The TARDIS

The TARDIS arrives on the icy surface of Necros, where The Doctor and Peri have come to attend the funeral of an old acquaintance of The Doctor’s, Professor Arthur Stengos. Stengos’ body is currently interred inside Tranquil Repose, a mortuary that provides an extra service - the cryogenic storage of the bodies of the galaxy’s wealthy, who are frozen until such time as medical science can cure whatever killed them.

However, almost immediately upon arrival, The Doctor and Peri are accosted by a hideously deformed man who attempts to kill The Doctor. When Peri hits him the man is suddenly freed of his mental conditioning. He forgives Peri and then dies. but not before mentioning the ‘Great Healer’ of Tranquil Repose. The Doctor tells Peri he is suspicious about reports of Stengos’ death, and the two head for the mortuary.

In reality, the Great Healer is none other than Davros, kept alive inside a cryogenic tank and served by Daleks who are the hidden security force of the mortuary. Davros contacts Kara, a wealthy factory operator who supplies foodstuffs for much of a hungry galaxy. Davros owns shares of Kara’s factory, among others, and demands more money to continue his hidden researches.

The Doctor

Inside Tranquil Repose, Mr. Jobel, the chief embalmer, resists the advances of the timid Tasambeker while preparing for the arrival of the President’s wife, who is ill with a dreadful disease. While Jobel plots to ensure that nothing goes wrong when the President’s spaceship arrives, two people arrive to retrieve the body of Stengos: Grigory, a medical scientist, and Natasha, Stengos’ daughter. What they find, instead, is a mannequin where Stengos’ body should be.

At Kara’s factory, her secretary Vogel announces the arrival of Orcini, a former member of the Knights of the Order of Oberon, now a paid assassin. Accompanied by his earthy squire, Bostock, Orcini learns of Kara’s target: Davros, who is bleeding her factory dry. Orcini is anxious to accept the challenge, seeing this as a final mission of honour to avenge any past misdoings on his conscience. Orcini and Bostock therefore head for the mortuary.

The Doctor and Peri

Deep in the mortuary’s lower levels, Grigory and Natasha locate Arthur Stengos. But they are shocked to discover him encased in a Dalek frame. Apparently, the Great Healer’s plans include turning occupants of the mortuary into Dalek beings. The two though are caught and interrogated by Jobel’s aides, Takis and Lilt.

The Doctor and Peri then arrive outside Tranquil Repose. But unbeknown to them their arrival is being watched by Davros. Then suddenly a large gravestone, on which is emblazoned The Doctor’s face, topples over and falls towards The Doctor, threatening to crush him. Peri is distraught that The Doctor has been killed but then has to resist the advances of Jobel who comes to her assistance. Luckily it turns out that the monument is a lightweight fake, and so The Doctor is unharmed.

On entering the mortuary Peri becomes intrigued by the centre’s DJ, whose American accent reminds her of home. The Doctor sends her off with Jobel to meet the DJ, who is employed to entertain and inform those who are interred in the cryogenic chambers. The Doctor meanwhile sets off, to meet the person who erected the statue, but is immediately stunned by the Daleks and is taken to the holding cell. There, he encounters Grigory and Natasha, who tells him of Stengos’ fate. The Doctor realises that Stengos’ death and the statue of himself were merely parts of a ruse to lure him here, and he has a good idea as to who is behind it. Suddenly, Orcini arrives and releases The Doctor and his party, though he warns The Doctor not to follow on his quest to kill Davros.

The Fake Davros

Davros summons Kara and has Vogel killed. Orcini and Bostock then arrive and attempt to defeat Davros, but discover that the countenance in the cryogenic chamber is merely a puppet... It is then revealed that Davros is alive and well in his mobile wheelchair. Bostock is killed and Orcini is captured. Meanwhile, the Daleks attempt to take over the mortuary. Peri and the DJ try to fend them off but the DJ unfortunately is killed. Meanwhile Tasambeker, who has been corrupted by Davros into hating Jobel, nevertheless attempts to warn him that he has displeased his Great Healer, but ends up killing him in cold blood when he spurns her. The Daleks then exterminate Tasambeker, aware of her betrayal. The Doctor, who has been captured again, is brought before Davros, who tells him that he is creating an army of Daleks, which are hidden in the catacombs underneath his laboratory. He has been using the inhabitants of the mortuary, with the remainder ending up as raw food material for the galaxy.

Daleks loyal to the Supreme Dalek then arrive from Skaro - having been summoned by Takis and Lilt, who are aware of Davros’ identity and renegade status. A battle between the Skaro Daleks and a group of Davros’ Daleks soon begins, while the inhabitants of the mortuary attempt to flee. The Skaro Daleks eventually win and arrest Davros and escort him back to their spaceship so that he can be taken to Skaro to stand trial. Davros tries to get the Daleks to take The Doctor as well, but they do not recognise him in this regeneration.

As Davros is taken away Takis and Lilt, now aware of their misjudgement, arrive with Peri. Orcini though wants to detonate a bomb he is carrying before the Dalek spaceship leaves. Refusing his offer to build a timer, The Doctor bids farewell to Orcini, then the group flees Davros’ chamber for the surface. Orcini then activates the bomb, which destroys him and the lower levels of Tranquil Repose. The Dalek spaceship though manages to take off before the blast. The Doctor though states that Orcini did die for something very honourable as he destroyed Davros's new generation of Daleks.

Aware that Tranquil Repose is now finished, The Doctor and Peri bid Takis and Lilt farewell, telling them and the other members of the mortuary staff that they should take up farming as the blue flowers that grow all over Necros can be used as a new food source to replace the product Davros had created from the dead bodies. As they leave Peri requests that The Doctor takes her somewhere nice for a holiday. The Doctor announces to Peri that he knows just the place...