The Eighth Doctor is caught on a Dalek ship, unable to get to the TARDIS to escape…

Set shortly after the events of Una McCormack’s second TLV novel (for those wanting to keep track), Lizzie Hopley’s battle of cat and mouse is a strong end to the Big Finish trilogy of Eighth Doctor adventures. It’s been described as Die Hard with Daleks, although actually it’s closer to the Star Trek: The Next Generation version of the classic Christmas movie, with the Doctor like a mouse in the wainscotting screwing up the Daleks’ plans, and Paul McGann sounding like he’s having a great time taunting the various Dalek factions.

Following the events in the Dark Times, there’s a lot of mutual distrust amongst the Daleks, with the Time Commander and the Strategist in particular both scheming to come out on top. The poor old Execution unit has a particularly hard day, and the Scientist has some undignified moments… all of which adds up to a lot of work for Nicholas Briggs!

It’s not just the Doctor and the Daleks – there’s a couple of others caught up in the machinations, seen as cargo by the Daleks, but actually far more than that. Samantha Béart and Wilf Scolding demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of their race’s attitude to life (leading to an interesting moment at the end between one of them and McGann).

Verdict: An enjoyable battle of wits between old foes. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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