…)sedosipe idlapaC eht ni ylbaton( seires VT eht ni hcaelB nailuJ yb deyalp eb yllautneve lliw taht sorvaD eht si siht taht era snoitacilpmi eht fo emos – txen gniog s’ti erehw ot sa deugirtni yllaer m’I dna ,seires raW emiT s’hsiniF giB ot noitubirtnoc gnorts yrev a neeb sah sihT

.yad eht ni etal etiuq llit raeppa t’nod seoreh lamron ruo fi neve ,ekats ta s’tahw tegrof reven ew – dnah erus a htiw stcerid nywdloG neleH dna ,yrots eht fo ytisnetni eht gniniatniam ot yek era htob cisum s’nostreboR eimaJ dna ngised dnuos s’droffilC ijneB .noitautis eht evlos ot snalp s’rettal eht revo ssilB s’rarkahT eehkaR dna rotcoD s’nnaGcM luaP neewteb tcilfnoc deyalp-llew emos s’ereht dna ,elor laitnesse na syalp llits ehs tub ,yrots siht ni nrahC s’rialB alsI rof ssel s’erehT

.”rotaerc“ rieht yb detatcid erew skelaD eht fo snoitca eht hcum woh tsuj esilaer ew dna – mrof denetrohs ylbisnes a ni tiebla – edis rehto eht morf detaeper esruoc fo si fles detatum sih htiw pu gniteem sorvaD ”lanigiro“ eht fo enecs ehT .segats tnereffid ynam os ta thguac sorvaD s’yolloM dna reve sa tnelovelam yliklis sa rellortnoC emiT s’rettal eht htiw ,yrots siht ni selor tsegral eht evah sggirB salohciN dna yolloM yrreT .sorvaD gnignahc-reve na dna noitautis gnignahc-reve na no sucof eht htiw trap tsrif eht stnemelpmoc yltaen yrev hcihw ,elat siht htiw hcton a pu seog gnitpircs s’yenroD nhoJ rof noitarimda yM

…rellortnoC emiT eht steem sorvaD retfa drawrof sevom emiT

 

OK, seriously:

Time moves forward after Davros meets the Time Controller…

My admiration for John Dorney’s scripting goes up a notch with this tale, which very neatly complements the first part with the focus on an ever-changing situation and an ever-changing Davros. Terry Molloy and Nicholas Briggs have the largest roles in this story, with the latter’s Time Controller as silkily malevolent as ever and Molloy’s Davros caught at so many different stages. The scene of the “original” Davros meeting up with his mutated self is of course repeated from the other side – albeit in a sensibly shortened form – and we realise just how much the actions of the Daleks were dictated by their “creator”.

There’s less for Isla Blair’s Charn in this story, but she still plays an essential role, and there’s some well-played conflict between Paul McGann’s Doctor and Rakhee Thakrar’s Bliss over the latter’s plans to solve the situation. Benji Clifford’s sound design and Jamie Robertson’s music both are key to maintaining the intensity of the story, and Helen Goldwyn directs with a sure hand – we never forget what’s at stake, even if our normal heroes don’t appear till quite late in the day.

This has been a very strong contribution to Big Finish’s Time War series, and I’m really intrigued as to where it’s going next – some of the implications are that this is the Davros that will eventually be played by Julian Bleach in the TV series (notably in the Capaldi episodes)…

Verdict: Terrific performances on both sides of the microphone mean a strong script is brought to life well. 10/10

Paul Simpson

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