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A random landing in 22nd-century London and a trip to the
Savoy Hotel yield unexpected results for the Doctor: tea,
scones, an American general who knows far too much, and the
threat of a Dalek invasion of Earth. Meanwhile, the Doctor's
companion Nyssa is in Rhodes during the time of the Crusades,
where her position proves to be distinctly precarious. It
seems the Time Lord's deadliest foes have woven a tangled
web indeed. In order to defeat them, the Doctor must cross
forbidden barriers of time and walk into the very centre of
their latest, most outlandish scheme of conquest...
Big Finish has given us a lot of Dalek stories lately: Short
Trips: Dalek Empire, Return
of the Daleks, Blood
of the Daleks - Parts 1 and 2
and Fear
of the Daleks. It must be hard coming up with
new ways to make use of the creatures.
This audio drama is certainly one of the strangest Dalek tales
to date, though there are some elements of familiarity. As
in The
Mutant Phase and Jubilee,
the TARDIS crew encounter a time paradox resulting from a
Dalek invasion of Earth. In common with Jubilee, some
toy Daleks provide a curious brand of danger.
While I can't quite imagine the toy Daleks, who threaten and
chase characters at various points in the story, working in
a television episode, other elements of the script (from a
story by former script editor Christopher H Bidmead) are surprisingly
"visual" for an audio production. The point of convergence
where the various time tracks meet, a bizarre region that
inspires awe among the characters, brings to mind the sort
of things we've seen in Doctor Who Magazine's comic
strips, especially the Fifth Doctor epic The Tides of Time.
The 1980s are further evoked by some typically Bidmead complex
scientific theories, this time concerning time travel, though
his old favourite recursion also gets a mention. And, unlike
most previous Big Finish Dalek stories featuring '80s Doctors,
this one obeys the cardinal law of '80s Dalek serials: that
the title must begin with an "r"! Unfortunately, a less endearing
echo of the past is also included: a rather pathetic wail
of "Doctor!" emitted by Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) during one of
the cliffhangers.
The plot requires the revelation that the TARDIS is fitted
with a device that prevents it from materialising in the same
location twice. However, knowing that this contradicts at
least as many stories as it rationalises, the writer then
has the Doctor (Peter Davison) explain that the mechanism
only works intermittently. A bit like the ship's supposed
state of temporal grace, then... and its isomorphic
controls... and the HADS (Hostile Action Displacement
System).
Talking of which, the HADS gets a mention too. In fact, it
seems that the writer is a particular fan of the Patrick Troughton
era, as an element from another of his stories is included
here, when the TARDIS doors are opened in flight, threatening
the blow the occupants out into the Vortex, just like at the
end of The
Enemy of the World.
The interviews that comprise this double CD's extra features
eschew the regular cast on this occasion, instead focusing
on the substantial guest cast. Nicholas Briggs talks to William
Hope about accents and Aliens, to Stewart Alexander
about Daleks in Manhattan, to Richie Campbell about
race and to Regina Reagan about the intriguing possibility
of becoming a companion.
Renaissance of the Daleks is a curious time-hopping,
time-bending tale. It's not your usual story of Dalek conquest,
but that is something to be commended. With a run of respectable
releases over the past year, the Fifth Doctor's audio adventures
seem to be going through something of a renaissance of their
own.
Richard
McGinlay
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