is a character from the long-running
British Science Fiction Television series ''
Doctor Who '', responsible for the genesis of the
Doctor's deadliest enemies, the
Dalek s. He was created by
Terry Nation .
Davros is a
Scientist from the planet
Skaro whose people, the
Kaled s, were engaged in a bitter thousand-year war of attrition with their enemies, the
Thals . Horribly scarred and crippled after what is simply described on screen as an "accident", with only one functioning arm and one
Cybernetic "eye" mounted on his forehead, for much of his existence he depended completely upon his mobile
Life-support chair which enclosed the lower half of his body. It would become an obvious inspiration for his eventual design of the Dalek.
Davros is a
Megalomania c — he believed that through his creations, the Daleks, he would become the supreme being and ruler of the universe. He is a brilliant scientist who has demonstrated mastery of
Robotics ,
Metallurgy ,
Chemistry ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Cloning ,
Genetic Engineering ,
Biology and
Military Tactics .
When he first encountered the
Appendage s and with no hope of survival on their own. His solution was to remove all emotions pertaining to weakness, such as compassion, mercy and kindness, and place the mutants in tank-like "travel machines" that were partly based on the design of his wheelchair. He named these creatures Daleks, an
Anagram of Kaled.
Davros quickly became obsessed with his creations, considering them to be the ultimate form of life and superior to all others. To stop his own people from shutting down his Dalek project, he arranged for them to be wiped out by the Thals. The Daleks then exterminated the Thal victors, but ultimately turned on Davros and apparently killed him.
He proved too effective a character to be kept dead and was resurrected four years later in 1979's ''
Destiny Of The Daleks '' (played by
David Gooderson using Wisher's mask, which did not fit his face properly). The Daleks unearthed their creator — who had apparently been in
Suspended Animation since his 'death' in ''Genesis'' — to help them break a
Logical impasse in their war against the
Android Movellans . However, the Dalek force was destroyed by the Doctor, and Davros was captured and imprisoned by the Earth Empire.
In the
Fifth Doctor story ''
Resurrection Of The Daleks '' (1983), a small Dalek force aided by human
Mercenaries and Dalek duplicates liberated Davros (now played by
Terry Molloy with a differently designed mask that, this time, fit his face) from his
Space Station prison, needing his expertise to find an
Antidote for a Movellan-created virus that had all but wiped them out. Believing his creations to be treacherous, Davros began using
Mind Control on Daleks and humans, ultimately releasing the virus to kill off the Daleks before they could exterminate him. However, at the end of the story, he apparently succumbed to the virus himself before he could escape.
Davros emerged as "The Great Healer" of the funeral and
Cryogenic preservation centre Tranquil Repose on the planet Necros in the
Sixth Doctor story ''
Revelation Of The Daleks '' (1985), where he used frozen bodies to engineer a new variety of Daleks loyal to him, distinguished from the original Daleks by their white and gold livery and slightly changed design. In this story there appeared to be two Davroses: one who was a head in a tank (apparently a clone), and the other in his usual chair (which could now hover), appearing when the clone was killed by an assassin. Davros could now move his neck and fire electric bolts from his hand, although this was shot off shortly before his original creations arrived to destroy his second generation of Daleks and transport him to Skaro to face trial.
Davros's last appearance (played again by Molloy) was as the
Dalek Emperor in ''
Remembrance Of The Daleks '' (1988), with his white and gold Daleks now termed "
Imperial Daleks ". By this time Davros, who had apparently conquered Skaro and reduced his original race of Daleks to the status of renegades, was physically reduced to a head in a customised Dalek casing. Both Skaro and the Imperial Dalek
Mothership were apparently destroyed by the
Seventh Doctor using the
Time Lord artifact known as the
Hand Of Omega . However, a Dalek on the bridge of Davros's ship reported that the Emperor's escape pod was being launched at the time of its destruction, leaving a clear route to bring Davros back in the future.
In the explains that the Daleks were created by a genius, "a man who was king of his own little world."
When the Emperor made its appearance in the season finale, ''
The Parting Of The Ways '', it was a Dalek mutant floating in tank of fluid connected to a giant Dalek shell, and was probably not Davros. However there is one popular fan theory that Davros survived as the Dalek Emperor, as shown in ''
The Parting Of The Ways ,'' and his clearly different appearance in this episode was due to furthering the mutation process into a Dalek (which began when he appeared, reduced to a head, in ''
Remembrance Of The Daleks ''. As neither of these two, contradicting theories have been proven - Davros's status at this point, or any role he may have played in the Time War, is unknown.
An article by
Russell T. Davies in the ''Doctor Who Annual 2006'' states that one of the "Dalek Puppet Emperors" openly declared his hostilities towards the Time Lords and their planet,
Gallifrey . This may be a reference to Davros's threats against the Time Lords in ''Remembrance of the Daleks''.
Terry Molloy has reprised his role as Davros in the
Spin-off Audio Plays produced by
Big Finish Productions , mostly notably ''
Davros '' (taking place during the
Sixth Doctor 's era), which explored the scientist's life prior to his crippling injury, which is attributed to a Thal nuclear attack.
The upcoming Big Finish minseries ''I, Davros'', also starring Molloy, will explore Davros's early life further.
''Davros'', which does not feature the Daleks, fills in the gaps between ''Resurrection of the Daleks'' and ''Revelation of the Daleks'', and has the scientist trying to manipulate the galaxy's economy into a war footing similar to Skaro's. The Sixth Doctor manages to defeat his plans, and he is last seen when his ship explodes, an event obliquely mentioned in ''Revelation''.
The subsequent play ''
The Juggernauts '' similarly takes place between ''Revelation'' and ''Remembrance''. There, Davros adds human
Nervous tissue to robotic
Mechanoids to create the Juggernauts of the play's title; he hopes to use these as an army to destroy the Daleks. At the end of the story, the
Self-destruct mechanism of Davros's life-support chair explodes, destroying an entire human colony. It is not clear how Davros survives to become the Dalek Emperor, as seen in ''Remembrance''.
By the time of the
Eighth Doctor audio play ''
Terror Firma '' (set after ''Remembrance''), Davros is commanding a Dalek army which has successfully conquered the Earth. His mental instability has grown to the point where "Davros" and "the Emperor" exist within him as
Different Personalities . His Daleks recognize this instability and rebel against Davros. By the story's end the Emperor personality is dominant, and the Daleks agree to follow him and leave Earth.
This seemed to contradict the events of the
Eighth Doctor Adventures novel ''War of the Daleks'' by
John Peel , in which an unmerged Davros was placed on trial by the Dalek Prime, a combination of the Dalek Emperor and the
Dalek Supreme . The novel also revealed that the planet Antalin had been
Terraformed to resemble Skaro and destroyed in its place. It was also revealed the Dalek/Movellan war (and indeed most of Dalek history before the destruction of "Skaro") was actually faked for Davros' benefit.
''War of the Daleks'', like the audio plays, is of uncertain
Canonicity when it comes to the television series. ''War'' however, was so badly received by some fans that they even disavowed it within the continuity of the novels. Others welcomed ''War'' for having the Daleks reassert their original independence from Davros.
At the conclusion of ''War'', Davros was seemingly disintegrated by a
Spider Dalek on the order of the Dalek Prime. However, Davros had previously subverted the programming of one of the Spider Daleks, and even he was not certain in the end if he was being disintegrated or being
Teleported away to safety, leaving the possibility open for his return.
How ''Terror Firma'' and ''War'' can be reconciled is not clear, which provides support to the proposition that the novels and the audio plays take place in separate continuities. However, this has not prevented some fans from
trying to do so .
