The Final Phase

"What's so sensible about forming an alliance with the Daleks?"

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: April 2013

Series: Fourth Doctor Adventures 2.07

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I, K9

Synopsis 

"The raw power of the very fabric of reality itself. And you dare to think you can conquer it?"

Cuthbert's plan for the Proxima System is reaching its final phase.

The Doctor and Romana have been separated. The Doctor is aiding the Proximan fight-back. Romana and K9 are prisoners of the Daleks.

And as the countdown to the opening of the Quantum Gateway begins, the Daleks reveal their true intentions.

Verdict 

The Final Phase was a superb episode to conclude the story already started in The Dalek Contract and the second series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures overall! It’s been an excellently consistent series and whilst she is far from being my favourite companion, it’s a shame that this brings an end to the audio adventures of Romana I following the sad and untimely death of actress Mary Tamm. It’s been lovely to get a full series of stories not too focused on the search for the Key to Time as took over her entire run on television, and the way things ended for her here was really quite lovely as she begrudgingly admitted to actually being quite fond of the Doctor and not wanting to go back to the normality of Gallifrey. She would want to continue travelling the universe in the TARDIS for just a little while. I thought the immediate continuation from the previous story was nicely done and the Daleks really came into their own this time around as I expected. Cuthbert felt a little more vulnerable which was different and quite refreshing as he used the terms of the contract agreement with the Daleks to somewhat keep them in check. It was amusing though when they used that back at him when threatened. They were obviously after something from the experimentation of Cuthbert and the Conglomerate and it was quite funny that he even admitted that the Daleks came to him offering their services. They clearly had knowledge of the quantum gateway already and that fitted in nicely with their plan for conquering infinity. That was a brilliantly Dalek plan that didn’t surprise the Doctor and they just weren’t content with having one universe to rule. They wanted them all! The battle for power between Cuthbert and the Dalek Supreme was fantastic to hear play out and the helplessness of the crew along with Romana and K9 when the cliffhanger occurred with the Doctor’s ship blowing up was terrific. It really did feel like the Conglomerate and the Daleks had won. I really felt like this episode was going to wrap up the story for Cuthbert but it actually leaves me with more questions than answers regarding him! I can’t wait for his inevitable return as the idea of him being a paradox was tremendous. It added a new dimension to his character and the idea of him actually going back in time through the quantum gateway to set up the Conglomerate that he was already heading was intriguing. It was an end goal I didn’t expect and he almost taunted the Doctor and his being a Time Lord to work it out which was good stuff. His fate by entering the gateway and then it imploding was emphatic but K9 detecting the chronon particles about him suggested he wasn’t destroyed. That opens him up for a return which is very exciting. I thought the fate of the Daleks was also excellent as the Doctor had delved into his five hundred year diary to find the Dalek DNA and fed it into the gateway controls so it destroyed everything Dalek. That was pretty effective it has to be said! It was a fine final phase and rounded out a terrific series. Overall, a fantastic finale!

Rating: 9/10