[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_juggernauts_cover.jpg]]

The Sixth Doctor and Mel have to escape very quickly from an exploding space thing, so Mel hops aboard the nearest escape pod, which sets a course for the nearest inhabited space colony. The Doctor soon realises that he may be forced to commit a HeroicSacrifice, but he's time-scooped out at the last moment by [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks the group of grey Daleks who were last seen imprisoning Davros]].

Three months later, Mel has found a job, a lot of friends and an almost-boyfriend named Geoff on the human colony of Lethe, where she happily waits for the Doctor to come find her. She's working as a robot programmer for the kind old crippled Professor Vaso. The group is working on advanced mining robots, and Mel is soon offered a permanent contract for her excellent work in programming them. She has to decline, because she knows the Doctor will come fetch her soon.

The Daleks, meanwhile, have got a deal for the Doctor: if he can get them Davros, who's tweaked the crew's mandatory arm implants so that they'll perceive him as the kind old crippled Professor Vaso, they let Mel live. Lethe's atmosphere isn't very healthy for Daleks, so the Doctor has to run errands for the Daleks down there. He (snarkily) agrees, is reunited with Mel, and tries to explain the concept of Daleks and Davros to her.

She won't have it at first, so Six goes off to confront Davros in person. His visit coincides with the arrival of a group of health & safety inspectors. One of them, Kryson, is able to see Davros' true form because he's a drug addict -- his veins are too clogged with chemicals for Davros' mind-altering tweaking to have any effect. He's perfectly willing to work together with Davros, though. Six has a chat with both, thoroughly mocking both Davros and Kryson. He's very unimpressed with Davros' new pet project (a bunch of badly brain-damaged [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks white Daleks]] who also survived his escape). However, he's fascinated by Davros' ''other'' project: the resurrection, and gradual enhancement, of aforementioned mining robots -- the Juggernauts. Who turn out to be [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase Mechanoids]]. Davros is making them into the ultimate Dalek killers, and claims that his intentions are pure: he now wants to rid the universe of his renegade Dalek creations. Six wearily explains that Mechanoids already ''are'' the ultimate Dalek killers.

Davros rather unceremoniously kills Kryson's superior, hoping that as the new team leader, his new lackey will convince health & safety to approve the Juggernaut program. Kryson, very freaked out, explains that a KlingonPromotion just doesn't work that way in health & safety, and that his entire team would object. Davros merrily murders the rest of the team as well, then calls Mel into his office. Mel's friends and the Doctor, meanwhile, discover that the Juggernauts aren't just enhanced Mechanoids... they're built with HumanResources. Living hearts and organs and semi-sentient brains are deep inside them, and Mel has been unknowingly programming them for months. Mel is ''intensely'' angry at Davros, and swiftly re-programs her Mechanoids to capture Davros while Six halts their hidden production line and Geoff sacrifices his own life to get the braindamaged white Daleks ThrownOutTheAirlock. However, when Six radios the grey Daleks and tells them to come fetch Davros, the Daleks merrily admit that the whole thing was a setup. Not only that, but Mel feels even more betrayed now, realising that the Doctor worked together with Daleks all this time. In the end, they leave Davros to be dragged off by his own "Juggernauts", although they're painfully aware of his JokerImmunity.

!!Tropes
* ActionPrologue: The ship is blowing up! The Doctor can't find the TARDIS!
* AlienBlood: "What bleeds green?" Kaleds.
* AnachronicOrder: Aside from the reference to Evelyn (see below), this episode was released just after "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho064TheNextLife The Next Life]]", an Eighth Doctor episode that ends on a Davros CliffHanger. In respect to "The Juggernauts", that CliffHanger takes place in the far future both for Davros and for Six and is never even alluded to.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Famously the episode in which Mel Bush ''makes Davros beg for mercy''.
* BoardToDeath: Davros attempts this. The realistic consequences followed, and people have to explain to him that things just don't work that way.
* BodyHorror: The Juggernauts are "enhanced Mechanoids." The enhancement is done with human tissue.
* CallBack: Davros envisions that his Juggernauts will be "the perfect Dalek-killers." The Doctor retorts that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase they already are]].
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: A Black Dalek shows up for the Doctor.
* ComputerVoice: The Daleks, as usual. The Juggernauts even more so, when their dialogue can be made out at all.
* ContinuityNod: A few to the Creator/BigFinish episode "Davros", and to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]".
* CurseCutShort
* DeadpanSnarker: Six is ''really'' on a roll in this episode. Pretty much every line out of his mouth is pure snark.
-->Ohh, let me guess -- Daleks with legs? Daleks with ''fashion sense''?
* DeathEqualsRedemption: Davros tries to invoke this. Needless to say, [[JokerImmunity he doesn't actually die]].
* EnemyCivilWar: As was ''de rigeur'' for the era of Dalek history this story is set in.
* EscapePod: Mel ends the ColdOpen in one of these, flying away from a ship and the Doctor.
* FalselyReformedVillain: TheProfessor, who's actually a guise for an old enemy of the Doctor.
* FemaleMonsterSurprise: The Doctor springs the gender of an alien on Mel, though not in the [[ColdOpen best of circumstances]].
* FluffyTheTerrible: The Juggernauts are named after children's show characters.
* ForeShadowing: When Six wakes up, he briefly wonders where Evelyn is, before remembering she's not around anymore and he's back to travelling with Mel. We just have no idea why yet, since the episodes are produced in AnachronicOrder. The reason for her departure was much later revealed in [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho073ThickerThanWater "Thicker Than Water"]].
* FunctionalAddict: Krysen is addicted to certain chemicals.
* GeniusCripple: TheProfessor.
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: Creator/BigFinish loves to apply this trope to Daleks.
* HeroicSacrifice: Poor Geoff.
* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Davros wanted the Juggernauts to be killer robots. He didn't anticipate someone pointing them at ''him''.
* HumanResources: Once again, Davros shows he's not above this.
* KlingonPromotion: Davros stages one for Kryson. Kryson is ''not'' happy with it.
* LaymansTerms: While this story is actually fairly light on the TechnoBabble, terms get simplified even further for the investors (and the audience).
* MadDoctor: Davros, as always.
* NostalgicMusicbox: Geoff gives one to Mel in a character moment.
* OverrideCommand: The project staff built backdoor commands into the Juggernauts, making them among the very few roboticists working on giant death machines to be even vaguely savvy.
* TheProfessor: "TheProfessor."
* ReplacementGoldfish: It's never explicitly stated, but Davros basically wants to have Kryson as his new [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Nyder]]. Kryson isn't up for it.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Kryson, once he realises what's ''really'' going on.
* SelfDestructMechanism: A thoroughly defeated Davros attempts to take his Dalek pursuers with him.
* SignificantAnagram: "Professor Vaso" is just a tiny step away from ''Doctor'' Vaso - Dr Vaso - Davros.
* ShoutOut:
** The Doctor wonders why he hasn't met any short, [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs whistling miners in the underground tunnels.]]
** Mel quotes "BigBrotherIsWatchingYou" from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''.
** The three Juggernauts are called [[Series/TheSootyShow Sooty, Sweep and Soo]].
* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: The Doctor.
* ThrownOutTheAirlock
* TimeSkip: For Mel, it's three months between the ColdOpen and the first scene.
* TitleDrop
* UnwittingPawn: The Doctor proves to be one for one of the factions.
* WhatTheHellHero: Mel (after the events of the story) asks the Doctor why he didn't go through with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks destroying the Daleks]] when he could have.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Mel and Geoff. They don't. He dies.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Said nearly word for word by Davros.
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