We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. -- Shakespeare, King Henry V IV.iii

Tales from /lost+found 114: Children of War

5×12 February 2, 2001
CHILDREN OF WAR (Serial 67)

Setting: Skaro, far-future
Regular Cast: Hugh Laurie (The Doctor), Katherine Heigl (Ruth), Lee Thompson Young (Leo)
Guest Cast: Cam Clarke (voice of the Daleks), Kelley Waymire (B’tan), Matt Winston (Gan’tus), Lawrence Monoson (Phaldotus)

Plot: The TARDIS arrives in a new-growth forest on an alien planet. Leo assumes the forest is regrowing after a fire, but the Doctor sees evidence that the destruction was far more severe, frightening Ruth with a description of nuclear weapons. To calm her, the Doctor uses the TARDIS’s scanners to demonstrate that the radiation levels are safe. However, they show that the radiation is rapidly increasing nearby. The Doctor guesses that a nuclear storage site nearby is leaking, and after handing out anti-radiation drugs, sets out to try to contain the leak to protect the forest. The sensor readings lead them to a city which is technologically advanced, but heavily overgrown. As they work their way through the city, they find pictures, letters and graffiti that tell of a great war between the planet’s two nations. At first, it seems that the warring peoples wiped each other out, but they find stranger things which hint that the city-builders survived the war, but were mutated by the radiation. They learn of the city-builders’ failed attempts to reverse their mutation, as evidenced by cylindrical upright sarcophagi throughout the city. Leo trips an automated defense system and is separated from the others and finds himself in a processing plant where he meets Phaldotus, Gan’tus and B’tan. They are Thals, unmutated survivors from the rival nation, who had come to the city as explorers and gotten trapped. The Doctor and Ruth discover that the city is powered by an atomic pile whose damaged control system is venting radiation rather than using it for power. The Doctor sets about repairing the power source to stop the radiation vent and succeeds just before Leo reunites with them, warning him to stop. As power returns to the city, Leo explains what he discovered from the Thals: the cylinders are not sarcophagi, but protective suits for the mutated survivors. With the power restored, the mutants emerge from stasis, the cylinders extending eight flexible metallic legs, domed lids revealing the one-eyed, pulsating mutants inside. They are Daleks, the ancient enemies of the Thals. Phaldotus is killed when the Daleks recognize him as a Thal. B’tan, Gan’tus and Leo escape, but the Doctor and Ruth are captured. The Thals are pacifists by nature, and do not want to help Leo rescue his friends, but Gan’tus comes around when Leo threatens to offer B’tan to the Daleks in a hostage exchange. By the time they rescue the others, the Doctor has learned that the Daleks have located the Thal village and, obsessed with finishing their war, plan to wipe the Thals out with a nuclear missile. Based on what Leo saw in the processing plant, the Doctor believes they can sabotage the underground supports for the city to collapse it before the Spider Daleks can launch their missile. They sneak back into the Dalek city and evade the now-active Daleks to reach the processing plant. The Daleks attack, and Gan’tus sacrifices himself, baiting the Daleks into shooting through him, igniting a chemical tank which explodes, damaging the city supports. The Doctor, Leo, Ruth, and B’tan escape as the city collapses. The Doctor advises B’tan to return to her people and warn them that the some of the Daleks may yet have survived. As the time-travelers leave Skaro, a long-defunct Dalek space station receives an emergency signal from the collapsing Dalek city and begins to reactivate…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.