"I see eternity."
Writer: Mark Wright
Format: Audio
Released: December 2025
Series: Second Doctor Adventures 4.02
Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe
Synopsis
The Daleks have returned... or have they?
Following the lingering trail of the Daleks' space-time corridor, the time travellers are surprised when the TARDIS arrives on a tropical forest world. Taking refuge with the population of a peaceful village, the Doctor wonders if he has finally defeated his most terrible enemy.
Is the secret of the Daleks about to be revealed?
Verdict
Secret of the Daleks was another excellent episode to continue my way through The Potential Daleks fourth series of Second Doctor Adventures! This followed up the outstanding Humpty Dumpty opener in strong style with another fascinating Dalek story. The Daleks have been done and done again in Doctor Who but I think putting them against the Second Doctor here in a story set beyond The War Games and at an untapped point in Time Lord history and the Doctor's chronology, something special seems to be happening. I love the idea of Time Lord and Dalek conflict this early on in chronology and it works well. It's no wonder that the Time Lords acted in Genesis of the Daleks by sending the Fourth Doctor on a mission to prevent their creation! This builds into that history of conflict very nicely and the concept of the Daleks wanting Skaro to exist at all points throughout history is staggering. It's almost difficult to comprehend as surely it exists for quite a big continuous chunk at the very least up until Remembrance of the Daleks? Still, it's audacious and I'm all for messing around with time. The very idea of the Dalek Emperor being made up inside of at least partial Time Lord through Celestin is fantastic and frankly ludicrous! The Emperor of the Daleks being able to make telepathic contact in the form we often see in multi-Doctor adventures was incredible. I never anticipated anything like that so it was quite the treat! I thought the revelation of the Emperor having camouflage on Skaro was good stuff as the picture painted initially upon landing was one of a rather beautiful place. Raven was cautious with the Doctor seemingly wanting there to be Daleks all along, and his suspicions were soon proved correct as he knew they'd be somewhere not on the surface. That didn't literally mean they were underground but it wasn't far off! The Daleks wanting to get to the Vanishing Point in order to have Skaro exist throughout history is intriguing continuity and sets us up nicely for the finale. I like the idea of them trying to extract the coordinates to get there from the Doctor but he put up a strong fight and ended up within the Dalek Pathweb! That felt very Asylum of the Daleks which was fun. I also liked the strong continuity with The Evil of the Daleks in having the Emperor in new casing now that the Doctor didn't think was as impressive as the one viewed there but I'd love to have seen it! It's a shame there's not an Emperor redesign on the cover art. Touching on the civil war that the Doctor was blamed for was terrific stuff and a reminder of why he is considered their greatest enemy. I do think it's a bit strange though that they end up getting to the Vanishing Point coordinates from Raven as she was there, but she's been in their thrall the entire time? The Doctor suspected her of being controlled by the Daleks which I'm not surprised by and I'm glad she's fighting back because I think she offers so much. She couldn't quite hold them off when it came to the telepathic contact at the end which is a shame but it sets the sights strongly on an exciting finale to come! I expect a lot of loose ends and tendrils to be tied up. I'm very much looking forward to it! Overall, a fantastic listen.
Rating: 9/10
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