The planet Skaro is located in the Mutter's Spiral galaxy roughly on the opposite side of the galaxy to the Sol system – the home of the planet Earth. In the Galactic registry, Skaro is listed under the code-identifier D5 Gamma Z Alpha. The planet is established as the Dalek home world up until its destruction during the Dalek Civil War. Skaro (a word translating as "Home" in the languages of both the Thals and the Kaleds) is the twelfth planet in its star system, itself orbited by two satellites named Falkus and Omega Mysterium by the Kaled people. The atmosphere and gravity of the planet was similar to that of Earth, suggesting the planet was of similar mass and in a similar orbit of its star to that planet.
Before the Neutronic War that ravaged the surface and atmosphere of the planet, Skaro was capable of supporting a variety of life forms. In the abundant jungle and forest areas of the planet, Magnedons and Varga plants flourished. Vargas were a strange mix of animal and plant life which reproduced by infecting animal life with spores. These spores then altered the prey at a genetic level, turning them into Vargas. Originally, Vargas were static life forms - more plant like, but the changes to the planet's environment meant they eventually mutated into their mobile form.
In addition to these and other strange and wonderful types of flora and fauna, humanoid life forms evolved on the planet. The four distinct races were the Dals, the Kaleds, the Thals and the Tharons. Although little is known about the heritage of the Tharons and the Dals, it is known that there are differences between Thal and Kaled physiologies. Seeming to be virtually identical on the outside, the configuration of the races' organs are different and there are differences in the organs themselves – Thal lungs are longer and thinner than Kaled ones, for example. The Time Lord classification system registers the Skarosian Elemental DNA Type as 467-989.
The landmasses of Skaro consisted of one major continent and a series of island chains. The continent was divided from North to South by a range of mountains known to the Kaleds as the Drammankin Range. Generally temperate, this main continent was covered with lush woodland and jungle areas. Placid lakes and crystal clear rivers scatter the continent and it is near these waterways that many of the native villages and cities were established.
The planet suffered terribly during the long Neutronic war between the Thal and Kaled peoples. The land and atmosphere became irradiated and polluted with numerous toxins and gases that were developed by each side in their effort to wipe the other from the planet's surface. Jungles and forests became petrified, plains were reduced to wastelands and lakes either dried up or became the polluted home for new, unpleasant forms of life. Life on Skaro seemed particularly susceptible to mutation; this may have been due to the polluted and irradiated atmosphere or could be due to some unique properties inherent in the planet itself.
Following the Neutronic War (which ended shortly after Kaled scientist, Davros, created the Daleks), Thal and Muto survivors became nomadic – travelling around the barren landscape to coax crops and eke out a meagre existence. For centuries, these survivors managed to live in peace and the Daleks descended into legend. The planet began a slow recovery, aided by the environmental conscience of those living on its surface. This peace and period of recovery came to a standstill when the Daleks once more emerged from their tomb in the Kaled bunker and began to take hold of a portion of the planet's surface some five-hundred years later. The other survivors, both reluctant to and incapable of waging a war against the Daleks retreated as far as they could from the creatures, hoping to remain un-noticed.
During the latter part of the Movellan War, few Daleks remained on Skaro. The planet at this time had begun to recover from the devastation of the Neutronic War as patches of vegetation were growing again on the planet's surface. The Thals had abandoned their homeworld by this stage and established a new home on the planet of New Dhavius.
After the war, the Daleks recovered their strength. Skaro once more became the seat of Dalek power in the universe. The Emperor initiated the construction of several cities, incubation facilities and factories across the planet's surface to aid in the race's redevelopment. This state of affairs remained constant up until the Great Civil War that swept through the Dalek race.
Early in the course of the civil war between Davros' new Daleks and the old Dalek race, Davros' Daleks took control of the planet, destroying the Dalek Emperor in the process. Upon capturing Skaro and ending the life of the upstart Emperor, Davros proclaimed himself Emperor of the Daleks and branded all Daleks who remained loyal to the Old Emperor as "Renegades". Having exterminated the surviving loyalists that were not swift enough to evacuate, Davros set the planet's factories to produce Mark Four Travel Machines and new starships based on his designs. Although several efforts were made, the loyalists never managed to re-capture Skaro. It was during the battle to reclaim Skaro that Davros' mobility chair was damaged and a new Emperor casing was constructed to house the remains of his flesh.
In one of the final battles of the civil war, both factions sent emissaries to retrieve the Hand of Omega – an ancient Time Lord artifact that would enable the bearers to repeat the experiments that gave the Gallifreyans mastery over time travel. The Hand's location was revealed as a Time Lord ploy however and Skaro s sun was sent super-nova by the device. The resultant This was not the final end of the planet, however. At some stage early in the Time War, the Daleks restored their homeworld. Though devastated by the ravages of the War, the planet survived and was eventually re-colonized.
