You really can’t have
Doctor Who without the Daleks. They were
introduced in the second story of the TV series, appeared in every Doctor Who
stage play, had their own two theatrical films, and have been just as popular,
if not more so, than the show itself and ten months after beginning their
Doctor Who audio dramas, Big Finish Productions had their first story to
feature the Daleks, The Genocide Machine. This story has an interesting history as it
is the beginning of a four story arc of loosely connected Dalek stories as a
prelude to the spin-off Dalek Empire. Dalek
Empire was Nicholas Briggs’ pet project at the time and led to four
successful series wrapping up in 2008.
And to write the first part in the prequel Briggs brought in visual
effects advisor and Past Doctor Adventures novelist Mike Tucker to write the
story. The story sadly doesn’t work very
well in its own context or as a prequel as it went through a sort of
development hell. What we eventually got
was a remake of Planet of the Daleks with
elements of Resurrection of the Daleks
mixed in for good measure that would have very little setup for the Dalek Empire story arc.
I do have to congratulate
Tucker for an honestly brilliant script character wise. It may just because I was listening this as a
remedy for Strange England (that
review is coming), but I loved some of the comedy in the script. The Doctor is as manipulating as ever, but
when he realizes he has some overdue library books he freaks out and frantically
tries to explain to Ace why the library is so important. McCoy is great at pulling off his Doctor and
has a balance between the drama and the comedy inherently in the script. This is where Tucker really succeeds and
where I feel his writing partner, Robert Perry is definitely better with the
plots of their work output while Tucker does the characters.
Sophie Aldred does a
great turn here as Ace and the Dalek duplicate of Ace. She really steals the show with very little
artificial modification of her voice.
She’s clearly having a ball here.
Louise Faulkner plays the recurring character Bev Tarrent who I’ve never
really warmed to as a character. Bev is
basically trying to be Bernice Summerfield and it really shows here as Tucker
obviously wanted to include Benny. I
know Bev is her own character and she gets better in her other appearance and
the ones in the Bernice Summerfield solo series, but here she’s a complete
rip-off of Benny. Faulkner is still a
good actress and is clearly still giving it her all and trying not to be Lisa
Bowerman. The rest of the supporting
cast fares a lot better with a rather Robert Holmesian duo with Bruce Montague’s
Elgin who is very similar to Henry Gordon Jago and the silent Prink played by
Nicholas Briggs, who eventually gets some of the best lines in the play. The Daleks however are really off as the
modulation for Alistair Lock is really quite off while Nicholas Briggs has it
going strong from the outset. The way
the Daleks are defeated is pretty creative and most of the twists are what
keeps the story going.
To summarize, The Genocide Machine is still a step
down from The Marian Conspiracy and The Fearmonger, but is at least able to
provide listeners with a decent story with some excellent characterization.
70/100
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