dwmr218_orderofthedaleks_1417The Doctor and Mrs Clarke encounter a rather unusual kind of Dalek…

We sometimes need reminding that not everyone around the universe knows what a Dalek is, and there’s absolutely no reason for Mrs Constance Clarke to have had any sort of encounter with them (I did wonder if there’d be some link back to Matt Smith’s wartime adventure with them, and pleased that there wasn’t). It gives Miranda Raison one of many great moments in Mike Tucker’s terrific script, as she wonders why everyone around her is petrified when they meet the aliens who have crashlanded on Strellin. And of course – as we’re reminded by Pat Troughton’s Doctor in The Power of the Daleks – the Daleks are great engineers and are going to use local resources to get themselves back in a position of power…

In the extras Tucker says he was encouraged to use every possible “monastic” trope by script editor Alan Barnes, and you can divine some of the story’s roots – not least one of the unmade versions of Alien3. There’s even a cheeky use of a character having a vow of silence!

Although we’re used to him as Sherlock Holmes now in the Big Finish audios, and of course as multiple monster voices including the Daleks for this tale, Nick Briggs doesn’t often turn up in major character parts (I’m not counting station announcers etc.!) so it makes a change for director Jamie Anderson to cast him as the Abbot in this. He’s joined by John Savident as an incredibly pedantic galactic assessor and Olivia Hallinan as his assistant, and together with Miranda Raison and Colin Baker, they make a strong central quartet. Robbie Stevens, Sam Fletcher and Joseph Kloska bring the inhabitants of Strellin to life with multiple voices.

ootd_imageRobert Harvey’s sound design and Jamie Robertson’s music blend well, and Jamie Anderson maintains his cinematic feel for his stories, with a number of clear breaks between scenes adding to the sense of scope.

Verdict: A different take on the Daleks brought to life very well. 9/10

Paul Simpson