Genetics of the Daleks

"If we can unlock its secrets, there will be no limit to what we can achieve."

Writer: Jonathan Morris 

Format: Audio

Released: December 2020

Series: Time Lord Victorious 

Featuring: Fourth Doctor

Synopsis

There are 10,000 humans in stasis aboard Starship Future. Ten thousand humans expecting to wake up on a distant planet, their new home. But twenty years into their journey, Starship Future takes on board fuel – and something else. Something that's been waiting, frozen in space, for a very long time.

Something malevolent. 

Something with a plan.

Unless the Doctor can help, it looks like the people of Starship Future have no future at all...

Verdict

Genetics of the Daleks was an excellent audio adventure to serve as a lovely little bonus as part of the Time Lord Victorious series! I really enjoyed this one from start to finish and even though I am highly unlikely to delve into the escape room that this audio serves as a loose prequel for, I thought it was a huge amount of fun and just a really solid adventure in its own right. Having the Fourth Doctor travelling solo is a lot of fun as it really is interesting to have him interact with himself. That's quite the talent and just says a lot about Tom Baker's talents! He was wonderful and there was no sign that this was recorded remotely which is obviously a bonus. I was impressed by the setting of Starship Future and strange goings on aboard a colony ship is not new in the slightest but it is a good basis for a story. Throwing in a lone Dalek to the mix just adds that extra bit of spice! I liked the continuity with the rest of the series that came when the Dalek encountered the Doctor, but its reaction to the arrival and mention of their greatest foe was just terrific. The history between them was on show in that very moment. The Dalek having taken over Brooke as its puppet was really good and coupling this with a separate plot from Swann and her being taken over early on into the colony ship's departure was very good. The confusion over who was actually disabling the cameras and stealing components made for a fantastic dynamic and it just worked really well. They were all brilliant characters with Finlay as the pilot and Chuke complimenting the rest of the ensemble wonderfully well. This was a particularly strong cast. I thought the pace of the story was impressive and just as I was questioning when the Doctor would arrive into the audio, the TARDIS materialised bang on time. His annoyance at being put on another mission unwillingly from the Time Lords will never cease to be enjoyable and when you think about it. it's beyond ridiculous that they just land him down somewhere with no explanation! It's all part of the fun though. One of my favourite moments in any Doctor Who story I have blogged recently came with the Doctor's reply to the Dalek mentioning how he was the fourth on record of asking if they had a list and if he was their favourite. That would only work so well with the Fourth Doctor. A marvellous moment. I really liked the aspect of the Dalek telling the Doctor his future and foreshadowing the events of Mutually Assured Destruction with him destroying the Time Squad and also harkening back (or forward) to The Knight, the Fool and the Dead where the Doctor would proclaim himself Time Lord Victorious and show a disregard for other life. The subtle reaction from the Fourth Doctor here was excellent because you could tell that he was shocked and didn't quite believe that he may become that. This all being in an effort of the Dalek to change the future was magnificent. I was a big fan. I also really enjoyed the genetic aspect of the story with the Dalek not only having Brooke provide new Dalek casing, but also to plan on building an army of 10,000 Daleks through all of those in cryogenic sleep. The fabricator being used to turn all humans into Daleks was tremendous and the Starship Future was just the perfect place for that. I thought it was an excellent plan. The way it was defeated was exciting but the ending with the Doctor having already departed and the Dalek still being alive and carrying out a final extermination was a wonderful way to sell them as the greatest enemies once more. They were defeated, but not destroyed. Overall, a fantastic listen!

Rating: 9/10