The Dalek Factor

"Kill me. Kill you. Kill Thals. Kill everything that does not serve the purpose of the Dalek race."

Writer: Simon Clark
Format: Novella
Released: March 2004
Series: Telos Novellas #15

Featuring: The Doctor

Synopsis

When a Thal platoon arrive on a hostile planet investigating reports that Dalek artefacts have been detected, they are unprepared for what they find. In an underground room is a stranger, a Professor, or so he claims, with no memory of who he is or why he is there. With death and horror their only companions, the Thals make their way with the Professor into the heart of a crumbling Dalek citadel in search of answers... only to find that the Daleks are the least of the horrors they must face.

Verdict

The Dalek Factor was a pretty average novella which was a bit of a shame. It had a lot of good ideas but it just couldn't quite grab my interest and attention which is quite impressive for all of the wrong reasons. I love the history concerning the Daleks and the Thals but this story just didn't do it for me sadly. I really didn't like the first person approach and that is something that I have mentioned on more than one occasion in Doctor Who prose. It just doesn't work for me. I thought Jomi was a decent character and I enjoyed his relationship with the Doctor but he wasn't interesting enough to keep my intrigue for 139 pages. I thought the story was seriously lacking in extensive action and tried to be bold in making big moments happen out of nowhere in the middle of paragraphs and that approach just wasn't good. I admire how the adventure tried, and pretty much succeeded, in selling how terrible and fearsome the Daleks were and there probably isn't a better race than the Thals to illustrate that. One thing I'm not a fan of at all is having a story without a specified incarnation of the Doctor. It just makes absolutely no sense to me and after all the hints and build up to revealing that the mysterious Professor actually was the Doctor, the reveal was actually quite poor. It wasn't the big reveal it should have been and I thought the Doctor sighting the TARDIS, rather than its key, should have been what rejigged his memory if it wasn't going to be the Daleks. The appearance of 'an' Dalek Emperor seemed lazy writing to me but I did enjoy that the character appeared, albeit a bit too late in the story. The Dalek using the unnamed planet as an experimental lab was very good but I wasn't quite sure about their wish to implant species with a Dalek heart. It was a bit different to the puppet method we would see in Asylum of the Daleks but I like that this was something new for the Daleks. I liked the prospect of them infiltrating the Thals without them even knowing it but I really thought the reveal that the Thals we had got to know throughout the story were actually Thals with Dalek hearts was quite poor and again lacking in an oomph moment. It just didn't feel big and came out of nowhere. There needed to be more elaboration in parts which was a shame. The way the likes of Tar'ant, Vay and Pup were killed was gruesome but a lot of the killing wasn't actually done by Daleks. The ending was quite intriguing with a somewhat Westworld feel with events just beginning again and I question whether the actual Doctor appeared at all. The cameos of the First Doctor's likeness was very nice though. Overall, a story with some good and intriguing ideas but the delivery just wasn't there.

Rating: 5/10