History Recap / DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks

It's worth noting that, though this story was credited to Terry Nation, the [[WordOfGod director]] claimed on the DVD release that it was "98% written" by then-Script Editor [[Creator/DouglasAdams Douglas Adams]].

The Daleks in this story are also a bit more on the {{Straw Vulcan}} side than usual, and Adams insisted on calling them "robots" and "computers" a lot. A Dalek without its casing is encountered by the Doctor, though, and the episode does emphasize that they're a living race, so it can be assumed that Adams just really liked the word "robot".

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: While Gallifreyans are depicted as tougher than humans in some ways, being somewhat stronger is something not often touched upon. Romana provides an example during a struggle with a Movellan over a detonator switch, where she kicks his arm hard enough that it tears away at the joint. At the end of the episode both Time Lords are digging out the TARDIS and tossing [[StyrofoamRocks boulders]] larger than themselves.

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: While Gallifreyans are depicted as tougher than humans in some ways, being somewhat stronger is something not often touched upon. Romana provides an example during a struggle with a Movellan over a detonator switch, where she kicks his arm hard enough that it tears away at the joint.

The one where the Doctor mocks a Dalek for not flying.

The one where the Daleks are almost literally falling apart at the seams.

This story was a turning point for the Daleks -- every Dalek story for the next decade was more of a Davros story with some Daleks in it than an actual Dalek story.

* BBCQuarry: Mocked by the Doctor.

The Doctor teams up with LaResistance and very gleefully plays cat and mouse with Davros for a while. Romana gets herself kidnapped by the Movellans, who turn out to be not human at all, but a race of robots led by a central computer. They're locked in a war with the Daleks, and -- as the Doctor points out -- the two sides are so logical that they can always perfectly anticipate each other. They need a random element, which the Doctor happily provides by annoying Davros some more. He defeats a Dalek ''with his hat'', and pushes Davros' only remaining hand down on the big red "blow up the entire Dalek suicide squad" button. He and Romana high-tail it off the planet very quickly.

* TheNthDoctor: Romana becomes only the third Time Lord in the show's run -- the first obviously being the Doctor, and the second K'Anpo/Cho-je -- whose regeneration we actually get to see, albeit without the Mary Tamm version being seen.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: K-9's sidelining due to robo-laryngitis. Sources differ on to why exactly this happened — some say it was because Creator/TerryNation hated K-9 and didn't want to "degrade" his Daleks by making them appear with K-9 on-screen, while others have said that because of the amount of quarry filming in this episode, there was no way that K-9 would ever have been able to play a major part in the episode

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: While Gallifreyans are depicted as tougher than humans in some ways, being somewhat stronger is something not often touched upon. Romana provides an example during a struggle with a Movellan over a detonator switch, where she kicks his arm hard enough it tears away at the joint.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: The Daleks are fighting the Movellans, who don't really appear to be all that much better than the Daleks because they were prepared to cause Skaro's atmosphere to spontaneously combust without any apparent concern for the fact that there were plenty of innocent people still on the planet who would have been incinerated by the resulting firestorm. The Movellans are only better by virtue of not being {{Absolute Xenophobe}}s - they come across as indifferent to other species (albeit perfectly willing to use them to their own advantage), rather than trying to wipe them all out.

* MagicCountdown: The countdown for the Nova Device tends to jump around quite a bit during the third episode cliffhanger.

* WeaksauceWeakness: The Movellans can be killed by removing the unprotected power pack on their waist.

* RecycledSoundtrack: Skaro sounds from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Daleks]]" can be heard. To be fair, this episode ''takes place'' on Skaro.

* AdaptationExpansion: The novelisation adds a few things:
** During the Doctor's escape from the Dalek command centre, the Daleks use hoverbouts to chase him.
** Tyssan tries to bully the Doctor and Romana into going with the prisoners to put Davros on trial.

Watch it [[http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/xzc04_tardismedia_destiny-of-the-daleks/1 here]]

* UnexpectedCharacter: Davros returns, despite being killed in his first appearance.

* RecycledSoundtrack: Skaro sounds from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Daleks]]" can be heard.

Is there a stowaway aboard the TARDIS? No, it's just Romana, who has regenerated off-screen, for no apparent reason, and has chosen to do so into an identical double of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E6TheArmageddonFactor Princess Astra]]. The Doctor tells her to pick something better, and she shows off several more very alien bodies (none of which meet the Doctor's approval either) before returning to the one she started with. (The Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse has made several attempts to explain ''why'' Romana regenerated, as well as ''why'' she was able to change her form several times without wasting regenerations. Few make real sense.) Also, K-9 comes down with a case of robot laryngitis and stays in the TARDIS for the rest of the adventure.

** The Tenth Doctor's [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion later explanation]] about a Time Lord's physical form being slightly malleable post-regeneration is generally accepted by the fans as a halfway decent HandWave as to why this could happen.

* Facepalm: Romana makes this expression when the Doctor says that Davros' intellect rivals his own.

* FakingTheDead: Romana.

* UnusualEuphemism: The Doctor tells the Daleks to "Spack off!" when he's threatening to blow up Davros. (This was Tom Baker messing up a line, but it's entered into Doctor Who history as a particularly vicious Gallifreyan insult.)

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: K-9's sidelining due to robo-laryngitis. Sources differ on to why exactly this happened -- some say it was because Terry Nation hated K-9 and didn't want to "degrade" his Daleks by making them appear with K-9 on-screen, while others have said that because of the amount of quarry filming in this episode, there was no way that K-9 would ever have been able to play a major part in the episode.[[note]](Contrary to what some might say, the reason was not that David Brierly hadn't yet been cast to replace John Leeson. The first story to be filmed in this season was "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E3TheCreatureFromThePit The Creature from the Pit]]", which Brierly did appear in)[[/note]]