The Dalek Defence

"There's no better asset against the Daleks than the Doctor."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: October 2021

Series: Dalek Universe 3.02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Anya

Synopsis

The Doctor and Anya are trapped between battling Dalek and Movellan forces and only the intervention of Earth can get them out of trouble.

But the humans have troubles too – and a very familiar prisoner. Davros.

Stuck in a universe before the Time War, the Doctor is bound by the rules of his own past... Can he keep everyone alive without changing history? And would he even want to?

Verdict

The Dalek Defence was an outstanding continuation of the third series of Dalek Universe! This is exactly what I had been hoping for from the range and whilst the spinoff has been of a very high quality over its three series, this was much more like what I expected. The very concept of the Tenth Doctor being in a universe before the Time War and encountering Classic-era Daleks is fantastic and that was realised in full force here. Set somewhere between Destiny of the Daleks and Resurrection of the Daleks, this episode brought gave us the Tenth Doctor against Terry Molloy's Davros and it was glorious. Any encounter between the Doctor and Davros is always fantastic, but there was something special about it happening across two eras. It was brilliant to have the Doctor reflecting on the chance to end the Daleks before they began in Genesis of the Daleks and I think if given the opportunity at his current point in time he would have taken it. But the Doctor was adhering to the Laws of Time by trying to not interfere too much with Davros being incubated, and the potential of the timelines to go wrong with him being there was wonderful. It was excellent placing. I liked the involvement of the Earth Protection Core and them having knowledge and some sort of rank alongside the SSS was great and it was fun to hear Anya falling in line when any kind of hierarchy came into force. She obeyed her orders. The story focusing on the anomaly that interested both the Daleks and Movellans was good and I loved how much turmoil the Doctor and Anya arrived in. It injected instant pace and action to the audio. The EPC knowing of the Doctor, albeit not this appearance, was great and I loved how they considered him an asset. They were somewhat laid back over having Davros as their prisoner but the Doctor's reaction when that was realised was tremendous from Tennant. Visla was a magnificent villainous character and I liked how she'd been with Davros throughout his incubation and now was intent on destroying the ship. Anya believing her to be a Dalek duplicate was fun, but not as fun as Davros being considered the last salvation against the Daleks. I adored how interested Davros was in the Movellans and how they were able to get the upper hand on his creations, and it really felt that the whole audio he was just doing research! The Movellan Prime ship was intriguing and the Daleks supposedly being on the run from the First was fascinating. This led to an emergency landing on Kembel which brought so much full circle and the Doctor recalling the events of The Daleks' Master Plan and how the planet was ravaged by the time destructor was very powerful. The humour regarding Davros and moving on all terrain was a fun element of what turned into a very serious audio. The Movellans had Visla as a sleeper circuit which was brilliant and I loved the idea of a Dalek minefield and underground base still being on Kembel. Visla seemed to be exterminated before we met the First Movellan that River had led the Doctor to meeting, and it was a familiar face. It was always going to be, but I wasn't expecting Mark Seven! I think that's such a good way to set up the finale and after an action-packed and full throttle episode, I can't wait for the finale! Overall, a magnificent listen!

Rating: 10/10