Dalek Empire 1.2: The Human Factor

‘The Human Factor’

By Nicholas Briggs
Released August 2001

The Daleks are half-way to conquering the galaxy, and they have Susan Mendes to thank for it. Recruiting her help as a spokesperson demanding better conditions, food and rest in exchange for hard work, she has earned the name ‘Angel of Mercy.’ At her side is the beleaguered fallen knight of Velysha named Kalendorf.

While Mendes is preaching her message of hard work for better conditions, Kalendorf is laying the seeds of a psychic message for the slaves to await a signal. Traveling the ring of Dalek-occupied planets, he and Suz are attempting a risky operation of subterfuge, a long game that gambles the safety of the free planets in exchange for a coordinated strike against the Dalek Empire.

But all is not going well. Kalendorf and Suz see things very differently. While Suz feels that she is actually doing good, Kal reminds her that she is a collaborator with the deadliest creatures who ever lived. Dalek Empire is an ensemble cast, but much of the weight lays on the should of Gareth Thomas (of Blake’s 7 fame) as Kalendorf and the amazing Sarah Mowat as Susan Mendes. Their interactions are electrifying and very reminiscent of Blake’s 7 in many ways. These people are not out to make friends, they are fighting the war of survival.

Following her path is a love-sick Alby Brook and a former newscaster Gordon Pellan using a broken down craft to trace the Daleks movements and monitor their transmissions for mention of Susan Mendes. After crashing on the oceanic planet of Guria where rebel forces are moving toward a victory, Pellan’s will snaps. Adrift on the rocks of an alien world, he watches his ship sink to the murky depths and feels his fingers go numb. All this for some girl?? Alby reluctantly explains that he’s an agent of Space Security, a post that he reluctantly took up to remove a stain on his personal record.

After a life of hard knocks, he had little choice. But when the Daleks attacked, Suz stayed behind while Alby ran off to save his hide. She showed him such kindness and bravery and… he wants her back. Pellan thinks that it might have more to do with Mendes’ connections to the Rhinesberg Corporation and a top secret Project Infinity, but Alby dismisses it without a thought.

Alby and Pellan are discovered by a patrol of Daleks on trans-solar discs

Playing Alby Brook is Mark McDonnell who forms the other half of the Dalek Empire story. Much of his drama is spent pining after Suz which can get grating so I commend him for keeping the story going and making it come alive. A tortured and lost soul, he has hinged his whole life on one woman whom he barely knows. She has become the ‘Angel of Mercy’ to the slaves of the Dalek Empire and the personal savior of lowly Alby Brook. In reality, she’s neither. One can hear the inner turmoil in Suz’ head as she is both obeyed and berated by the Daleks in equal part. They put her on a pedestal and make her feel like scum all at once. Somewhere in between is the real Susan Mendes.

When they are rounded up by Daleks traveling on trans-solar discs, they are surprised that death is not forthcoming. Instead, Alby is shown to Suz via a video communication link for a brief period of time, just enough to confirm that they each have a chance at a reunion. Suz and Kalendorf had been hovering over Guria watching the Daleks appear to face defeat before rousing to a crushing victory that apparently destroys the city structure where the rebel forces had collected.

The Daleks had been watching Susan Mendes very carefully. She gave the slaves of every planet on the brink of misery a sliver hope and that hope would make them more efficient workers. If hope existed, there was something precious that could be lost and that could be used to control the workers. In much the same way they watched how Suz and Kalendorf interacted. Whereas at first they seemed close they had become spikey toward each other. A born freedom fighter, Kalendorf resented collaboration with the Daleks and rubbed the celebrity status that Suz enjoyed in her face. He was no longer important to Suz… whereas Alby Brooks was.

Suz and Alby clearly loved each other, and that love could be used against them. The Daleks had tracked Alby’s progress as he chased her across the galaxy with little more than a slim hope that she may be alive. That could be dangled over her.

Susan Mendez had given the Human Factor to the Dalek cause, the most formidable weapon of all.

The gripping conclusion reveals that Alby and Pellan had indeed escaped, at the cost of Alby’s legs, now replaced with robotic ones. Before he can get over the shock, their stolen Dalek ship is intercepted by a rebel cruiser and boarded. As Alby and Pellan insist that they are not working with the Daleks, the soldiers open fire…. a sterling cliffhanger!

Heavily influenced by the old Dalek Chronicles comic strips by David Whitaker and Terry Nation, Briggs’ Dalek Empire reads like some weird forgotten action comic lost in the annals of time. But Briggs has added these wonderful folds of sophistication to his scripts that are masterful. His characters move through the narrative with strength of purpose and the danger of the Daleks hangs over the proceedings like some dreadful murder of crows.

The Daleks are due to return in a massive story in which the Doctor faces every iteration of the creatures ever made in ‘The Ruins of Skaro,’ yet I wager most fan of the BB Wales Doctor Who series have lost interest in the metal monstrosities at this point. I can’t really blame them. In each appearance they have lost more credibility and have less and less impact. Personally I’m fine with the new model Daleks (isn’t that a prog rock band?) but most everyone else thinks they’re laughable. Rose felt bad for them, Tennant waltzed around them (and helped them), Smith threatened them with a cookie. They’re a joke, surely.

(I mustn’t be one-sided about bad Dalek stories as the classic series had its share. Compared to Doomsday, The Chase is absurd and Death to the Daleks seems to be a better idea for a home video game than a TV program… but the new program just treats the Daleks as an after-thought. They lose out to Rose and a recovery truck in Parting of the Ways, are less important than a pig-mutant’s love for a showgirl in Daleks Take Manhattan, and Victory of the Daleks hinged on an android imagining he had experienced love. In their most recent appearances, they are relegated to one of many aliens out to get the Doctor, shoulder to shoulder with Judoon… I ask you, is that fair?)

So what makes the Daleks so cool? Why keep bringing them back?

Nicholas Briggs and company know just what makes them so scary. It’s not the rayguns that make the Daleks so effective, but the calculating evil inhuman minds hiding behind an impassive baleful electronic eye. Throughout the Dalek Empire series, the Daleks are shown as devious creatures that are almost inscrutable by the human resistance. Every loss in battle makes the resistance fight back harder but what is most terrifying of all is victory against the Daleks.. because surely there is some pre-meditation in a tactical loss. These Daleks are so terrifying that they strike fear into humanity just by existing. Even their silence is haunting.

In many ways, Briggs is using the idea of a Dalek as written by David Whitaker in Power of the Daleks and Evil of  the Daleks, two major works that cemented the horrifying and alien menace of the creatures from Skaro. They seem to emerge from the darkest pits of a nightmare, an endless army of unstoppable mechanized death.

If you are a stranger to the Dalek Empire series, you must seek them out. A polished production with a stellar cast and telling a gripping drama that operates on the large space operetic scale and on the smaller human end of the spectrum, it is unsurpassed in the annals of Doctor Who audios (except perhaps for the Cyberman series).

Told in four separate sags, this is part two of the four-part Dalek Empire I series, followed by The Dalek War (4 parts), Dalek Empire III (6 parts) and Dalek Empire: The Fearless (4 parts).

Dalek Empire 1.2: The Human Factor can be purchased at your local retailer (such as Mike’s Comics) or directly from Big Finish in CD or streaming media format.

Doctor Who Big Finish- The Apocalypse Element (Dalek Empire II)

The Apocalypse Element

“You are the DOCTOR!”
“How terribly observant of you. No wonder you only need one eye.”

Story 11
Written by Stephen Cole
Released August 2000

A disturbance in the temporal vortex draws the Doctor and Evelyn to a gathering of time travel experts on the planet Archetryx. Many years ago, the planet Etra Prime disappeared completely without any explanation, taking with it the then Lady President of Gallifrey (and former traveling companion to the Doctor, Romana, along with it). This alerted the Time Lords that there was a dangerous rival in temporal engineering as it appeared that Etra Prime was removed from the time stream entirely. However, the Time Lords aren’t just trying to find the rogue planet, they are also eager to steal the advancements from other cultures in time travel as their complacence has finally caught up with their once great society, making them ripe for attack from any number of enemies.

This story makes for a turning point in regards to Gallifrey and the path that the Time Lords will take, in some ways leading to the vastly different race seen in the 2009 Doctor Who adventure, The End of Time… if you squint… really hard. From their first appearance in the War Games through to their last appearance on screen in the classic series in Trial of a Timelord: The Ultimate Foe, the Time Lords are shown as decadent and regressive, a people that are outside of time but have grown flaccid in mind and body from lack of activity.

The Doctor is aghast at the desperate measures that his people have been driven to in gaining new knowledge. Unable to find Etra Prime and the missing Romana, the High Council is obviously paranoid that anyone could understand time travel more than the Time Lords and are anxious to regain their stature as the all-powerful beings they once were. When Etra Prime finally does re-appear, it is driven back into existence by an army of Daleks who have arranged the entire affair to gain access to Gallifrey. Through the use of a deadly new weapon called the Apocalypse Element, the Daleks seek to hold the universe ransom to assault Gallifrey and gain access to the secrets of the Time Lords, finally defeating the once mighty civilization.

The second of the four Dalek Empire cross-over stories, The Apocalypse Element embodies the spirit of other overly violent Dalek tales such as Resurrection of the Daleks. There’s a lot of techno-jargon and parts of the narrative are quite difficult to grasp over the screaming and explosions as the Daleks fire their death rays throughout this four parter. Colin Baker once more proves his prowess as the proud and mighty Doctor in all of his resplendent glory. It’s difficult to put my finger on what is so different about his portrayal of the character in the Big Finish audios compared to the TV adventures, but it is like the Sixth Doctor was created for the audio format. It is also clear that the Big Finish material is far superior to the 1984/6 programs. The dialog is intensely smart and sharp, offering up plenty of bon mots for Mr. Baker and the wonderful Maggie Stables.

Her third outing as Evelyn and Maggie Stables has me loving her portrayal of the forthright and gutsy academic. On the screen an older companion would never have made it, but it’s the loss of the TV audiences to be honest. Her character is just so much fun and she matches the intelligence and determination of the Sixth Doctor perfectly. Colin Baker displays such range of emotion and a new depth to his performance that he practically carries the whole story on his own.

Back for the first time since 1980, Lalla Ward as Romana II is an unexpected surprise. Her character has gone through some big changes, held captive by the Daleks on a secluded planet and dehumanized into slavery. Back in her own dimension, Romana makes a defiant stand against the Daleks with such ferocity that the Doctor is understandably worried about his friend. As Romana appears in later adventures, I am sure that I’ll see her character undergo still more changes. To be honest, I prefer the first incarnation of Romana played by Mary Tamm, but Ward gives some new facets to her incarnation of the brilliant Time Lady, no doubt making fans of her on screen portrayal jump for joy.

As always, the music (including the outstanding Dalek Empire signature tune) and voice acting is exemplary with Nicholas Briggs embodying the Daleks with such gusto that it is difficult to remember he is quite a pleasant chap.  The more that I listen to Dalek Empire, the more I respect and enjoy his enormous skill at modernizing the Dalek voice while paying homage to what has come before (via the late Peter Hawkins, Roy Skelton and Michael Wisher to name just three of that long legacy of modulated screamers).

I have discovered that I quite enjoy Apocalypse Element and have listened to it several times… perhaps to understand just what is going on. The sequences on Archetryx are clear enough, but when Romana notices the Daleks using crystals to communicate, it all gets a bit hazy. It took me ages to understand that the Daleks hijacked Etra Prime in order to harvest the crystals native to that planet (the basis of the Monan Host’s temporal engineering) allowing them to build a weapon so powerful that it can reshape reality. Against an army of Daleks, the Time Lords are woefully unprepared.

Not so much a war, the conflict with the Daleks on Gallifrey is a blood bath. In the end, most of the Chancillary Guard are dead in the halls, at least one gutted of his eyeball in order to gain access to the main citadel through the retina scan-based security. Perhaps this is why the Time Lords resurrected their Warrior King Rassilon during the Time War? I’ll stop because I’m in danger of thinking back to the 2005-2009 era of Doctor Who which will only make my head hurt.

The activation of the Apocalypse Element in the Seiphia Galaxy puts the Doctor into an emotional fit as he attempts to stem the tide of destruction. By attacking Gallifrey, the Daleks force the Time Lords to collaborate and create a method of controlling the forces, thus giving the Daleks exactly what they wanted all along, the creation of a new universe. In the annals of all the Dalek’s schemes, this could be their boldest and most staggering.

With so much action conveyed in sound only, at times I found myself thinking that I was listening to the audio track of a ‘missing episode’ of the classic Doctor Who series and I needed some visual basis to understand what was going on. For a four part story full of explosions and Dalek screams as well as the return of Romana, The Apocalypse Element is a lot to digest in a short period of time.  But if you can keep up with it, this can be an exciting and nail-biting adventure.

Fan-made animation based on Doctor Who- The Apocalypse Element

Doctor Who – The Apocalypse Element can be purchased at local retailers and online from Big Finish.

Dalek Empire 1.1: Invasion of the Daleks

Invasion of the Daleks

By Nicholas Briggs
Released June 2001

The Daleks are the deadliest and most popular of the Doctor’s opponents, yet most of their outings on screen failed to sufficiently take full advantage of their potential. Creator Terry Nation finally decided to take his monsters over to the USA where he would try his luck at pitching the nasties in their own program. Forever doomed to failure in Doctor Who, Nation’s Daleks could reign supreme on their own, as seen in the Dalek Chronicles newspaper strips co-written by David Whittaker. Nicholas Briggs’ Dalek Empire realizes the possibilities of a program centered on the Daleks in a gripping dramatic production that is a testament to the classic comic strips of the 1960’s with a modern science fiction approach.

The Daleks are a race of paranoid mutants forever trapped inside of an armored shell. In their fearful and manic attack on all other life forms, their strategic cunning can often be overlooked. On screen, there are few examples of the Daleks being anything other than screaming meanies armed with laser guns. The Daleks, The Dalek Master Plan and Evil of the Daleks are perhaps the high points of the sophistication on character. Briggs’ production shows them in such grandeur that they live up to the menace that is so often hinted at in the Doctor Who series.

The Dalek comic strip from TV21

Invasion of the Daleks opens in the halcyon days of the Earth Empire. Susan (Suz) Mendes is being piloted across the waterways of the planet Vega VI by Alby Brooks, a swarthy taxi driver. As the pair discuss the future with a hint of stifled romance, they are engulfed in war as a space craft crashes from the atmosphere into a nearby town. Over garbled radio broadcasts, they learn that the Earth Empire has been attacked by a fleet of Dalek ships and that Vega VI has fallen to the enemy. Set long after the Dalek wars, Suz has no real knowledge of the threat that the Daleks pose, but Alby is far more than he seems, and has an intimate understanding of the creatures. Failing to convince Suz to leave with him on the last flight off planet, Alby abandons her to find her family in the ensuing carnage.

Following the systematic subjugation of the native life forms, patrols of robomen (zombie-like humans brutally transformed into brainless slaves) stalk the streets, arranging survivors into work crews to drill the core of the planet for minerals. Her family dead in a radioactive wasteland, Suz finds herself in the company of a garrulous old man named Kalendorf and makes it her mission to save his life. The pair gain the attention of the Daleks who find Mendes’ independence and refusal to simply give in to the domination of the invading forces. Singling her out, the Supreme Dalek confers with Suz and learns the secret to controlling the survivors and building an empire, turning her into an unsuspecting collaborator.

Waking up on board the departing craft Aquitania Alby soaks his sorrows in alcohol, commiserating with another survivor, Pellan. Contacted by his superior officer in the Earth Alliance, Alby discovers that his mission to locate Kalendorf has been scrubbed and he has been assigned a new mission far from Vega VI, the Dalek Invasion and Susan Mendes. Not knowing that the two are now working together to keep the few survivors of the invasion alive while slowly but deliberately building up a resistance, he is overjoyed to discover that there are scattered transmissions coming from Vega VI. Riddled with guilt over leaving Susan Mendes behind, Alby becomes driven to find her again. But the situation on Vega VI is more complicated as Susan Mendes has become an inspiration to the workers and a tool of the Daleks who have finally discovered the perfect manner by which to control the human race.

When I first watched Doctor Who I wasn’t all that impressed with the Daleks. I enjoyed Resurrection, Revelation and Remembrance of the Daleks, but found the monsters lacking in any real threat. Hindered by a cumbersome design and claustrophobic sets, they never really stood much of a chance in conquering the human race. As my association with Doctor Who deepened, I obtained an appreciation for the horror and insane fear that they embodied, their earlier adventures exhibiting a far more impressive menace than the latter episodes that I had seen.

The new series Bronze Daleks look outstanding but suffer from a writer more interested in reality TV, musicals and video conferencing to give them anything to do. It’s a shame because Parting of the Ways features one of the more outstanding moments for the Daleks in Doctor Who, yet they serve no real purpose on the story. In a recent Dalek documentary, Nicholas Briggs told a story that he was shocked to learn Russell T Davies was a fan of his work in Dalek Empire. I am similarly shocked that someone who recognized the power of Briggs’ work could fail to impart even an iota of that energy into the BBC Wales program. I breathed a sigh of relief when I viewed an admittedly hollow Victory of the Daleks last year as it wiped the slate clean, introducing an entirely new paradigm of Daleks to the program that viewers have yet to see bear fruit. Maybe in 2012?

Computer-animated version of Dalek Empire

Dalek Empire: Invasion of the Daleks is so inspired and directed that it comes close to being the most perfect depiction of the Daleks ever. When I had learned of an audio adventure series starring the Daleks I thought ‘how silly, it must be an incredibly painful experience to sit through all that shouting,’ but color me surprised. Briggs’ script is brilliant and counter-balances the human element with the threat of the monsters incredibly well. The voice cast is similarly excellent with Sarah Mowat as the defiant Susan Mendes, Mark McDonnell as the scraggly Alby Brook and Blake’s 7 star Gareth Thomas as the legendary Knight of Velyshaa, Kalendorf. Thomas gives 1,000 percent as Kalendorf, reminding me just how amazing he was in Blake’s 7 all those years ago and how lucky we are that he is around performing in productions like this.

The music score is very well done, the theme track suitably creepy and doom-laden. I have been enjoying the atmospheric and cinematic quality that the other Big Finish Productions have shown, but somehow this one stands out from the rest as being especially impactful. Everything from the sting of a death ray to the cacophony of deep space battles to the snap of a pickled onion are depicted with such attention to detail that it draws the listener into a complete world that s/he is reluctant to leave.

The Daleks have been frightening children for decades and selling everything from tea towels to toys and bedroom slippers for the BBC, but very seldom are they given any real depth. Big Finish Productions’ Dalek Empire settles that debt in full. If you are a fan of Doctor Who and unfamiliar with this product, buy it today.

Dalek Empire I: Invasion of the Daleks can be purchased at your local retailer (such as Mike’s Comics) or directly from Big Finish in CD or streaming media format.

Read other Big Finish reviews at the Daily P.O.P. here.