The TARDIS has departed, leaving Susan to make her new life in a world devastated by the Dalek invasion…

There’s a certain irony that around the same time that BBC Audio launch a range call Beyond the Doctor, we get a story from Big Finish that precisely fits the parameters of that series – a chronicling of events in the immediate aftermath of the TARDIS leaving a companion behind. What did they do the next day? And the one after that? Roland Moore’s story is based on the idea of The Dalek Invasion of Earth’s next four episodes and in many ways that’s what he’s delivered, but it actually feels far more  like the pilot for a new spin-off, set in London 2167.

Carole Ann Ford hails Lisa Bowerman as her favourite director in the extras, and there’s no doubt that Bowerman elicits a great performance from Ford, picking up the baton over 55 years after she filmed her final TV episode of the 1960s. She and Sean Biggerstaff as David Campbell make a strong pair, as each deals with problems as diverse as who’s running the country to whether to stay on Earth. Moore throws a number of obstacles in their way – not least the last Dalek (you didn’t seriously think there wouldn’t be a place for some Skarosians?) – as well as adding a number of new threats. If at times it feels a little bit Survivors-esque, I suspect that’s deliberate – the politicking, though, has an added extra-terrestrial component.

Lucy Briers plays her mother’s role of Jenny Chaplin, with the introduction of another family member in the form of Oli Higginson’s Victor (who spends a lot of his time doing a good rendition of someone who’s truly tone deaf – a very effective way of portraying the Dalek conditioning), while Jonathan Guy Lewis’ Marcus walks the fine line of being too villainous to be believed.

Verdict: A fascinating extrapolation from 1964 that frequently moves in unexpected directions. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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