In the TARDIS, the Doctor has been working on K9's brain and asks him to cough again and say, "Ahhh," finding out K9 has laryngitis. He calls Romana and is shocked when Princess Astra's form walks in. The Doctor asks her what she is doing here and has to tell K9 to shut up when he inadvertently says, "Ahhh," and K9 repeats him again. Romana is regenerating, thinking the body looked very nice on the Princess and since they are not going back to Atrios, she wants to wear this body. As the Doctor stoops to fix K9, Romana returns wearing a short body she likes but thinks is too short. The Doctor tells her to lengthen the body and she runs back into the other rooms. Romana returns as a sultry reddish haired woman with a long see through robe on her with a collar and a two piece outfit. The Doctor gets one look at her and looks away, thinking, moving his eyes, "No thank you, not today." Romana goes back to the rooms. The Doctor tells her it is what is on the inside that is important. When he crawls a way into the console area, he nearly bumps into a very tall woman in a white, ancient Greek-like outfit with a bandana around her head, "Too tall, take it away." Romana leaves and the Doctor tells her to get something warm that will wear well and with style. When she returns, she is wearing a floppy hat over her eyes and new long blond hair, a Doctor-like jacket, and a scarf! At first, the Doctor tells her she got it perfect. He tells her to have it her own way but to get rid of those silly clothes. She thinks she can take in the arms. He thinks the arms are fine. She asks where they are going...he doesn't know, it depends on the Randomizer. "Let me know when we get there." The TARDIS appears on a rocky hill with rocks all overbreathable atmosphere but seismic activity. Romana is changing in another room but trying to talk to the Doctor from it. She thinks he says psychic activity. He tells her to come into the console room if she wants to talk to him. When she returns in a long pink jacket and white scarf, she asks how she looks. Without looking, the Doctor says it is fine. He gives her anti radiation pills since the levels are quite high outside. He also gives her a beeper which will beep when it is time to take another pill. They open the scanner and the Doctor says, "Ooo, look, rocks." K9, his side still open, whirls. The Doctor's Cybernetics teacher taught him that when replacing a brain always replace with the arrow pointing to the front. They go outside and find the TARDIS is on a small rock. The Doctor has a sense of deja vu and a sense of foreboding. Romana thinks they should go back inside but the Doctor asks, "What? And not know where I've been till the end of time?" He won't hear of it and starts off. "I wouldn't sleep at night."

They venture out from under a rock canyon, a kind of rock cave in which the TARDIS is. The Doctor finds stones more precious than diamonds. The Doctor asks her what she makes of a larger stone... and she explains it to him, after commenting on his modesty...being sarcastic. He tells her she has all the making of a first class nabby. They find a stone city ruin and wonder if the tremors destroyed the city. They seem to rise uphill and find more wreckage. The ground shakes them and the rubble moves all around them. It comes from under their feet. Romana thinks it sounded like drilling and asks him what he thinks it was. "Underworld dentist?" They run but hear a sound and see a procession of humanoids taking a body on a stretcher. Hiding at a rock cave exit, they watch but move closer, hiding behind a low rock wall. The people bury the body with stones and write on one of them. The Doctor tells her they cannot dig through stone. Romana thinks the people look like the living dead. "You mean a planet ruled by zombies?" The Doctor asks. "I want to know who lives on this planet. Who was it that said the living are just the dead on holiday. Never mind." He tells her zombies have skin that is cold to the touch. "I want to get a closer look at that body." Romana keeps watch while the Doctor unburies the body's face and then startles her when he rejoins her. The young man's body, he explains, had papers on it: the dead man was a combat pilot of the 3rd Galactic Fleet of the tropical paradise Kantria. He, Major Garrant, died of exhaustion and malnutrition. The Doctor wonders why the pilot didn't die of radiation poisoning first.

Romana spots a flying spacecraft. "Well it's not a flying saucer," the Doctor comments as the diamond shaped craft emits a ray to dig into the sand. Romana figures it to have intergalactic range and time warp capability, to be class Star System 4-X-Alpha 4. The Doctor not having his reference to his guidebook of the Spacecraft of the Universe, would agree to that. The bottom of the ship whirls and digs further into the ground, camouflage and defense. Only the top surface of the craft sticks out. The pair wonder what they are doing here. The Doctor jokes about the tourist season. The Doctor wants to pretend they are couriers, wanting to welcome the new ship. He slides down a sandy hillside and Romana follows. A small muddy lake is near the craft. They have to retreat when large explosive blasts barrage all around them.

The pair run into a ruined part of the city. The Doctor thinks high impact phason drilling is going on, showing that someone imported some heavy technology to this planet. A blast brings some of the roof down near Romana but she yells for the Doctor to look out as a large pillar falls on him. He wakes up fairly soon ("Can't a fellow get any sleep around here?") and a block on the other side of him saved him from being totally crushed. Romana will go to repair and bring K9 to move the pillar. "Don't go away will you?" The Doctor hoped she would have resisted the temptation to say that. He reminds her of the arrow A to the front. From his jacket, the Doctor pulls the Origins of the Universe by Oolon Caluphid and starts reading, "Got it wrong on the first line. Why didn't he asks someone who saw it happen?"

A strange dirty man spies on Romana as she makes her way back to the TARDIS. He carries some rope and snoops from cave to cave on Romana, who falls but spots the TARDIS. Some more blasts occur however and the blasts bring down rocks all over the alcove where the TARDIS is. Romana finds it almost totally buried. She calls K9 but her beeper bleeps, warning her. The man, Tyssan, watches her.

The Doctor's beeper bleeps and he takes another pill against radiation. The Doctor continues reading, reminding himself to remember to give Romana her pill. In the book, he reads the conditions on the planet Magla cannot support life. The Doctor laughs, knowing the author didn't know that Magla is an 8000 mile wide amoeba that has grown a crusty shell. The Doctor tries to remain non pulsed when dreadlocked silver haired alien beings who look humanoid and are in white jumpsuits, pointing ray guns at him. He returns to his book but says, "Good evening." He asks them to forgive him for not rising.

Tyssan follows Romana back into the ruined science room that she left the Doctor in. She finds the Doctor's book but no Doctor. She looks around but another blast startles her. Tyssan comes in and she tries to avoid him and falls down a man made drop shaft and is knocked unconscious. Tyssan starts to use the rope to go down after her, tying it around a computer pillar.

In the white spaceship interior of the aliens, the Doctor whistles and thanks them for lifting the heavy pillar off of him. He cannot think where they keep their muscles. The captain, a black skinned being named Sharrel, tells him all crew members must be in peak condition. The Doctor sits on their couch and asks them questions. The planet is listed in the aliens -- the Movellans -- catalogue as D 5 Gamma Z Alpha. The Doctor prefers names. The commander calls the planet Skaro. This makes the Doctor stand up and asks the captain what he is doing on Skaro.

Romana backs into a corner as a Dalek comes forth and scans her. She is terribly frightened. It does not find any weapons on her. Another commands her to move and warns her that any attempts to escape will be punished. It yells at her to speak. She screams at it that she understands and is taken to interrogation. In the shaft, Tyssan is listening.

In the Movellan ship, the Doctor continues to ask what the Movellans are doing on Skaro. Sharrel tells the Doctor they are here to go against a force called Daleks. The Doctor tells Sharrel he knows the Daleks better than the Movellan commander could possibly imagine.

Romana is put in a stall with her hands on globe sensors. She is questioned and cries when the Dalek interrogator badgers her. She tells it to leave her alone and tells the other she does not know anything about the Daleks. The sensors can pick up her truthful responses. Romana answers more questions and cries for them to leave her alone...again. The analysis tells the Daleks that she is a category 9 subject -- no threat. She will be assigned to labour force two and will obey all Dalek commands instantly. If she fails to work she will be exterminated. The Daleks move at her and move her to where they want her to go, yelling, "OBEY!" over and over.

The Doctor asks Sharrel what the Daleks are doing here. Agella, a female Movellan announces that the Patrols have found a prisoner. Starship Engineer Tyssan is brought in by two other Movellans. He talks to the Doctor but the Doctor points to Sharrel. Tyssan served with deep space fleet from planet Earth and was taken captive two years ago. He passes out and the Doctor catches him.

Caves and mines: captives work. Romana finds her way among them and asks and Oriental-Asian type man and a female questions. The man, Veldan, was a member of a Sirian space colony. Daleks took more than 50 of his people. The female, Jall, was a passenger on a civilian shuttle. She was the only survivor when the Daleks attacked. About 50 were picked by the Daleks to work here. Anyone who escapes, the Daleks kill five for each one gone. The Daleks have huge machines to do drilling but to clear ducts, the Daleks use humans. Romana tells the two that the Daleks would be better off using machines to do that too. Jall tells her perhaps the Daleks just enjoy using humans subjugated to do it. "They used to be human themselves," Romana says, staring. A Dalek comes by ordering silence at all times. Romana almost passes out -- the radiation. Veldan and Jall catch her. Veldan tells her the only way out of here is when you are dead. The Dalek tells them any humans unfit for work will be exterminated.

The Doctor keeps asking a tired Tyssan what the Daleks are mining for. He doesn't know. He was left for dead and was on the run for days when he saw the Doctor and Romana but lost them. He explains about Romana falling down a shaft and the Daleks getting her. The Doctor takes Tyssan aside and tells him he needs to get into Dalek control. Sharrel, even though no where near, hears this and tells the Doctor that he, Agella, and others will go with the Doctor and Tyssan.

In the mine, Romana passes out and Veldan announces to a bewildered Dalek that Romana is dead. It orders the pair, Veldan and Jall, away from Romana. She will be disposed of when the work cycle is complete.

Tyssan jumps down the rope to the Dalek Central. Finding the way clear, he returns to find the Doctor has come down. The Doctor tells Tyssan to go back now...there is no point in risking his life further. Tyssan will help the Doctor...ever since he came to Skaro, Tyssan has felt he would die on Skaro. "Well, you wouldn't be the first," the Doctor says. The Doctor tells Tyssan and the three Movellans that this place was where the Daleks were created thousands of years ago...they ravaged the place and left it for dead. But why burrow into the ruin of their own city? What are they looking for? The Doctor wants to know why they came back. "AHHH," he says, but dismisses this theory, "That would be too fantastic even for the Daleks." He leads the group toward the Control Room.

In the Control Room, Daleks report about drill three and penetration into the lower level. Security sensors detect unauthorized movements in the center in section 7. Daleks Units 4 and 6 are to investigate. Daleks search, "Intruders... exterminate. Seek... and locate."

Tyssan points out the main control center but tells them it will be crawling with Daleks. The three Movellans lag behind; Sharrel ordering Lan to stay behind if they need to get out of here in a hurry. The Doctor comes back in between them and asks if they are coming.

The work schedule is complete. Veldan, Jall, and others remove Romana's body onto a stretcher at the order of the Dalek guard. They take her from the mine.

The Doctor, Agella, Tyssan, and Sharrel continue toward the control room. A main Dalek advises the searching Daleks. When this happens, the control room looks clear. The four move in. Agella covers the entrance. The Doctor finds timer explosives used for excavation. He also finds floor plans on a glass map wall of the old Kaled city but tells Tyssan not to mind about the word Kaled. The third level section is the Dalek objective. The Doctor has an uneasy feeling he knows what they are after. There is no fourth level section plan. The Doctor remembers a shaft from the surface to the fourth level which the Daleks could not know about since they didn't burrow using it. The Doctor writes down some info on a pad.

A Dalek passes Lan in the corridors. While he hides and then checks on it, another Dalek comes up behind him and fires a ray at Lan. Lan glows green and falls. One Dalek tells the other to report this. Agella warns of the Daleks' approach. The Doctor yells for them to take cover. Once past, the Daleks do not catch the Doctor and the other three. But the Daleks do pursue. Alarms ring out and the Daleks follow, threatening to exterminate. When the Doctor's group pass Lan, the Doctor wants to help Lan, "I'm a doctor!" Agella stops him but he pushes ahead to try to see Lan. Sharrel stops the Doctor, telling him they cannot allow aliens to see them in death. It is against their code of honour. The Doctor seems to feign that he understands this. Ahead of the two Movellans, Tyssan asks what that was all about. The Doctor thinks it would be fascinating to..."Shh! Shh, shh," he gasps as Sharrel moves past them.

The group make their way to the shaft to go up. Tyssan asks about the Doctor's friend. The Doctor tells Tyssan that he never gives up. Agella and Tyssan move up first. The Doctor tells Sharrel, "After you." Sharrel tells the Doctor, "No, Doctor, after you." The Doctor bows at the same time Sharrel bows and their heads touch, "You're too kind." Sharrel watches as Daleks move past Lan's body. "Seek... locate... exterminate."

From the shaft hole in the side of the wall, the Doctor pulls up his scarf as the Daleks come to the room, "If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us. Bye bye." He runs as the Dalek there shoots a ray up. The Unit will inform control.

Outside, the Doctor finds a grave headstone and a newly formed rock burial. It reads Romana. He starts to unbury it but a figure stands near him: Romana. He laughs. She faked death. At school, Romana was taught how to stop her hearts. She has one heart for casual and one for best. The Daleks didn't know she was a Gallifreyan. The Doctor tells Sharrel he is going Dalek hunting. He leads them back to the upper rooms of the Dalek chambers and the shaft in there that the Daleks don't know about leads right to the bottom level. If the Daleks are looking for what he thinks they are, the Doctor claims his party has to get there first. He suggests both Movellans go back to their ship but Sharrel leaves Agella to go with the Doctor's group. They clear the entrance and go below to the darker shafts and halls.

Cautiously, the Doctor leads the others down. Tyssan asks how the Doctor knows how to get in. "Call it local knowledge gained a long time ago," he explains. Romana rounds a center pillar and the Doctor faces her, "You gave me quite a start back there, you know." Drilling starts up again. The Doctor will tell Tyssan what they are looking for when he finds out but it is the same thing as the Daleks.

The Daleks step up plans to drill and find the intruders. Penetration into objective area is imminent.

Moving webs, the Doctor finds what he thought: the humanoid -- Davros -- who created the Daleks. The Doctor feels he could have stopped Davros from creating the Daleks. Tyssan thinks this creature looks as though it has been dead for centuries. Agella goes to check out a blast and the roof caves in, dropping concrete on her but missing Tyssan. Her hand comes out and the Doctor checks it for a pulse. Over Agella's body, the Doctor turns to Romana, "Romana, I was right." Tyssan comes back and warns the Daleks are breaking through.

Davros talks to himself about his resurrection and wheels out into the Doctor. "Davros, you don't look a day older than I hoped you were dead." Davros claims he does not die. This moment is unique, "Davros lives." The Doctor tells him that his long rest has done anything to cure his megalomania and offers him a jellybaby but Davros hits it out of his hand. The Doctor wheels him out, Romana and Tyssan behind him. All Dalek units proceed to the area that has been cleared. Daleks find...nothing but realize from charts that the objective they were looking for should be here. They find humanoid footprints and follow. They set out an emergency alert. The crushed hand of Agella begins to move under the rubble. Davros continues to order the Doctor to release him. The Doctor tells him to shut up or he will switch him off. He almost pushes Davros past hiding Daleks but moves him back and takes Davros to a room where the rubble has blocked an exit. He and Romana dig some out. The shifting rubble falls and the Doctor pulls the stone part, "You didn't do that very well, did you?" He asks Romana after falling. Romana is stunned, "I didn't do it very well?" "No, you didn't, did you?" The Doctor jokes. He isn't joking when he feels they have been boxed in and are too exposed in the open. He orders Romana to get a door up to make a barrier. With Tyssan's help, she does. He puts a metal piece over it but Romana tells him that wouldn't keep out a determined mob. The Doctor stays but sends the pair out an open window. He wants them to go back to the Movellan ship to get a force to get Davros out. He tells them not to take too many chances. The Doctor looks out a crack in the metal piece over the exit. The Doctor tells Davros some of the things that have been happening since Davros has been asleep: Arcturus won the Galactic Olympic Games with Betelgeuse coming in second and the Algo economy is in a terrible state due to an irreversible inflation. The Doctor tells him he might just tamper with destiny to stop his desire to control the universe. Davros tells him errors of the past will be rectified and new designs and weaponry will be added to the Daleks. The Doctor tells him the Daleks can do all that themselves. He wonders what is so special about the Movellans that they need his help against them.

Sharrel gets a visual read out of Davros: the Dalek objective. A mutant humanoid.

A Dalek moves to the room where the Doctor has Davros confined. It sees footprints and hears the Doctor talking to the evil Davros who is ranting about weaponry that will make the universe bow to Dalek power.

Romana ducks down as Tyssan points out the next rise. A Dalek is in front of them. Romana tells him they haven't time to go another way -- the Daleks will get in to the Doctor soon. Tyssan tells her he will try to distract the Dalek and meet her back at the Movellan ship. He climbs up a rock face wall. As he does, some debris falls. A Dalek fires a blast up at the rock wall and an explosion occurs.

The Doctor has made a device he calls life insurance. The Doctor asks a suddenly quiet Davros what they were talking about. "Your inevitable destruction," Davros answers. "No, no, no. We had that conversation the last time we met," the Doctor answers. The Doctor asks how he survived the last time Daleks blasted him at point blank range. There was damage to his primary life support system but secondary and backup circuits immediately took over, synthetic tissue regeneration replaced while body organs were held in long term suspension. The Doctor thinks this means Davros has outstayed his welcome in a big way. Davros tells him death is not a luxury he can keep for himself. The Doctor mocks, "Ohh, poor Davros." Davros will welcome allowing death for the Doctor...one he will delight in bestowing on the Doctor. Since his entombment, Davros does not know what the Daleks have done. Destruction and destroying innocent lives, the Doctor says. Only the beginning, Davros tells him and Davros misquotes Napoleon "I have slept but now I have awaken..." and the Doctor tells him so. A blast ray from outside knocks the piece of metal down into the room. Rays come into the room. The Doctor looks at the device in his hand. A Dalek tells the Doctor to move out into the open in five seconds. During the countdown, the Doctor sneaks back to Davros and tells him to tell the Dalek what he has. A bomb that will be put down the Davros chair, "Now spack off!" They obey only Davros, who tells them to do it. The Daleks back off. The Doctor calls it a Mexican standoff. Davros asks how he can expect to continue this against such odds. "Wouldn't you like to know," the Doctor says and goes to the window, "Wouldn't I like to know," he says to himself.

Romana makes her way over the deserted hills back into the Movellan spacecraft which has a turn about door. Inside, she explains to Sharrel. She sees the picture of Davros and asks how they know about him. They have their means he tells her. Sharrel will mobilize and tells Romana to remain here.

Daleks bring many human prisoners to outside the door of the room the Doctor has Davros in. One prisoner seems to be a humanoid wearing a Draconian outfit. A sucker points to one of the human men who moves out. The Dalek exterminates the man. A woman is next. Both die as the Doctor watches but he yells for them to stop. The Doctor tells them they can have Davros on his conditions: all slaves are allowed to leave the city, nothing comes in the room until he is in the clear. The Dalek tells him this is unacceptable. One more killing and the Doctor will put the bomb in Davros's chair, thus also blowing himself up. The Dalek thinks self sacrifice is illogical but Davros tells them the Doctor will do it: his thinking is impaired. The Daleks obey Davros and stop the killings. One prisoner laughs. The others take the bodies away. The workers have been released. The Doctor yells at the Daleks to get back. The device, put on Davros's chair, is set on a timing device. One squeeze on the sonic screwdriver will detonate the device. The Doctor runs out the window. Davros tells him they will meet again. The Doctor looks back in, "Don't you be so sure." He runs down the other side of the rubble on the outside.

Davros tells the Daleks to get the bomb off his chair, "He will detonate!" The Doctor takes his time doing it. A Dalek removes the explosive as the Doctor detonates and destroys a Dalek. Davros wants to know about the defeats and victories of his Daleks. He will learn from their mistakes. They will be invincible.

In the spacecraft, Romana tells Sharrel that the Doctor is an expert in robotics and knows more about the Daleks than anyone, being an absolute genius. When Romana tries to leave the spaceship, Sharrel tells her she will stay. She is blocked by Agella, who she claims was dead. Lan is with her. Agella shoots Romana in the face with her ray pistol at emission power 3 -- consciousness will not return for some time. Sharrel orders the Nova device prepared: it will destroy this planet as soon as they have secured their new objective: the Doctor, whose face appears on their screen.

The Doctor is hiding on the hills and dunes from Daleks, who are above him on the hills. Putting his hand on the sand, the Doctor feels a putty like material...a Kaled mutant, which gives him an idea what the Daleks want with Davros. This mutant seems harmless or dead. The Doctor throws it against the sand wall and runs.

Tyssan runs down a hill and sees the Doctor. He runs to him, telling him there are Dalek patrols everywhere. He had found the other prisoners who are very grateful. The prisoners are hiding. Tyssan would like to turn them into a fighting force. A Dalek surprises them as they sit to talk. They get up but it tells them not to attempt escape, but to turn and move away or they will be exterminated. A blast destroys the Dalek before it can do more. The Doctor tells the black Movellan girl it was very good of her and decent. She orders them to follow and points her gun at them. "I do seem to be in demand today," the Doctor says and fakes a turn to do as she says but she is fooled as the Doctor grabs her control unit. This makes her gun fall out of her hand and as he and Tyssan throw the unit to each other, making her spin, she falls out of control. The Doctor opens her shirt to which Tyssan asks, "What are you doing?" The Movellan was never for the Doctor... she's a robotic android. Another race of robots. No better than the Daleks.

Three Movellans prepare the tube device, the Nova device which is counting down. The seals are tight. The device operated out of the protective shielding would cause the atmosphere of the planet to burn up in seconds. It works. It changes the atoms of the planet become flammable -- the molecular structure of the air. Lan explains this to underlings.

In the spaceship, knowing their attempts to catch the Doctor have failed, Sharrel needs something to lure the Doctor out into the open. Agella tells him that the device functions perfectly. He orders two other Movellans to take the prone and unconscious Romana out.

The countdown reaches 2 but the Doctor is shot in the head by a Movellan. Agella did not arm the device. The Doctor and Romana are taken to the spaceship. Tyssan sees this and runs off to find the prisoners.

Davros wants Dalek Central Control in Space that he wants immediate transportation. A Dalek tells him a deep space transport ship is on the way and will be here in 6 hours. This is too long for Davros. All Daleks will remain on maximum alert: his safety is their primary concern: they will make any sacrifice to protect him. Davros wants every detail of logistics of the Dalek battle fleet contained in a computer sphere. The info was checked by the Supreme Dalek; a title which Davros disputes. He is the Supreme Commander. Davros orders the Daleks to leave him: he wishes to concentrate.

Sharrel orders the device to be reset by Lan. They will launch in 32 minutes and set their countdown to lift off. Lan thinks it wise the device be set on manual, otherwise the Daleks can shut it off. Sharrel asks Lan that he perform this function and Lan agrees, having committed himself to this even before Sharrel asks. They both know that he will be destroyed when he detonates on Sharrel's command. The Doctor wakes up as Lan leaves, "Robots, of course." He checks Romana will be all right. Sharrel asks when the Doctor first realized they were robotic. The Doctor mentions when the roof fell in on Agella, mispronouncing her name. He asks how her hand is. He gives them his condolences for functioning logically. The Doctor explains they will never defeat the Daleks. He goes to prove it and moves down to Romana, who has been awake but faking she wasn't. He plays a game of scissors cut rock to prove that the Movellans cannot beat the Daleks with logic.

Davros thinks the Movellans are worthy opponents for his Daleks. They have been fighting for centuries. Two computerized fleets locked in space battle. It is a logical empass...so the Daleks returned to find Davros, who they want to reprogram their computers for them. The Movellans will be exterminated.

The Doctor and Romana continue their game. He gets Sharrel and Agella to try the game but he stops it, holding their fists: everlasting peace -- locked in stalemate. The Doctor is impressed for their everlasting peace discovery and congratulates them on this recipe. The Doctor gets Sharrel to play with him and the Doctor wins with stone blunts scissors. The Doctor wins and Sharrel thanks him: their battle computers must have a new element programmed into them -- even a small advantage over the Daleks. When they reach the Movellan fleet, they will get the Doctor to program their computer. The Doctor isn't willing to do this but if he were, Davros will be doing the same thing for the Daleks, "I mean he may be mad but his computer skills are almost as great as mine." Romana hears this and realizes the Doctor has blundered by telling them this. She holds her nose with her hand. Sharrel tells the Doctor that is why when the Movellans leave this planet, they will be taking the Doctor with them. Davros will be destroyed by the Nova device.

Lan has the device restarted outside. He hears sounds and moves to find out what they are. Tyssan lying on the ground, apparently dead. Behind Lan is another prisoner. He turns but Tyssan gets up and removes his control unit Lan falls deactivated. Other prisoners come to help but Lan is down already. Tyssan uses a tool to open the control device to see if the Doctor is right...

Daleks know the Movellan ship is about to lift off in 21 minutes. Listening scanners have found non Movellan devices in the spacecraft... the Doctor and his companion both of whom must be stopped. Davros realizes why. The Movellan ship must be destroyed with more than firepower. He wants them to unpack the explosives.

Romana and the Doctor play their game again. Romana wants to get out. The Doctor asks how. "When I give the signal, move," he gets up but is put back down. Romana says, "Good plan." In the next bit of the game, the Doctor has a jelly baby out. The Doctor eats it, "Doctor catches robot." He eats the jelly baby. Agella tells Sharrel about Lan not answering her signals. He sends her out. She finds a device and Lan...who deactivates her. Tyssan says, "Well done Lan," as he and the other former prisoners arrive.

Davros tells a group of bomb carrying Daleks that they will not allow any deviation to distract them from their mission: to blow up the Movellan spacecraft. They will go around the ship close to the hull, making a sacrifice to blow it up. Davros yells at them to carry out their orders. "We obey," one says. The Dalek bomb group leaves. "Total Dalek victory, then on to still greater conquests. I will lead! Davros will lead!"

Lan, Agella, and Tyssan lead their group to the Movellan ship. The Doctor luckily spots Tyssan in the tube door so he jumps up and does a wild, nonsensical distraction, "Don't you ever speak to me like that again, you understand never!" Romana jumps up, "What did I say?" The Doctor shouts in her face, "Jellybaby!" A black Movellan guard is near them, listening, "You keep out of this, this is a personal matter, isn't it?!" Romana snaps, "Yes!" The Doctor keeps at the guard, "So just mind your own business!" Romana says, "You tell him!" "And you mind your own business too!" The Doctor yells back at Romana. Romana asks, "What?" "Duck!" The Doctor yells! He gets Romana down as the prisoners come in and fight the Movellans. The black Movellan is shot and falls over the Doctor's back. Shot by the reprogrammed Lan. The Draconian dressed black human fights a Movellan. Lan fights Sharrel. A big human bodily drops a Movellan. The Doctor stops one Movellan and catches him from behind. The humans, however, fall unconscious in the fight and soon the Movellans are moving at the Doctor who launches himself at the controls with a tube in his mouth. Romana merely moves past the remaining Movellans and removes their power packs. They all fall and the Doctor is blowing the tube...which is the K9 dog whistle. The Doctor takes one control unit off. Power packs with main circuits with orders for the day to carry them out. The Doctor thanks Tyssan. The Doctor counts the humans that can go with him, "One.. two... three... four... five, I'll go alone... ask me why..." Tyssan does. "They're unconscious, also I'm a dangerous fellow when I don't know what I'm doing..." he moves out of the ship to stop Davros from getting away. Tyssan needs the ship to get home. The Doctor goes into the tube, which turns, "I will return." En route, he spots the Dalek bomb squad.

Back in the computer room, the Doctor haunts Davros, thinking it wouldn't be easy to get in to see him. "It's nice to be wanted," the Doctor tells him of their need by the two vast computers so evenly matched, two space fleets impotent. The Doctor knows how the stalemate can be broken but he wouldn't tell the Movellans. Davros knew the Doctor would know how to break the stalemate. He also knew the Doctor wouldn't tell the Movellans but couldn't take the risk. Davros shows the Doctor the detonation control. The Doctor bends over his glide chair and asks how Davros would stop him from detonating before the Daleks reach their target: the Movellan ship. As the Doctor asks, a Dalek quietly glides up behind him. "I would not..." Davros says quietly. "Do not move!" A Dalek startles the Doctor. "You see, there's nothing you can do to stop it now," Davros says triumphantly." The group of Daleks, three apiece away from each other, move toward the Movellan spacecraft.

In the Movellan ship, Tyssan thinks they got all the Movellans. Romana realizes Commander Sharrel is not with them. He escaped. She also knows he will detonate. The other prisoners are on their feet now, cleaning up. Some are with Agella who is explaining the controls. Romana runs out to stop Sharrel from detonating the Nova Device.

The Doctor tries to move at the detonation nub on Davros' glide chair but a Dalek stops him, moving in at him.

"Do not deviate, let no opposition halt you!" The Dalek force leader reminds them.

In the ship, Tyssan and Agella get an alarm of a Dalek force coming.

Sharrel, wounded via his power pack, falls on the dirt but moves at the Nova Device.

Former prisoners run out of the Movellan spacecraft to stop the Dalek who carry the bombs. Daleks start killing them even though they have Movellan ray guns. An Axon like woman with silver eyes bends to fight. A female is shot dead. Veldan fires on some Daleks. But the humans are forced to flee.

Romana sees Sharrel about to reach the Nova Device and slides down a hillside as the Commander gets to his feet, not crawling now. She fights with him and rolls around on the ground with him. Finally she tears his arm off and deactivates him. She also deactivates the Nova Device. She falls to her knees, tired.

The Doctor has his hat out as he talks to Davros. Davros tells him that when the Dalek ship arrives, the Doctor will accompany them. "Oh, I'm sure they'll welcome me with open arms, that is, if they had arms... please, please, no offense meant at all..." The Doctor tosses his hat over his shoulder onto the Dalek eye stalk. It rants "Malfunction!" The Doctor gets behind it and pushes but has to run. It begins to fire at the Doctor blindly, trying to follow Davros's directions as to where the Doctor is. The Doctor seems to be trying to get it to shoot Davros. The Doctor dives behind a computer bank but a shot makes him duck wildly. Davros is almost hit. "Vision impaired!" The Dalek yells. The Doctor is shocked at the blasts so he comes back out and gets behind the Dalek and pushes it, attaching an explosive bomb and pushes it out into the hallway, "BYE BYE!" The Dalek explodes in the hallway and falls apart. "My hat!" The Doctor stalks Davros and pulls Davros's hand and lets go. The blast blows up the Dalek Bomb Squad.

Davros is in a protection jail tube in the Movellan ship soon after. "All elephants are pink, Nellie is an elephant, therefore, Nellie is pink!" The Doctor says. Romana and Tyssan watch. "Logical?" The Doctor says. Davros agrees but the Doctor says a human would say... and Tyssan finishes, "Elephants aren't pink!" Davros scoffs that humans do not understand logic. Romana tells him at least they aren't slaves to it like the Daleks and Movellans. That's why the Daleks wanted Davros back: they remembered they were once human organic creatures themselves and could get around logic and they wanted Davros to give it back to them. Davros claims he has failed. The Doctor asks him what it feels like. Davros ignores this and asks what will happen to him. A High Security Ship has started out from Earth and will meet them and bring Davros back to Earth to stand trial for his crimes against the whole of creation. Davros brags not a ship, not a prison can hold him. The Doctor explains that this cryogenetic freezer will put him in a solid block of ice. "Bye bye, Davros," the Doctor hits the switch. Mist fills the tube. Tyssan is looking at something on the screen and calls for the Doctor twice. When he turns to find the Doctor, both the Doctor and Romana are gone.

The Doctor and Romana are running outside as the Movellan ship retracts its door and lifts off. Far enough away and between two mounds of sand, the pair watch it lift off using rays. A narrow escape, the Doctor tells her. They have some digging to do. They run toward the TARDIS.