The Dalek Trap

"The Daleks will protect us."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs 

Format: Audio

Released: July 2019

Series: Further Adventures of Lucie Miller 1.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Lucie

Synopsis

The thing about black holes is, they're big and they're black and they're deadly, and you'd have to be mad to go anywhere near them. Because anything that falls inside a black hole ends up crushed in the singularity. 

Unfortunately, the Doctor just went mad, or so it seems, and flew his TARDIS beyond a black hole's event horizon, causing him and his companion Lucie Miller to end up marooned on a planetoid just inside the event horizon. Along with a Dalek saucer... and something else. Because this is no ordinary black hole...

This is the Cradle of the Darkness. 

Verdict

The Dalek Trap was an excellent audio to kick off the Further Adventures of Lucie Miller! This is a tremendous idea for a boxset as a nice journey back into the Eighth Doctor Adventures and I liked the references to the Cybermen in establishing that these events were somewhere close after Human Resources and potentially somewhere between the end of Series 1 and the start of Series 2. I thought this was good in really highlighting as more of a lead character than the Doctor given that the focus of the volume is on her further adventures, and it's a brave choice to start the further adventures of Lucie with the Daleks given her demise at the end of Lucie Miller/To the Death. The Daleks weren't quite as threatening here which was fine and I do think there is a lot of scope to use them in a less dominating way. The concept of black holes is always something I find intriguing and difficult to comprehend, so Doctor Who tackling them is a fun idea and just having the Doctor fly beyond one with the TARDIS was terrific! The Eighth Doctor didn't stay in a strong mental state for long though and that's where Lucie was able to shine. The initial arrival of the Daleks was excellent and I loved Lucie's reaction to hearing that they were present, with her recalling the events of Blood of the Daleks where she encountered them. Hearing them say how only the Doctor was able to free and save them was fantastic and eery. It's always fun when the Daleks need help from the Doctor and the uneasiness of that always works. The black hole usage was really good and even the Daleks needing the Doctor to get out of this one showed the predicament's seriousness. The link of the Cradle of Darkness was brilliant and definitely had a suggestion of more to come. The effect it had on the minds of everyone present was really well done and I thought Raz and Jik were really fun characters. The interaction with Lucie was a lot of fun and the moments where their memories were getting hazy, even to the extent of their names was amusing. The mystery of the black hole was good and the absence of the Doctor mentally really made for a tricky predicament. What was at its centre? Some sort of essence being let loose at the end was intriguing and I really am hoping that there is a story arc at the heart of this boxset. The Doctor's return to mental stability came a bit suddenly at the end and whilst brief, it allowed Paul McGann to shine. I thought tasking Lucie with the decision to decide if everyone or nobody died was a lot for her to deal with but she was always going to choose nobody. Whilst that meant the Daleks were free to live, so was everyone else and that was something she had to contend with. Her trust in the Doctor's ability to sort them out was great and I really love their relationship. I'm so grateful to get more adventures with them! The Daleks laying a trap and being in need of help from their greatest enemy is a fine basis for a story, and this worked really well. The Doctor not having memory of the events and getting clued up on what happened from Lucie in the TARDIS was good, but I did like the enigmatic ending regarding the Cradle of Darkness. Overall, a terrific audio!

Rating: 9/10