The Seventh Doctor arrives on a planet called Zaleria, where Susan Mendes, the Angel Of Mercy, has been working for the Daleks in order to secure a peaceful invasion. The people of Zaleria are hungry for a rebellion. The Doctor tries to get through to a young Kalendorf, but realises that he can't interfere with events just yet — after all, Kalendorf (a Knight of Velyshaa) needs to survive and go on to do other important things. But eventually, the Doctor realises that the Daleks pose too much of a threat, and chooses to interfere — revealing that the planet houses tens of thousands of frozen Daleks underneath its layers of ice.
It's soon revealed that the planet wasn't originally called Zaleria: it was Spiridon all along. Many centuries ago, the first wave of invading Daleks tried to copy the population's inherent invisibility. But the Daleks succumbed to light wave sickness due to their experiments, and the population lost their own invisibility in the process. The Doctor offers himself up to the Daleks in return for the planet's safety, and ends up spending many years working to find a way to make them invisible without negative effects. Of course, he instead spends those years increasing the sickness, and restoring the population's inherent abilities. By the time he's done, the rebellion (as detailed in Dalek Empire) is strong enough to organise an uprising. The Doctor retreats to his TARDIS, fully expecting to die permanently, but she heals him just in time.
Tropes
- Anachronic Order: The Seventh Doctor wakes up and shouts out for Mel, Ace and Hex. He then realizes that they're all gone now...
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The Daleks have an Ogron coldly break Suz's limbs when she won't talk.
- Les Collaborateurs What Susan and her friends are. At first, though.
- Continuity Porn: Both to the TV series and to the Dalek Empire series. The planet turning out to be Spiridon is the most important.
- Darker and Edgier: This is the Seventh Doctor towards the end of his life, evidenced by his low, tired voice, ruthless attitude and lack of friends. The fact he's once again facing off against the Daleks doesn't help. He coldly wipes them all out with a virus.
- Frazetta Man: The Ogrons are described this way. They also speak with very short sentences, without contractions.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The Doctor pulls one. He miraculously survives because he gambled on the TARDIS being able to cure him.
- Interquel: This story takes place between the second and third Dalek Empire stories, "The Human Factor" and "Death to the Daleks!".
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Aytrax.
- Perspective Flip: To Dalek Empire. The Doctor's wandered into this story, with full knowledge of how it's supposed to end.
- Required Spinoff Crossover: Susan Mendes and Kalendorf are part of the Dalek Empire Spinoff.
- La Résistance: Initially subverted, but played straight by the end.
- Sequel Episode: Basically one to Planet of the Daleks with the Third Doctor.
- Slave Race: The Ogrons make a return.
- Title Drop: "No one will be safe... from the return of the Daleks."
- The Virus: The Doctor unleashes one that wipes out all the Daleks due to Lightwave Sickness.
