Big Finish Main Range
Let me start with the one disappointment of this story—the cover art to the CD. Oiy veh. That bar of blue with Peter Davison’s face on it? I get the repeated objects in the image reference but couldn’t they come up with something better? And in the story itself, why does the TARDIS keep acting up with that circuit on/off/whatever? That part was a bit confusing and never really explained. But the rest of it is probably the second best Dalek adventure, with Time of the Daleks being the best.
Keeping me guessing as to just what the heck was going on during three quarters of the story was very nice—usually it’s easy to figure out where things are going relatively quickly, by the first story break, I usually have it figured out. This story blended the mystery of what was going on, with the confusion of picking up so many passengers in the TARDIS quite nicely. Who was doing what for what purpose? The only really predictable character was Wilton, the son of the General. It was all a ploy to get him into the Doctor’s confidence and on the TARDIS—very transparent that was. But that’s the purpose of his character so I didn’t feel cheated by that at all.
I did wish they could’ve explored the Dalek city a bit more—why use the empty shells of the Daleks and why is the seed Dalek a disembodied voice? And how does it get such a morality instilled in it when it’s a Dalek? Very odd. Yet it all comes together nicely. I’ll have to listen to it again, which is definitely a good sign. Just not the best Dalek adventure but still very, very good.
Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton
Writer: from a story by Christopher H. Bidmead
Director: John Ainsworth
Release: March 2007