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The Doctor's plan to save Gallifrey and destroy the Daleks is as follows:

DOCTOR 10: The Daleks would be firing on each other. They'd destroy themselves in their own crossfire.

WARRIOR: Gallifrey would be gone, the Daleks would be destroyed, and it would look to the rest of the universe as if they'd annihilated each other.

To my mind the Daleks would stop firing pretty quickly when they realised Gallifrey was gone. So how would they destroy each other?

I could accept the Dalek fleet sustaining significant damage in the ensuing chaos. But with shields, and given their sheer numbers, it seems more likely to me that many would survive.

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  • I think it's fair to say that The Doctor has a better idea of Dalek behaviour than any of us could.. your reqppy answering your own question.
    – Gnemlock
    Commented Dec 27, 2017 at 23:30
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    It helps that they (2/3 of them anyway) already knew as an established fact (fixed point in time) that "the Daleks were destroyed and Gallifrey was not there anymore". All they had to do was discover a way all that could still be true... while actually keeping Gallifrey safe without anybody noticing. There was a good chance it would work. Plus it's the Doctor(s); who specializes in make winning happen, through "possible" plans with improbable odds.
    – Euro Micelli
    Commented Dec 28, 2017 at 1:33

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WARRIOR: The Dalek fleets are surrounding Gallifrey, firing on it constantly.

DOCTOR 10: The Sky Trench is holding, but what if the whole planet just disappeared?

CLARA: Tiny bit of an ask.

DOCTOR 10: The Daleks would be firing on each other. They'd destroy themselves in their own crossfire.

They were firing constantly, so some of the shots would have been already been underway, there would also have been a slight lag to realise that it wasn't there anymore and to stop firing.

So if what you are firing at suddenly is not there anymore, it you would hit whatever was behind it, in this case Daleks that were on the other side of the planet.

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    Given their civil wars and factions, there's no guarantee that the firing would stop once they realised the planet was gone, but instead each faction returning fire against the ships firing on them.
    – Pete Kirkham
    Commented Dec 29, 2017 at 11:53
  • There's also a comment about the Dalek's intensifying their fire somewhere in the script, which supports what you are saying. I've accepted this answer, as it's clearly the in-universe answer. It's the plausibility of the plan that I don't find convincing!
    – EleventhDoctor
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 16:42
  • Aha! It's this: ANDROGAR: Sir! The Daleks know that something is happening. They're increasing their fire power. GENERAL: Do it, Doctor. Just do it GENERAL [OC]: Just do it.
    – EleventhDoctor
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 16:43

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