Escape the Daleks!

"We all enjoy puzzles."

Writer: Steve Lyons

Format: Audio

Released: January 2024

Series: BBC Audio 22

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis

An escape room with a sting in its tail is the setting for the Doctor and Jo's latest encounter with a familiar enemy. Three young graduates and their tutor race against time to crack the codes, open the exit door, and obtain 'A New Life' – at least, that's what the publicity said. 

As the Doctor observes proceedings, he begins to suspect that something far more sinister lurks on the other side of the door. To make matters worse, the room appears set to eliminate anyone who doesn't make the grade. 

Working against time, the Doctor and Jo form an uneasy alliance with the gamers. What terror lies waiting for them all? 

Verdict

Escape the Daleks! was a decent little BBC Audio original! I must admit despite the still relatively high rating, this fell a little short of expectations. Whenever the Daleks are around I usually expect big things and with only three on screen full adventures pitting them against the Third Doctor, getting an extra meeting with them for Jo after Planet of the Daleks was a bit of a surprise. But it was one I was well on board with! I enjoyed the cover art depicting them as being the same, or at least a very similar, design to those encountered in Death to the Daleks which was yet to come for the Doctor. However, story details seemed to indicate that this adventure was something of a loose sequel to The Dalek Invasion of Earth. On paper, that's a tremendous idea for me as that First Doctor classic is right up there with one of my favourites. It's an instant classic and the scale and depth of it opens it up for sequels and prequels alike. This particular story seemed to take place a century or so after that Dalek invasion and occupation occurred, and the way it shared similarities to The Tomb of the Cybermen in testing its rescuers was decent. However, the escape room format seemed a little odd. I like that it's a modern and topical take on the format for a 2020s audience, but maybe it's just my dislike of escape rooms in general that meant I wasn't wholly on board with some of the story specifics. We only actually had one Dalek and that didn't come until the very end, but brilliantly we did get Nicholas Briggs voicing the Doctor's old enemy. Katy Manning did an expectedly excellent job with her narration and I enjoy her rough impression of Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor. It's authentic and certainly feels realistic. The story captured the relationship between the Doctor and Jo very nicely, although it didn't feel like things would soon be coming to an end for them. Whilst I'm not a fan of escape rooms, I enjoyed the use and role of the Robomen in the game and it's just terrific to get more of them. I'm a huge fan of them and it's a travesty they weren't used on television more. I thought it was fun for Manning to get to do her take on one and I loved hearing them back. It was amusing for the Doctor to not exactly want to partake in the escape room puzzles as he saw himself a bit beyond that. It was fun for him to explain to Jo how they would become prominent a little in her future. I wonder if the Jo we see in Death of the Doctor had traumatic flashbacks once they started becoming a thing? Renik was a decent character and I liked his worry of the order of events when individuals being tested were taken. I wasn't sure about how quickly the Doctor deduced that the Daleks were behind the escape room, but it was fun once they were present. It's just a shame they didn't feature for much longer and the cover is a little deceptive for there to only be a lone sentry. Overall though, a welcomed addition to the Third Doctor's battles with the Daleks and more should have been made of the Robomen and the previous invasion. A good little listen but I do feel this had the potential to be even better than it was. 

Rating: 7/10