The Curse of Davros

"You thought you were his companion, but you were his hostage."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: January 2012

Series: Monthly Adventures 156

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Flip

Synopsis 

It's been a year since Philippa 'Flip' Jackson found herself transported by Tube train to battle robot mosquitoes on a bizarre alien planet in the company of a Time Lord known only as 'the Doctor'.

Lightning never strikes twice, they say.Only now theres a flying saucer whooshing over the top of the night bus taking her home. Inside: the Doctor, with another extraterrestrial menace on his tail – the Daleks, and their twisted creator Davros! 

But while Flip and the fugitive Doctor struggle to beat back the Daleks' incursion into 21st century London, Davros's real plan is taking shape nearly 200 years in the past, on the other side of the English Channel. At the battle of Waterloo...

Verdict 

The Curse of Davros was an excellent story to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! Another trilogy looks set to kick off with this adventure here and it was nice to start with some familiar characters in the form of Flip and Jared on the bus witnessing a spaceship crash. They weren’t exactly massively main characters in their opener of The Crimes of Thomas Brewster, but they felt really important from the off here which was superb. Finding the Sixth Doctor in a disoriented state was an intriguing way to bring him into the story and I liked the nugget dangled of hearing Davros briefly in a flashback scene. Jared not having a lot of trust in the Doctor was unexpected as he revealed his whereabouts to the authorities, but the Daleks were quickly on the case and had them under their control in a very literal fashion. I thought Flip was outstanding here for a debut as a fully fledged companion with some comments on the Daleks being nothing short of remarkable. Her reference to the exterminator as an egg whisk and the Daleks themselves being mobile wheelie bins was just marvellous. I thought she was terrific from start to finish. The Doctor and Flip needing to get away from the Daleks was good so having them actually head to the Dalek pursuit ship was fun stuff. The Doctor being able to listen in on the mind exchange network was intriguing and that concept of Daleks swapping minds with humans was incredible! It would prove very important by the end too. The Doctor and Flip using the phone to track the signal and send the Daleks on a goose chase after the bus was amusing, until the passengers and hostages were all killed. That was a sharp turn of events. Davros being in the position of Emperor was terrific and I was surprised that he wanted the Doctor and Flip kept alive. The latter’s description of Davros as a talking corpse was tremendous too as she continued to shined. The story shifting from 2012 to 1815 was a nice move as we headed to southern Belgium. Flip’s confusion about the TARDIS translation circuits was magnificent and when they were thought of as spies, her admitting she was English when speaking it was hilarious. The Doctor was perplexed. The Daleks wanting to change history here at the Battle of Waterloo and its historical significance was good stuff. Flip’s reaction to encountering Napoleon was brilliant and I liked how he knew she was from the future. The references to Abba and the Waterloo song were wonderful too, and he would surrender by the end. The concept of Napoleon being in league with the Daleks was fantastic too and it played out really will. The Doctor seemingly killing Bouvier in his escape was unsettling and was the first allusion to him not being himself. Flip also wasn’t comfortable with Davros being killed and she seemed to have sympathy for him being in what she considered to be a wheelchair. The Doctor ordering her out of the way was ruthless and uncharacteristic, but we soon learned of the mind transfer between the Time Lord and the Dalek creator. Davros not being at all bothered about returning to his withering and decrepit form was a shock but he actually embraced having a Time Lord body! The Doctor locking Davros up with a Dalek was fun and whilst it was a little strange in audio format for the voices to be reversed, the concept was fun to play around with. Flip asking after Evelyn was a nice touch and it was nice to hear she was left with Rossiter. The British Army having knowledge on the Daleks was not something I expected. Jared encountering the Duke of Wellington was good stuff and the Doctor’s mind swap ruse being up presented some interesting interactions with the Daleks! Davros ordering the Dalek guard to self destruct and then punishing the Supreme Dalek for his actions with internal torment was excellent after the brain scan confirmed Davros was within the Doctor’s body. We finally got a flashback scene of the moment of transfer, but I thought the explanation from the Doctor of why he did it should have come here. We didn’t have to wait too long though as we learned of his plan to use the mind probe to wipe the minds of the Daleks! He planned to strip them of Davros’s control and potentially see them start again as a force for good. It was an admirable intention! The delivery was never going to happen though. Davros wanting the Doctor to know and feel his pain forever was good stuff, although with the story concept I felt we were lacking that big moment between hero and villain. The French army being replaced with Dalek minds was tremendous and the fact they were armed with Dalek weaponry made them pretty formidable! The Doctor disguising himself as a Dalek by placing the upper half of one on top of his casing when in the mind of Davros was very fun stuff. Flip paralysing the Doctor before the transfer back happened was good stuff. Davros immediately wanting to go back to the body of the Doctor was hilarious and the ensuing confusion over whether the transfer back was successful worked pretty well for the audio format. The Doctor gained the upper hand though! Napoleon helping put history back on track after being shown the future was a nice touch and he would purposely lose the Battle of Waterloo for the sake of humanity. That was admirable. The Daleks needing the minds for their Battle Computers was fantastic and good continuity with what was to come in Remembrance of the Daleks. The French soldiers returning to the hatchery to get their minds back provided a ruthless moment as Davros overloaded the systems and killed them all. That was brutal. The Doctor setting the Dalek mothership on a delayed countdown was good and I loved how the mind probe was used in having it not work on Davros, but on the Daleks as they didn’t recognise their creator. Flip leaving Jared to go alone to 2012 was nice and saw her take her place as the new companion! I think she’s going to be tremendous fun. Overall, a fantastic audio!

Rating: 9/10