Trantis is a minor antagonist featured in the Doctor Who serial "Mission to the Unknown" and "The Daleks' Master Plan", which aired in 1965-1966. He is a member of the Dalek's Galactic Council, a representative of the Tenth Galaxy, the strongest power on the council, in their mission to conquer the Solar System. Externally, he resembles a short human, but has sharp teeth and multiple short, poisonous, spike-like facial tendrils, dressed in a robe that covers his entire body, even his arms and hands.
Trantis was portrayed by Johnny Clayton in "Mission to the Unknown" and Roy Evans in "The Daleks' Master Plan". For reasons unknown, Trantis' appearance changed in "The Daleks' Master Plan" to remove his facial tendrils, and gave his robes proper sleeves with black gloves. Also notably, his name is also the name of his home planet.
Biography
In the 40th Century, Trantis, the second of his family line to hold the namesake, was the ruler of his home galaxy, the Tenth Galaxy, where his species ruled an empire spanning 20 star systems. Trantis himself was very arrogant and somewhat dimwitted, believing that 20 star systems constituted a galaxy, being regarded as somewhat unstable by other rulers of the Outer Galaxies, which the Tenth Galaxy was a part of. Additionally, at some point, Trantis bore a son, named Trantis III. In the year 4000, the Daleks organized the Galactic Council, an alliance of the Outer Galaxies meant to conquer the Solar System and exterminate humanity. They met on the jungle planet Kembel, where Trantis met with Sentreal, another Outer Galaxy delegate, in a reception where they had drinks, Trantis bragging about the size of his galaxy, where Sentreal tried to tell him how big a galaxy really was.
Trantis assembled alongside other representatives of the Outer Galaxies, including Beaus, Sentreal, Gearon, and Warrien. Then, another alien representative, Malpha, entered the chamber, prompting the Dalek in charge of the meeting to commence. However, Malpha objected, drawing an energy pistol and declaring that he had learned of spies from the Solar System who were present among them, surprising Trantis and the other delegates. The Dalek leader clarified that there were no such spies among them, instead revealing that they had caught human soldiers landing on the planet, and had destroyed their ship. Malpha pointed out that the humans, who were unaccounted for, could still send a message home, but the Dalek proclaimed that the humans would be exterminated by his patrols, making Trantis and the others express their approval.
With the situation cleared up for the moment, the delegates soon all agreed to an alliance, the decision unanimous. The delegates began to cheer and gloat about their perceived power, Trantis calling out that victory was theirs, as Malpha gave a short speech about how their conquest of the Solar System was assured. With that, the Daleks declared that their first target would be Earth, Trantis and the other delegates cheering for victory.
For six other meetings, the Galactic Council reviewed their invasion plans. By the seventh meeting, a new delegate, Celation, had joined the alliance, Warrien had pulled out for unknown reasons, and another delegate, Zephon, was scheduled to join. Additionally, a human, Mavic Chen, the traitorous Guardian of the Solar System, had also been conspiring with the alliance and was present. At the meeting, Trantis and the other delegates waited on Zephon, who was tardy, annoying all of them, despite Chen trying to assure them that Zephon would be there. Eventually, the Daleks searched for Zephon, finding him and bringing him to the chamber, but unbeknownst to them, "Zephon" was actually a Time Lord known as The Doctor in disguise, the real Zephon incapacitated elsewhere by The Doctor's allies. With everyone now assembled, Trantis announcing Zephon as the Master of the Fifth Galaxy, the meeting commenced. The Daleks reported that they had completed their superweapon, the Time Destructor, making Trantis and the other delegates applaud by striking their hands against the table. Chen then revealed that he had a sample of taranium, an incredibly rare material meant to be the power core to the Time Destructor, which took him 50 years to get. Trantis asked why the Outer Galaxies weren't asked to provide it, and Chen clarified that the material could only be found in the Solar System, and without it, the Time Destructor would not function, setting the core down on the table.
Then, the real Zephon awoke and broke free of his restraints, sounding an intruder alarm. The meeting broke up in a panic, Trantis and the other delegates fleeing, allowing The Doctor to steal the taranium and escape with his allies by stealing Mavic Chen's ship. Zephon was blamed for the events and executed by the Daleks. Afterwards, Trantis met with the Dalek leader, berating him for losing the core and putting too much trust in Chen, but the Dalek insisted that Chen would succeed in retrieving it, saying Chen had special instructions. Trantis demanded to know what they were, and when the Dalek protested, Trantis declared that as the largest power in the alliance, he had the right to know, but the Dalek rebuked him and insisted that their power could not be stopped, and that they would not fail. Wary of Trantis' influence and power, Chen accused Trantis' people of being behind the core theft, citing the time-travel experiments of Trantis' species as evidence of why they'd want such a power source. The Daleks didn't believe it, but were also wary of Trantis. Then, a series of events led The Doctor to supposedly surrender the taranium core to the Daleks, but it was actually a fake, a fact they did not realize.
With that, Trantis, Chen, and Celation gathered to witness the assembly and test of the Time Destructor. While Chen gloated about how instrumental he was to the Galactic Council's plan, Trantis was only happy that the accusation against his galaxy had been resolved. Celation pointed out how the real culprits were humans, but Chen clarified that The Doctor was not a human, something Trantis questioned, as Time Lords were externally identical to humans. When Chen mentioned that The Doctor could travel through time, Celation noted that he hadn't figured out time travel, and Chen remembered that Trantis' species had tried to achieve time travel, but Trantis reminded him that the experiments failed. Chen then dismissed the importance of The Doctor, as the time had come to test the Time Destructor. Then, the Daleks, deciding to get rid of Trantis' influence, turned on him and forced him into the chamber as the test subject. The device then activated, and Trantis, terrified, recoiled from it and fell to his knees, but was otherwise unharmed, to the surprise and anger of Chen and Celation. The Daleks found that the mechanisms of the Time Destructor were functioning properly, but realized that the core itself had failed, for it was a fake. Trantis was left inside the chamber, but the Daleks decided to execute him, one entering the testing chamber. Trantis tried to flee, but was quickly killed by a blast from the Dalek.
Trantis' son, Trantis III, survived on his homeworld, learning of his father's death on Kembel as the alliance eventually fell apart. However, he seemed to not know who really killed him, instead thinking it was The Doctor, and attempted to both kill The Doctor and conquer Earth as a part of the Syndicate, an organization formed from the remnants, heirs, and surviving relatives of the Galactic Council. However, Trantis III was killed by a mind-controlled Sentreal when engaging The Doctor and a human ally of his.
External Links
- Trantis on the Doctor Who Wiki
