The Fearless Part 2

"Daddy's up there protecting us from the Daleks."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs
Format: Audio
Released: November 2007
Series: Dalek Empire 4.02

Featuring: Kade, Landen, Susan Mendes

Synopsis

The Earth Alliance is on the brink of victory in the Kedru System. But at what cost?

Meanwhile, deep within the Dalek Empire, Susan Mendes prepares for her latest mission...

Verdict

The Fearless continued in very good fashion with this great second instalment of Dalek Empire’s fourth series! I really liked the continuity with the first episode but with there being an umbrella title for the series, I can’t say that was a big surprise. It’s obviously serving as one big adventure and it was nice to immediately follow on with Kade’s ship losing all of its power. It turned out that the Daleks hadn’t actually destroyed the Alliance ship and I don’t think that was much of a surprise at all. In fact, the Dead Hand was actually being attacked which was a very good twist. I wasn’t expecting them to actually go as far as boarding the Dalek ship and take over! That was really good and a great action-packed way to kick off the audio! I’m really liking the maniac squad and I would like to hear that dubbing continue with where the third part seems to be going. The Alliance keeping one Dalek alive was intriguing and the way they were toying with it was excellent, but despite clearly being in disarray and on the brink of destruction, that singular Dalek still emitted fear. That tells you everything about the Daleks. Even with its gun pulled out! Kennedy having his leg injured reminded me a little of Ian’s fate in The Daleks. His injury wasn’t quite to those extremes though! The destination being Kedru 7 was good with Kade’s wife and daughter being there. His personal investment in events was obviously a big one from there on in. The lone Dalek proving its worth by transmitting a signal was really good and showed that the only good Dalek was definitely a dead one. Kade wanted to kill it, but he was unconvincingly convinced of its worth with efforts to get it back to the Alliance and hack its database enabling the Dalek strategy to be unravelled. The tran-solar disks were a very good element of the story with them heading for Kedru 7 and overloading. Fisk was unable to stop their signal and the desperation in Kade’s voice was incredibly clear. He refused a direct order and the moment Kedru 7 was incinerated was incredibly moving. Noel Clarke’s performance was sublime and it made perfect sense that he wouldn’t care about anything anymore. His family was gone because of a war that wasn’t his. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for Kade. Landed wanting to talk to Kade and provide a debriefing was quite a shocking turn of events. Give him some space! The story then seemed to split off from there and we had an unexpected major appearance from Susan Mendes which took me right back to the beginnings of the Dalek Empire spin-off which I remember rather fondly. Vega VI getting a mention also brought back some good memories. It was fantastic to get another insight into just how important Suz was as the Angel of Mercy and that’s why Landen was using her to show Kade how she was responsible for the success of the Daleks. Hope made the Dalek slaves better and that aided their Empire. The comment by Landen regarding Kade’s family dying for no reason because of Suz was incredible, so much so that I was shocked and I’m not sure if that was in a good way. If I was in Kade’s shoes, I think I would have gone absolutely mad with rage. The arrival of Ollander into the episode was good and the effect of Suz’s inspiration was clear to see in quite shocking circumstances. It was because of the Angel of Mercy that Ollander was able to have a funeral for her father because of her and it was also really interesting to hear how much authority she had over the Daleks whilst being under their enslavement. The emotion that came with Ollander not being able to remember her name was quite sad and it showed just how mentally unstable she was with everything that must have happened to her because of the Daleks. I do feel that she featured perhaps a little too heavily given we already know her story, but I do understand why it was done and how Kade could now be included. Kenzie snd Avers were good characters and the latter understanding the threat the Daleks possessed and their grim prospects of survival were excellent. I liked that a lot. Suz seemed pretty chilling with Ollander which didn’t quite feel right and I liked how she was clearly hit by Kalendorf’s mention. It would be great if he featured at some point during this series! She didn’t seem too happy that he was also seen as a beacon of hope. She didn’t like that and it was clear that she was using Ollander from the start injecting her with falsities regarding friendship which was quite sad. The ending with the dinner and Landen introducing the new commander in the form of Kade was good, but I do wonder why he was making a joke after all he went through in a war he so often reminds wasn’t his. Susan Mendes was a legend and now she was the target. I’m intrigued to see how Kenzie and Avers might have involvement with them having nothing to lose. All signs are positive moving forward and for now, this was a great episode to continue!

Rating: 8/10