On a remote island in the South Atlantic the crew of a British drilling company discover a capsule, buried in rock for millenia. To their astonishment they discover an occupant, which is fully functional but depleted. As the Doctor arrives in his Tardis the chief technician manages to successfully reactivate the occupant with potentially devastating consequences for not just the mining facility but the entire future of the planet. Too engaged in playing out their own personal politics the crew realise their mistake when the Daleks begin to multiply and consolidate a stranglehold on the base. As the exterminations begin the Doctor races against time to stop his deadliest foe gaining a toehold on the planet that they seek to destroy....but the Daleks have learned to fear him no more...

Following the Doctor's regeneration into a new, younger body, the TARDIS lands at an Earth colony on the planet Vulcan in the far future. Mistaken for an official Earth Examiner, the Doctor discovers that a scientist called Lesterson is attempting to reactivate two inanimate, subservient Daleks found in a crashed space rocket. The colonists refuse to heed the Doctor's dire warnings that the Daleks are dangerous.

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian to the planet Skaro where they meet two indigenous races — the Daleks, malicious mutant creatures encased in armoured travel machines, and the Thals, beautiful humanoids with pacifist principles. They convince the Thals of the need to fight for their own survival.

The Time Lords dispatch the Doctor to the past of the planet Skaro on his deadliest adventure yet — to prevent the creation of the Daleks.

Captured in a time corridor, the Doctor and his companions are forced to land on 20th century Earth, diverted by the Doctor's oldest enemy - the Daleks. It is here the true purpose of the time corridor becomes apparent: after ninety years of imprisonment, Davros, the ruthless creator of the Daleks, is to be liberated to assist in the resurrection of his army. Not even the Daleks foresee the poisonous threat of their creator. Indeed, who would suspect Davros of wanting to destroy his own Daleks - and why? Only the Doctor knows the truth. Will he descend to Davros' level of evil to stop him?

The Doctor and a newly-regenerated Romana arrive on Skaro to find that the Daleks, locked in a war with the robotic Movellans, have returned to retrieve their buried creator Davros.

London, 1963: The Doctor returns to the place where it all began — alongside his latest companion, Ace, with unfinished business. Not for the first time, unusual events are unfolding at Coal Hill School. At 76 Totter's Lane, the Doctor discovers that his oldest foes — the Daleks — are on the trail of stolen Time Lord technology that he left on Earth long ago. The Daleks are planning to perfect their own time-travel capability, in order to unleash themselves across the whole of time and space.

At the Tranquil Repose mortuary, the Doctor and Peri uncover a sinister plot to create a new breed of Daleks under the supervision of the mysterious Great Healer.

Guerillas time-jump back from the 22nd century to assassinate Sir Reginald Styles - a diplomat working for World Peace, The Doctor discovers they are from a future where the Daleks have invaded the Earth (Following wars precipitated by Styles's destruction at the peace conference). With the Daleks desperate to maintain their version of history, The Doctor and Jo find themselves in a totalitarian future, where they must discover who really happened and prevent it.

On the jungle planet Spiridon, the Doctor, Jo and a Thal group find a slumbering army of Daleks ready to awaken.