The Doctor has a reunion with an old friend…

One of the clever conceits of Dalek Universe has been its ability to throw a post-Time War Doctor into a past that he knows in many ways he can’t change. Never is that more true than in Matt Fitton’s story, where we catch up with Davros shortly after Destiny of the Daleks (at the end of which he was sent in a prison ship back to Earth). We know where he will eventually end up, but it’s a long journey, and there’s time for a detour or two…

Terry Molloy returns as the Skarosian scientist who finds himself faced with a different face on the Doctor for the first time and is called upon to demonstrate the genius part of his “evil genius” description. There’s a very Terry Nation-esque plot regarding who’s exactly on whose side (and surely there should be someone called Tarrant thrown into the mix, just for nostalgia’s sake), with Anya caught in the middle between the Doctor whom she trusts, and the chain of command, which she instinctively obeys. Appropriately we return to a familiar location, albeit one massively changed, and everything is ramped up a notch in the final scene.

Verdict: Can Dalek Universe stick the landing? There’s a lot to play for in the finale, but this sets everything up very well. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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