Palindrome Part One

"Your first death unwrote your second."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: September 2020

Series: The Eighth Doctor: Time War 4.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Bliss

Synopsis

In an alternative universe, Davros lives in peace, until the Doctor and Bliss arrive, and the Daleks emerge in a new reality.

Verdict

Palindrome started in excellent style! Kicking off the fourth Time War volume of Eighth Doctor Adventures in this style was not something I expected, but I absolutely loved it! It was an incredible take on Davros and a different reality to say the least. The creator of the Daleks joining the fight within the Time War is incredibly exciting, but this is fat from what I was expecting! This was a very different Skaro from the one in the Doctor's universe and the audacity of the author in having Davros living a happy life married to a Thal was extraordinary. When the version we are more familiar with came into play, I was surprised he could even acknowledge this alternate version of himself! The alternate version referring to the creator of the Daleks as a half man was excellent stuff too. There was so much going on here and it was just richly filled with emotion and intrigue. I just loved how different everything was. Davros living an ordinary-ish life with his wife and showing compassion and love. They're not exactly traits he would pass onto the Daleks. Charn was a really nice character and Davros having to toy with the idea of losing her was something he couldn't face. This was so different to the Davros we knew and whilst we have seen a much younger version in The Magician's Apprentice, this was altogether different. This felt wrong and yet somehow absolutely the same man. I can't quite place my finger on how that was the case, but I must give kudos to the writer for capturing that essence. It's not an easy character to change! The use of the portal on Skaro was really good and would prove an important access point. The Time War spilling over into different universes is tremendous and as we build to something of a crescendo for these Eighth Doctor Adventures, it feels right that it's happening. It's such a big event that it cannot be contained in just one universe. Hearing the Doctor and Bliss be on friendly terms with Davros and Charn was intriguing, although the relationship with the former in particular just felt off. In the best way possible. The Doctor and Davros shouldn't just be having casual conversation! But I absolutely love it. I liked how knowledgeable and mature Bliss felt in the story and it's easy to forget just how long she has been a companion now. And it might be even longer given the temporal nature of the Time War. Is time linear within it? I think that's inconclusive. I thought the Doctor's reaction to seeing the version of Davros he knew and had fought for the first time in a long while was magnificent and really sold just how much distain he had for the Dalek creator. If anyone didn't know, the history between them was rife. I thought the alternate Davros having to battle with the survival of his wife or the universe was a situation where he couldn't win, and just hearing the two versions of Davros converse was brilliant. The trust there must come from them technically being the same person and it provided us with a strong cliffhanger going into the second part as the Doctor and Bliss would be emerging from the portal, but the creator entrusted his alternate self. It was excellent stuff and now I really can't wait for the second part to conclude the story. That's where the final rating will come as I'll judge the two parts as one despite the separate blog entries, but for now this was an excellent opening half! I can't wait for more. I love me some Davros so having him arrive in the Time War is incredibly exciting! Overall, a terrific listen.