The Fast Return switch manages to bring the TARDIS back to the Daleks’ home world – but has their threat been truly eliminated?

I will admit I had a lot of doubts when I saw that this story was being produced – not because for a moment that I thought that Andrew Smith and co. would do anything other than an excellent job on it, but because it was one of those gaps in the timeline I simply couldn’t see. For the end of the first episode of The Dalek Invasion of Earth to be effective, Ian and the Doctor can not have seen a Dalek since their adventure on Skaro…

…and they don’t. It’s now simply a case of which adventure on Skaro is being referred to. Smith has pulled off a great piece of sleight of hand, very carefully ensuring that none of the continuity references cease to work, yet inserting this neatly within the small gaps in that first season of stories. Along the way, there’s also explanations for how the Doctor knows certain other things about Skaro, and some interesting foreshadowing for his next meeting with the Thals in Planet of the Daleks.

A lot of care has been taken to ensure that this story is of a piece with the first Dalek story, with sound effects and capabilities of the creatures suitably different from later appearances. Howard Carter should take a bow for a soundscape and score that emulates without pastiching the original, and Nick Briggs’ Daleks are also subtly different. David Bradley, Jamie Glover, Jemma Powell and Claudia Grant are credible as the first TARDIS team – of course they don’t sound the same, and don’t react precisely as William Hartnell and co. would have done, but Ken Bentley’s direction ensures that there’s a very similar feel.

Verdict: It feels as if you’ve gone back 56 years – a highly enjoyable rematch. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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