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The
Supreme Daleks' forces have located Susan Mendes. Will she,
Alby, Mirana and Morli be able to escape? Meanwhile, Kalendorf's
forces appear to be winning the war in Earth's solar system.
But what has happened to the planet Jupiter...?
Traditionally,
it was always the third episode of four-part Doctor Who
serials that used to cause scriptwriters the most difficulties.
All too often, these instalments would end up running on the
spot in terms of plot. Curiously, is it Chapter Two of this
four-part miniseries, rather than Chapter Three, that seems
to be suffering from this syndrome.
Relatively little happens during this instalment, apart from
Susan Mendes (Sarah Mowat) using her importance to the Daleks
to her own advantage (so far, so familiar) and the events
surrounding the strangely altered Jupiter. As if to demonstrate
the fact that writer Nicholas Briggs has had difficulty with
this episode, the CD runs twelve minutes shorter than its
advertised 70-minute duration.
On
the plus side, the introduction of Morli (Dannie Carr), an
amnesiac and perpetually hungry Geordie hospital patient,
brings some welcome light relief to the grim proceedings,
particularly when she asks people if they "Wanna feel me muscles?"
I have the feeling that there will be more to this character
than initially meets the eye - or rather, the ear.
This
is the weakest Dalek Empire instalment to date. But
it says a lot for the series as a whole that it is still well
worth listening to.
Richard
McGinlay
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