Doctor Who: Did Remembrance of the Daleks lead into the Time War?

Remembrance of the Daleks is a huge story in Doctor Who history. But is it also a key story that built towards the Time War in a big way?

Looking back on Remembrance of the Daleks, there are a lot of moments that really stand out. The Doctor’s discussion over a cup of tea. The epic battles between two separate armies of Dalek. A spaceship landing at Coal Hill School.

But one moment that really sticks out is the ending. For the entire story, two armies of Daleks are after “the Hand of Omega”, a powerful device capable of not just wiping out entire suns and planets. It was also a key instrument in creating time travel for early Gallifreyans, thus allowing them to become Time Lords.

At the end, it appears that the Daleks have won, with the Hand of Omega firmly in their possession. But the Doctor has a very devious trick up his sleeve, and it’s an action that could very well have lead into the Time War.

The Doctor’s decision

When the Daleks (now lead by Davros) fire the Hand of Omega, believing that it will destroy Gallifrey, they very quickly realize that they had made a catastrophic mistake. Because the Hand of Omega didn’t wipe out Gallifrey. Instead, it wiped out Skaro, the home planet of the Daleks.

It was very clear that this was no mere accident. The Doctor had planned for this moment, pre-programming the Hand of Omega to deal with the Daleks in a big way. It’s quite a bold decision, and really shows just how much further the Seventh Doctor was prepared to go compared to other incarnations.

Looking back on this moment, especially in the context of the New Series, it’s not hard to imagine the implications of it. In Daleks in Manhattan, the Daleks mention how they had lost their home world, “destroyed in a great war”.

Now either Skaro was brought back and was destroyed again during the Time War. Which actually wouldn’t be surprising as far as Doctor Who is concerned, especially since Skaro was brought back in The Magician’s Apprentice.

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(Interestingly, Eighth Doctor novel War of the Daleks retconned events so that it wasn’t destroyed in Remembrance, and Gallifrey was destroyed in the novels before being brought back in The Gallifrey Chronicles. However, continuity between the novels and the audios tends to conflict on issues like these.)

The road to the Time War

But I think the stronger implication is that it was the events of Remembrance that were referenced in Daleks in Manhattan. Now, while it was set before the official start of the War, it’s not hard to imagine it being included as part of the key series of events that lead to it, at least. Particularly from the Daleks’ perspective.

It also adds so much more weight to the Doctor’s actions in this story. Now, wiping out the planet of your greatest enemy was a bold move already, and showed just how much more dangerous this incarnation could be compared to others.

But it also shows the damage the Doctor’s actions could cause in the long-term. While the Daleks were hardly the most peaceful of creatures in the first place, wiping out their planet certainly wouldn’t have done them any favors. They would want revenge, and the only way for them to achieve that would be by wiping out the Time Lords for good.

Then again, Davros and the Daleks were pretty keen to destroy Gallifrey in Remembrance in the first place. And the Daleks had tried to assassinate the Time Lord High Council in Fifth Doctor story Resurrection of the Daleks, too. Looking back on the Classic Series, perhaps the Time War was inevitable. But one thing’s for sure: the Doctor’s actions in Remembrance certainly didn’t help in avoiding that war.

Was the Doctor right in destroying Skaro? Or did it only serve to escalate the conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords into all-out war? Let us know in the comments below.