Thal (Doctor Who)
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| Doctor Who race | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Thals | |
| Type | Humanoids |
| Affiliated with | Thals |
| Homeworld | Skaro |
| First appearance | The Daleks |
The Thals are a fictional race of humanoid aliens from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, originating on the planet Skaro.
According to Thal oral history, they were once a warlike race, but following a terrible war with the peaceful and scientific Dals who shared their planet, they renounced violence and became pacifist farmers. After centuries of this lifestyle, they were forced to take up arms again when the Dals — now developed into the aggressive and xenophobic Daleks — returned and attempted to wipe them out.
That history was revised in Genesis of the Daleks (1974), which revealed the detailed origin of the Daleks. The name of the Dals was changed to the Kaleds, who were a fascistic society involved in a generations-long war of attrition with the Thals. The prolonged conflict had turned Skaro into a wasteland, and radiation sickness was a common hazard. The Kaled chief scientist, Davros, accelerated the mutation of the Kaled species and put the results into tank-like travel machines, which became the dreaded Daleks.
At some point, the Thals left Skaro and established a space-faring civilization. In Planet of the Daleks (1973), a Thal expedition was sent to the planet Spiridon. Together, the Thals and the Third Doctor defeated a Dalek plan to duplicate the natural invisibility of the planet's inhabitants and launch a ten-thousand strong Dalek army hidden on the planet.
It was never stated whether the Thals and Kaleds (or Dals) were meant to be separate species or simply a different race or nation.
[edit] Other appearances
A Thal expedition captured by the Daleks is featured in the Telos novella The Dalek Factor by Simon Clark. They also appear in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel War of the Daleks by John Peel and the Big Finish Productions audio play The Mutant Phase.
