The Destroyers

"The Daleks will dominate your galaxy!"

Writers: Terry Nation (Adapted by Nicholas Briggs & John Dorney) 

Format: Audio

Released: December 2010

Series: Lost Stories 2.02b

Featuring: Sara 

Synopsis

When the crew of Explorer Base One is attacked by the Daleks, Space Security Agents Sara Kingdom, Mark Seven and Jason Corey are sent to investigate. They discover a plan that threatens the future of the entire galaxy...

Verdict

The Destroyers was not the greatest of adventures to conclude my listening of the Second Doctor Boxset in the Lost Stories range. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t get into this one and it’s nothing to do with it being included in a boxset concerning the Second Doctor, when no incarnation actually features! On paper, I was really excited to listen to this story because I absolutely love The Daleks’ Master Plan which forms much of the basis for this story. On the base of it, it’s rather incredible that we do have a draft script for a pilot of ‘The Daleks’ from their creator which he intended to sell to US television back in 1966 following their massive success in Doctor Who. That’s why we got their ‘final end’ in The Evil of the Daleks to write them out, but of course they’d be back. Over and over again. And they’re better for it if this is anything to go by. That’s a little harsh, but considering this was for a pilot of a series where the Daleks are the stars, they didn’t actually feature very much! Now, I do think this would have been much better on screen and more akin to Mission to the Unknown, but I think the adaptation was much of the problem. I think it’s brilliant that we have Sara Kingdom as the main character here but for whatever reason, Jean Marsh seemed almost disinterested in her role as narrator for large chunks of the adventure. I’m not sure if she was directed to play the role that way with the Daleks looming but it just lacked excitement and energy. That’s not what we get from her in the Early Adventures and Companion Chronicles ranges so that’s a big shame. I also think the reliance on narration was a negative mood and actually impacted how much I liked the story. It was unnecessary at times and considering we did have a cast, I think it would have been much better to just let the action play out rather than overly describe what was happening. It took away from the flow of the story. I think it’s fun continuity from the early Dalek comic strips that we have Mark Seven featuring and also meeting David Kingdom was a nice touch. In that regard, it is a shame we don’t get a continuation of the series as I would definitely be interested in exploring the SSS and the family dynamic further, especially now we’ve met Mark and Anya Kingdom in the Fourth Doctor Adventures! Tying everything together could be brilliant, but given how long it has been since the release of this Lost Story I just don’t see it happening. I thought the plot of the story was slightly boring and whilst I do appreciate the ending in teasing what would have been the series to come with the cliffhanger finish of the Daleks coming, that kind of lost its impact considering we’d already had the Red Dalek featuring. If they hadn’t been around at all then that would have been better, but at the same time I think that would have damaged the story even further! I just don’t see much of a winning scenario here. The big positive for me was to have Sara Kingdom in the lead role, but as far as Dalek spin-offs are concerned I’m much more interested in Dalek Empire. Overall, it’s lovely to have this brought into existence but I’m not overly disappointed the series wasn’t made. 

Rating: 4/10