Tag: Daleks

Doctor Who: Dalek

Doctor Who: Dalek

by Robert Shearman (Penguin, 2021); audiobook read by Nicholas Briggs (BBC, 2021)

Book cover: “Doctor Who: Dalek” by Robert Shearman (Penguin, 2021); audiobook read by Nicholas Briggs (BBC, 2021)

Lawks, what a slog. Shearman takes his own outstanding script and plumps it up into the most middling of novelisations, diluting the action with a stultifying deluge of minor character backstories. Audiobook bonus: Briggs’s Christopher Eccleston voice sounds like a comedy impersonation.

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks

by Chris Chibnall; dir. Annetta Laufer (BBC, 2022)

Promotional poster: Doctor Who - Eve of the Daleks

Third try lucky for Chris Chibnall and Dalek specials. The time loop is a winner (explainy bits aside), while the enclosed environment and localised stakes allow the pepper pots to rise above their usual pointlessness. The guest characters have personality beyond function.

 

 

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

by Eric Saward; dir. Matthew Robinson (BBC, 1984)

Doctor Who_Resurrection Daleks

This serial begins with eerie promise and impressive acting/characterisation but degenerates into a confused mess, redeemed only by the pathos of Tegan’s departure. The Daleks (as so often in Doctor Who) have the intellectual sophistication of tantrum-prone toddlers with no inner monologue.

 

 

Doctor Who: Return to Skaro

Doctor Who: Return to Skaro

by Andrew Smith (Big Finish, 2020)

Smith_Return to Skaro

This direct sequel to the first ever Dalek story works best if one can disregard all subsequent canon (plus the Thals lacking so developmentally arduous a skill as timekeeping; condescension begets poppycockery). The recast TARDIS crew also takes some getting used to.

 

 

Doctor Who: Jubilee

Doctor Who: Jubilee

by Robert Shearman (Big Finish, 2003)

Shearman_Jubilee

A rare Dalek story with something to say beyond ‘Exterminate!’. Shearman perhaps tries for too much—his subsequent TV adaptation ‘Dalek’ is cleaner—but the result, though imperfect, remains head and shoulders above the usual dross. Authoritative and at times deeply uncomfortable.

 

 

The Black Archive #30: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

The Black Archive #30: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

by Jonathan Morris (Obverse Books, 2019)

Morris_Black Archive 30

A bit light on actual analysis but nevertheless an impressive piece of research, comparing different iterations of The Dalek Invasion of Earth (both televised and film versions at script, broadcast and even novelisation level) to establish who was responsible for which elements.

 

 

Dr. Fourth

Dr. Fourth

by Adam Hargreaves (BBC Children’s Books, 2017)

Hargreaves_Dr Fourth

The Fourth Doctor is well drawn and characterised. Sarah Jane is less becoming (a generic pink ball) and the inclusion of a no-hoper Dalek is incongruous even within the unfolding romp. Still, this captures the frivolous sangfroid element of Tom Baker’s era.