Davros – David Gooderson
Daleks – Mike Mungarvan, Cy Town
Dalek Voices – Roy Skelton
Commander Sharrel – Peter Straker
Agella – Suzanne Danielle
Lan – Tony Osoba
Tyssan – Tim Barlow
Jall – Penny Casdagli
Veldan – David Yip
Movellan Guard – Cassandra
Crew
Assistant Floor Manager – David Tilley, Anthony Root
Costumes – June Hudson
Director’s Assistant – Roz Berrystone
Designer – Ken Ledsham
Electronic Effects – Dave Jervis
Film Cameramen – Phil Law, Kevin Rowley
Film Editor – Dick Allen
Film Recordist – Graham Bedwell
Incidental Music – Dudley Simpson
Make-Up – Cecile Hay-Arthur
Producer – Graham Williams
Production Assistant – Henry Foster
Production Unit Manager – John Nathan-Turner
Script Editor – Douglas Adams
Senior Cameraman – Alec Wheal
Special Sounds – Dick Mills
Steadicam – Fred Hamilton
Studio Lighting – John Dixon
Studio Sound – Clive Gifford
Technical Manager – John Dean
Theme Arrangement – Delia Derbyshire
Title Music – Ron Grainer
Video-tape Editor – Alan Goddard
Vision Mixer – Nigel Finnis
Visual Effects – Peter Logan
Destiny of the Daleks broadcast from 1 to 22 September 1979 across four episodes, opening Season 17. Tom Baker plays the Fourth Doctor, with a regenerated Romana now played by Lalla Ward after Mary Tamm’s departure.
The serial was written by Terry Nation and directed by Ken Grieve.
The Doctor and the new Romana arrive on Skaro, where the Daleks are excavating to find the buried remains of Davros, whose tactical genius they need to break a stalemate in their war against the Movellans, a race of humanoid robots. Both sides want Davros to find a solution to their logical impasse, but the Doctor and Romana must prevent either side from gaining the advantage.
All four episodes of Destiny of the Daleks exist in the BBC archives and are available to view.
Destiny of the Daleks marks the return of Davros after Genesis of the Daleks and introduces the concept that pure logical beings, both Daleks and Movellans, reach an unbreakable tactical stalemate. It also features Romana’s regeneration, handled with deliberate comedy as she tries on different bodies before settling on the appearance of Princess Astra from the previous season, a piece of meta-textual wit from script editor Douglas Adams.
