation with the Black Dalek (Episode 15) escalates into him being forcibly conscripted onto the time machine pursuit (Episode 17), reflecting the Daleks' increasing desperation and Chen's degrading position."
Chen’s Failed Negotiation with Black Dalek"The Doctor's negotiation tactic with the taranium core in Episode 15 foreshadows the Daleks' later use of a homing beam to track the Doctor through time in Episode 17, both relying on precision targeting."
Doctor exploits Visian-Dalek conflict"The Doctor and his companions' escape from the Daleks in Episode 15 (cand_evt_scene_381e1112abf33106_03) is immediately followed by the Daleks' deployment of the time machine in Episode 17 (cand_evt_scene_cd423ae806256c3a_01). This narrative sequence underscores the escalating chase across time and space."
Doctor exploits Visian attack for escape"The theme of the Daleks' relentless pursuit of the taranium core, first evident in Episode 15 during their standoff with the Doctor, is paralleled in Episode 17 when Dalek 2 confirms the Time Destructor's operational status, now fitted with the taranium core. Both scenes emphasize the Dalek's fixation on the resource that grants them temporal power."
Doctor exploits Visian attack for escape"Chen's desperate negotiation gambit in Episode 15 (proposing Earth trial) parallels his forced conscription in Episode 17, where his appeals are ignored and he is coerced into service."
Chen’s Failed Negotiation with Black Dalek"The Daleks' launch of the time machine from Kembel (Episode 17) leads directly to their materialization in ancient Egypt (Episode 18). The homing beam tracking mechanism sets up their arrival in a new time and location."
Daleks materialize in ancient Egypt"The Daleks' homing beam tracking of the TARDIS in London 1966 (cd423ae806256c3a) directly enables their materialization in Egypt next episode, making their presence inevitable and scoped."
Doctor dismisses Dalek threat despite Steven’s warning"The Daleks' deployment of a task force to ancient Egypt and their subsequent extermination order against humans signify a rapid escalation in their ruthless tactics. The extermination order is a direct consequence of earlier tactical failures and the perceived betrayal."
Red Dalek Declares Extermination Order"The Black Dalek's deployment of a homing beam to track the TARDIS to 1966 London in Episode 17 escalates the Daleks' pursuit to a temporal level. In Episode 20, this escalation culminates in the Black Dalek's public assertion of authority over the Galactic Council, demonstrating the Daleks' expanding sphere of control."
Chen asserts Dalek-backed authority over Council"The Daleks' tracking of the Doctor's TARDIS to 1966 London coordinates (E17) directly leads to their arrival in Egypt in search of the taranium core (E18)."
Doctor dismisses Dalek threat despite Steven’s warning"The Daleks' temporal tracking and invasion countdown in Episode 17 directly precedes their landing in ancient Egypt in Episode 18, creating a cohesive temporal pursuit narrative."
Doctor discovers Monk’s hidden TARDIS"Both episodes feature the Doctor and companions searching for TARDIS components or missing people within confined, oppressive spaces (pyramid in Episode 18 vs. Dalek control room in Episode 17), mirroring themes of vulnerability and pursuit."
Doctor discovers Monk’s hidden TARDIS"The Daleks' relentless pursuit of the Doctor and his companions reflects a thematic parallel where the Daleks' obsession with the taranium core drives their increasingly draconian actions."
Red Dalek Declares Extermination OrderThemes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"BLACK DALEK: "Commence count down.""
"DALEK: "Enemy ship located. Space time bearing, planet Earth, London, 1966.""
"BLACK DALEK: "Compute their bearing and advise task force. Task force will use the homing beam.""