Enemy of the Daleks

"The enemy doesn't leave survivors."

Writer: David Bishop

Format: Audio

Released: May 2009

Series: Monthly Adventures 121

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Hex

Synopsis

Bliss used to be a paradise planet. The Galapagos Islands of space.

But when the TARDIS brings the Doctor, Ace and Hex to Bliss, it's been over-run with ironweed plants, and the air is heavy with the stench of burnt silk and static electricity. 

Worse, the Daleks are coming, on the trail of a last patrol of starship troopers. Holed up in the Roarke 279 research facility, Lieutenant Beth Stokes is preparing her last stand against the invaders.

But there's a secret on Bliss, a secret guarded by the obsessive Professor Shimura... This time, could it be the Daleks who need saving?

Verdict

Enemy of the Daleks was a brilliant audio adventure to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! I really enjoyed this one and I was glad that there was no messing around when it came to introducing the Daleks as they pretty much kickstarted the story. It's always a little annoying when a story title reveals that the Daleks will be present, only for a part one cliffhanger to have them revealed. It's always a little bit of a let down. Here though, we had the Black Dalek making a triumphant opening and it was nice to get this particular Dalek encountering the Seventh Doctor. The setting of Bliss worked well and I was intrigued that a planet with that name seemed to have a lot of industrialisation occurring, something that the Doctor knew wasn't right. I liked how the enigmatic personality of the Seventh Doctor was on show as he was up to something and wanted Ace and Hex to stay in the TARDIS. Of course, that wouldn't be happening. I liked the background music throughout the adventure a lot and it was almost like an action movie at times which was great. The use of the insect swarm that was coming for the Doctor and his companions was really good and when the end seemed to be near, I thought it was a lot of fun to have Hex suggest to Ace they engage in meaningless sexual activity. She abruptly declined which wasn't too surprising! The concept of the valkyrie unit that was a female force comprised to battle the Daleks was excellent and the characters of Beth and Khan were excellent. I was a big fan of both. Hex's relationship with the latter was definitely a highlight of the audio and his reaction when she sadly passed away, as well as his general comments to all of the death he has encountered on his travels, was telling and powerful. The Doctor knowing that events here on Bliss contributed towards a huge Dalek atrocity was interesting and I liked how his companions reacted to that. It was a nice twist for the Doctor having to ensure that the atrocity occurred, but its meaning wasn't fully realised until after part one. I thought Ace was terrific in this adventure and definitely one of her best in a while with her use of Dalek knowledge from past encounters shining through here. She was very impressive. Sistermatic was a lot of fun and the idea of the contagion being contained and something potentially eating its way out of victims was disturbing. Shimura was another good character and I enjoyed his interactions with the Doctor. He had summoned the Daleks to Bliss to test out his Kiseibya creation. It was formed in a metal womb and despite an iffy moment with the joke about feasting on the Doctor's flesh, the concept behind it of feeding on metal and being the combination of silk worm and piranha locust DNA was quite something! Shimura had created something to prey on the Daleks which was fantastic and the fact that he had turned his colleagues into Kiseibya incubators was terrifying. The breeding of the Kiseibya was rapid and the way we almost felt sorry for the Black Dalek after its outer casing was fed on was very powerful. It almost seemed to want the Doctor's help which was superb! There was a lot of action which was fun and the Kiseibya that was head of the pack and first to be created made for a really good enemy. The Doctor getting to question the Daleks on what it felt like to be a species regarded as lunch was tremendous and I also enjoyed how Hex clung onto life because where it was, there was hope. I wasn't so sure about him giving up the Daleks though, especially as he didn't know of them prior to this adventure. One element of the story I enjoyed was how badly the Dalek labour camps were sold as. They were just a place you didn't want to end up which was terrific. The question of what happened for the Kiseibya once the Daleks were gone was good to leave hanging over the story and I was quite surprised by how Shimura offered himself to his creation to lay their eggs as he wanted to live on in their offspring and the next generation. Talk about disturbing! The Doctor knowing that events on Bliss were fixed was very good and him being questioned on why he wanted to wipe out a race capable of ending the Daleks and their wars seemed more than justified. The similarities and reference to Genesis of the Daleks were fantastic, particularly with the use of wires to detonate the Black Dalek to wipe out the Kiseibya. The last remaining Daleks sacrificing themselves just showed how deadly the Kiseibya threat really was and worked very well as an ending, along with Beth's sacrifice. Overall, a fantastic audio!

Rating: 9/10