Big Finish: Time Lord Victorious - Genetics of the Daleks Review
Big Finish have teamed up with Escape Hunt, the company behind the Doctor Who escape room A Dalek Awakens, to bring us an extra piece of the Time Lord Victorious puzzle...
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| The CD cover for "Genetics of the Daleks", designed by Tom Webster. |
Starring Tom Baker & Nicholas Briggs.
Written by Jonathan Morris.
Directed by Jamie Anderson.
Time Lord Victorious may be winding down now, but several of the licensees involved are still surprising us with new content. One of the most surprising (and unexpected) of these is "Genetics of the Daleks", a team up between Big Finish Productions and Escape Hunt, the company responsible for the Doctor Who escape rooms that have been so popular in the last couple of years. Not only is the choice to combine a live-action games company and a prolific audio drama company an odd one, but so is the choice of Doctor. Featuring the Fourth Doctor, this means that, to a degree, its incredibly disconnected from the wider Time Lord Victorious story. As such, its a strange piece to review, as, while there are lots of good individual elements and interesting moments, something didn't quite come together completely for this reviewer, and, as such, this story maybe missed the mark, just a little.
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| The Fourth Doctor, played once more by the legendary Tom Baker. |
This story is set aboard the colony ship Future, which is currently taking 10,000 human colonists to a new world. However, things are going drastically wrong: the previous security officer has been murdered, crewmembers are hiding secrets, and, worst of all, the ship has brought onboard a seemingly dead Dalek... In terms of a classic Doctor Who set-up, it's hard to find one finer. There's multiple power plays going on here, and, as such, you're trying to work out throughout the story who intends to betray who, and how the Dalek factors into what's going on. It's surprising that it takes nearly 20 minutes for the Doctor to turn up, however writer Jonathan Morris cleverly builds the intrigue and mystery around these characters so well, that you only really notice this in retrospect. The world and setting they inhabit is very vivid, and so the Doctor's absence isn't really noticed for the early part of the story. Whether this is down to the setting having already been created for the escape room, I couldn't say, but I think that might play a part in it. Sure, colony ships in Doctor Who aren't particularly original, and it's pretty hard to say anything new that hasn't already been said about this type of story. However, Morris doesn't let that deter him, and instead focuses on making the story as exciting as possible, with lots going on and never letting up for a moment. When the Doctor does enter the story, it comes at just the right time, and gives the story the shot in the arm it needs to push towards the conclusion. The Dalek's plan is focusing on survival, but unlike a story like "Dalek" or "Resolution", there's a greater scope and ambition from the Dalek in question. Of course, this makes sense with it being a member of the Dalek Time Squad from previous Time Lord Victorious stories, and you clearly get the sense of this being a malevolent, but intelligent Dalek. This makes for a nice contrast with Tom Baker's Doctor, as, up till now, his Dalek stories (both his TV and Big Finish adventures) have often featured legions of the creatures in ranting and exterminating mode, or they've been secondary to Davros, like in the seminal "Genesis of the Daleks". Here, however, this is the Fourth Doctor's chance to go toe to toe with one single Dalek, and locking horns with a powerful opponent. The Doctor's reaction to the Dalek telling him his future is kind of brilliant, and totally in character for the Fourth Doctor. Because of the infrequency of this Doctor's encounters with the Daleks, there's such a frisson when you hear Tom Baker say 'Dalek' in a story. Honestly, I love the set-up, and the way this plays out... however, in the context of the wider Time Lord Victorious story, I'm not sure how well this works. Yes, this acts as a bridge between the Eighth Doctor Big Finish audio trilogy and Escape Hunt's Dalek themed Escape Room, as well as a prequel to that. However, due to the current situation in the world, the Escape Room is not open, and even when it does, I still won't be able to visit it for some time. So, immediately, there's a disconnect with regards to the ending, which ends up feeling unsatisfying knowing I won't get the next piece. And with regards to where its coming from, I find it's connection to "Mutually Assured Destruction" unsatisfying because it removes the sense of finality to the ending of that audio. The Dalek Time Squad are still posing a threat, even though they are supposed to be destroyed, and it just makes the Eighth Doctor look a bit dim, to be honest. I did think that the Dalek in this story was going to be the Strategist, which would make a lot of sense considering the end of "Mutually Assured Destruction" did hint that it had survived. However, it just seems as if this is a standard drone, which means the Strategist is just out there, somewhere. I think this story would work very well both on its own terms, and if you were also playing the escape room and listened to this in conjunction with that, but, if you are devouring a lot of the so-called 'story' content of Time Lord Victorious, but leaving a lot of the extra-curricular stuff, I think you'll struggle with the wider experience somewhat.
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| A picture from "Into the Dalek" proved to us that one Dalek can be a deadly danger... |
That being said, the cast of characters Jonny Morris has created are certainly memorable, and brought to life well by the cast. Each and every one buys into their roles completely, from Pippa Haywood as the captain, worn down by age and experience, to Joseph Kloska as the eager and nervy young pilot. I found Clive Mantle and Nina Toussaint-White incredibly believable as the two convicts, selling the threat of these characters well, without making them into snarling caricatures, or making their villainy obvious from the very beginning. Finally, Andrew James Spooner rounds out the cast as the nervy professor who is clearly in over his head, but wants the scientific achievement anyway. Of course, it's all tied together with Tom Baker and Nicholas Briggs as the two sides in the eternal struggle between good and evil. Briggs brings all the menace of the Daleks out of their casings, as seen in recent Dalek stories "Resolution" and "Revolution of the Daleks", and brings this single Dalek to life with such skill. It's menacing and creepy in a way few Daleks have been since the days of David Whittaker's stories for Patrick Troughton's Doctor, and it goes to show that, after nearly 60 years, there are still interesting things to do with the Daleks, even if it's just repackaging old ideas in new forms. And, of course, Tom Baker is on fire here, whether its charming the crew with his wit, or facing down the Dalek with steely determination, Tom sells every moment. I love the renaissance of love he has had for the show in the past ten years or so: at one time, perhaps, it felt like Tom had a chip on his shoulder about the show, especially returning to it in a dramatic form. However, with Big Finish, Tom has brought the Fourth Doctor back to life with such passion and such love that it feels like it has revitalised his love for the show and its fans, and every Big Finish story he does is proof of that. The post-production from Toby Hyreck-Robinson is also fantastic, although maybe not quite as detailed as some of Big Finish's other sound designers. However, once again I marvel at what Big Finish have achieved here, what with the story being recorded from people's home set-ups. Everyone sounds like they are in the same space, and there's no poor quality recordings here. Big Finish have probably been one of the great glimmers of hope during this current crisis, as they have been able to carry on doing what they do best: telling great stories and keeping Doctor Who going further than ever before.
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| The original Time Lord Victorious poster, that launched the huge event back in April last year... |
Overall, "Genetics of the Daleks" is a good story, but with some caveats for those who have been enjoying the wider Time Lord Victorious story. On it's own terms, however, this is a great release that tells an exciting story for a still-incredibly popular Doctor. It's hard to ask for more than that, really. However, I think that, in the wider arc, this does feel pretty inconsequential, and designed more to tie in the already established Dalek escape room into the wider story. It doesn't really pick up from the end of "Mutually Assured Destruction" that well, and the lead into A Dalek Awakens is jarring and doesn't really work for me. However, the fault for these things does not lie with the people involved in the direct production of this release. If you want a good Doctor Who story, get "Genetics of the Daleks"; just don't be bothered by all the big, complicated arc stuff.
You can get "Genetics of the Daleks" from Big Finish Productions' website:
All pictures copyright to the BBC/Big Finish Productions. Thank you very much for reading. You can subscribe by clicking the link at the top of the page to be notified of new content.
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