The Doctor arrives on the Starship Future to find that an old enemy is awakening…

The sixth of Big Finish’s contributions to the Time Lord Victorious saga comes at the earliest point in the Doctor’s lives – he’s in his fourth incarnation (something that the Dalek politely confirms for us) – but towards the end of the project, as a survivor of the Time Squad has been brought on board the Starship Future.

Jonathan Morris has to juggle two sometimes opposing requirements here – tell a 4th Doctor and the Daleks standalone tale, and tie in to the live event. He achieves both, although there’s quite a bit of scene setting before the Doctor arrives, and the ending has to skew in a certain direction. Pippa Haywood’s captain is very much in the Beryl Reid mould (from Earthshock, rather than The Killing of Sister George, I hasten to add), and the other characters are perhaps more broad than usual. There’s a good use of Dalek elements from across the decades – up to and including Resolution / Revolution – and we do get a verbal showdown between Nicholas Briggs’ Dalek and Tom Baker.

Toby Hrycek-Robinson’s sound design uses background to good effect, and there’s a noticeable difference in the fluidity of the storytelling – scene changes that in some audios might be covered by the score simply fade to black and fade up.

Verdict: Tom Baker vs the Daleks always makes for an enjoyable encounter. 7/10

Paul Simpson

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