The Enemy of My Enemy

"No Dalek is an ally of mine."

Writer: Tracy Ann Baines

Format: Audio

Released: October 2020

Series: Time Lord Victorious #2

Featuring: Eighth Doctor

Synopsis

The people of Wrax are happy to begin peaceful negotiations with the Dalek Empire. The two species are preparing to engage in an alliance that will last throughout the ages.

The only one who seems to object to this happy union is the Doctor. He knows that you can never trust the Daleks.

But more than that, he knows that the Wraxians should never have existed...

Verdict

The Enemy of My Enemy was an outstanding audio adventure to continue the Time Lord Victorious arc! I think this was the best of the stories so far across any medium and I loved the immediate continuation from He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not with the Doctor being confronted by the Daleks. Paul McGann was magnificent as the Eighth Doctor here and I loved him toying with the Daleks and almost revelling in the fact that he had a welcome committee in excess of fourteen Daleks. The concept of the Daleks requesting help from the Doctor is always fun and the idea of them being scared by time being rewritten and the whole universe being at stake was excellent. Their mentioning of a mutual enemy was good and the Doctor describing a family outing between he and the Daleks to Wrax was a great deal of fun. This planet's predicament being new to the Doctor in the fact that it shouldn't have an atmosphere was very good and continued the overarching theme of things not being as they should be. Something was going very wrong somewhere in time and space and this was another effect. The Daleks claiming to be honoured and saluting the Wraxians upon arrival to the planet was uncharacteristic but very enjoyable. President Sarathin was a magnificent character and the humour that came with the instant and blunt response from the Daleks when they were offered refreshments was just marvellous. The Gallery of Victories was a wonderful part of Wrax with it containing the history of every world they had defeated and crushed beneath their feet. No wonder the Daleks fancied an alliance! The Doctor's realisation of what he had been brought into here was fantastic. The Devolver weapon was a superb concept and the interest the Dalek Scientist had in it was really great. The Doctor and the Daleks both not believing that the Wrax were the party responsible for the time distortion was good and their different reactions to the Devolver were good. The concept of it being a miracle of rebirth was sublime and I enjoyed Boros demonstrating it. The origin matrix containing the biodata of a species and it being left behind by the Kotturuh was just excellent. The Doctor being confused as to whether the Kotturuh were still alive or dead was also an intriguing element. The Eye of Wrax amplifying and beaming out across the universe was quite something and it was a chance for life to restart. The threat of one member of species potentially causing the restart of an entire race was magnificent. I was a huge fan of the weapon for sure! The Daleks were understandably impressed. The Doctor's Time Lord data being sampled was such a fun danger with the potential of turning the Eye on Gallifrey, and the threat that was then used against the Daleks with their data also being sampled was superb. I just adored the concept and the scale of the threat it provided. The Dalek deception wasn't exactly a surprise with them turning against Wrax but I still really enjoyed it as that's what I want and expect from the Doctor's greatest enemy. The Daleks having saved the Doctor certainly showed their contrasting nature here! I enjoyed the Doctor trapping Sarathin inside the Eye with him which meant she couldn't detonate the Devolver as the origin matrix was just part of a ritual. All that was required was a body, but it would focus on what was within the Eye and that would mean death for all Wraxians. The Doctor once again turning down the chance to wipe out the Daleks was a good way to hark back to Genesis of the Daleks but he didn't ponder the chance of genocide here which was interesting. I thought the ending was brilliant with the Doctor convincing Sarathin to destroy the Devolver and the Daleks eliminating their own biodata, before activating the weapon against the Wraxians out of spite. They were clearly deceiving the Doctor and his connecting of the TARDIS and the Dalek time ship was fascinating as he headed to the Dark Times to locate the source of all the distortion. I'm intrigued to hear what happens in the next audio as the Eighth Doctor is still with the Daleks at the end of The Knight, the Fool and the Dead so this alliance seems set to last. Overall, a wonderful audio!

Rating: 10/10