Things that would have happened if I were a Doctor Who companion

[xiphias]

Doctor: If someone who knew the future, pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives... could you then kill that child?

Sarah Jane Smith: We're talking about the Daleks. The most evil creatures ever invented. You must destroy them. You must complete your mission for the Time Lords!

Doctor: Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear... in peace, and never even know the word "Dalek".

Sarah Jane Smith: Then why wait? If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate.

Doctor:'But if I kill. Wipe out a whole intelligent life form, then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks.

Ian: [reaches over and pinches the two wires together]. Fine. I'll do it.

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Actually, the result wouldn't have made any difference -- the way the episode played out, the same result would have happened either way.

[dancing-kiralee.livejournal.com]

It's been somewhere around 20 years since I first / last saw the episode in full, and my memory may not be perfect. But, as I recall, the final solution did not end with the destruction of the Dalek race, and the Doctor knew, or planned it that way (it wasn't just something the BBC cooked up later so they could keep using the Dalek... well, it probably was something the BBC cooked up so they could keep using the Daleks, but they did it at the time, and it was in the story...)

If the Doctor's right (in your quotation above), and touching the two wires together would cause the Dalek's to cease to exist... well, that would be a different end result.

Kiralee