Teeth and Curls: The Doctor has always enjoyed taking a healthy disrespect for powerful people which Romana interprets as him enjoying taking appalling risks, especially when it comes to bypassing the Randomiser and risking detection by the Black Guardian. Perhaps their old nemesis has been tracking them all along, ever since they left Atrios/Zeos/the Shadow Planet or perhaps it was the Doctor’s inattentive behaviour that allowed him to catch their scent and eventually set up his trap in Mawdryn Undead. I’m more inclined to believe the latter, the Doctor really was irresponsible (in the most brilliant, unexpected of ways) during this period of his life. What is uncharacteristic of the time is for the Doctor to follow up dangling threads from a previous adventure. He was always ready to move onto the next adventure so the events of their previous encounter with Cuthbert in the Proxima system must have concerned him enough to warrant this further exploration. His TARDIS is practically custom built these days. When facing a man with a gun the Doctor finds it easier to just smile and wave and act as if everything is normal. He’s spent more time that he cares to remember defeating the Daleks, something of a thorn in their side. When a damaged Dalek cannot shoot straight the Doctor amusingly asks if he is trying to miss him deliberately. The Doctor offers hope to those who have lost hope in the face of the Daleks, a man who has beaten them time and again. Even when things seem impossible the Doctor isn’t willing to give up hope. Brilliantly, the Doctor is accused of acts of terrorism against the Daleks.
Standout Performance: It’s not often you get to
re-experience the chemistry between a returning bad guy and their lackey but
that is exactly what we enjoy here with both Cuthbert (the ever entertaining
David Warner) and Mr Dorrick (Toby Hadoke). They enjoy a sparky, nervous
chemistry that springs from the fact that Dorrick is petrified of his boss and
every time he has bring him news he sounds as though he is going to be flogged
for the effort. You need a strong actor to be able to hold his own against the
Daleks (in villainous terms only Kevin Stoney and Roger Delgado have managed to
upstage them) and David Warner can join this select bunch, treating the
creatures as little more than muscle for hire.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Daleks are not concerned with
popularity!’
Audio Landscape: One thing I have noticed in the second
season of 4DAs is how Big Finish have attempted to capture that feeling that
the TARDIS can land anywhere and really capture the excitement in the versatile
locations that the series can exploit. From the screaming birdsong and sunny
glades of The Auntie Matter to the desert regions that drew the Laan in The
Sands of Life to the foggy cobbled lanes of The Justice of Jalxar to the
claustrophobic underwater depths of Phantoms of the Deep, we have been on a
whirlwind tour of some memorable and fully realised locations. Whilst there
have been plenty of Big Finish stories set amongst snowy wastes, The Dalek
Contract utilizes the atmosphere of such an environment very quickly giving
this story an stimulating you-are-there feel. Scanner screen, spaceship
screaming past, the TARDIS proximity alarm, scanner, missiles approaching and
exploding, wind swept planet, crunching through snow, an explosion that creates
an avalanche, bullets bouncing off Dalek casings, a Dalek army all screaming at
once, extermination blasts, a Dalek with a speech impediment, banging, Dalek
doors, an engine choking to life.
Musical Cues: I really miss regular scores from Alistair
Lock, who was one of the most prominent musicians when Big Finish first kick
started the main range. He clearly understands the era of Doctor Who that this
story is set in, opening with a dramatic Dudley Simpson-esque theme that sounds
like a riff on the music from Genesis of the Daleks when the Daleks were on the
move. I loved the jolly jingle when K.9 departed the TARDIS to save the Doctor
and Romana from the Daleks, sounding for all the world like it has jumped from
season sixteen.
Result: Big Finish have tapped into something far more
engaging with their second season of 4DAs whilst not aspiring to the heights of
true greatness that the main range can hit when at it’s best. Nick Briggs
remains heavily involved (because, I suspect, Tom Baker feels more comfortable
being involved that way) and his habitual, meat-and-potatoes approach to Doctor
Who once again proves to be diverting enough but is still several notches down
from his finest work (Creatures of Beauty, Dalek Empire). Mary Tamm’s Doctor
Who experience in season sixteen was an atypical one; a series of linked
adventures that indulging in science fantasy far more than science fiction that
took Romana on an enchanting tour of some of the more imaginative locations in
the universe on the hunt for the Key to Time. Without demeaning this year of
audio adventures in any way, they have provided the character with a far more
traditional season of adventures to compliment that. From historical comedy to
space opera, from nostalgic fantasy to base under siege, it has encapsulated
Doctor Who in it’s entirety and given Tamm’s interpretation of the character
plenty more variety and scope. The Dalek Contract gives her (and K.9) the
chance to butt heads with the Daleks and the unique idea at the heart of this
tale is that this squadron are apparently hired assassins, under the thumb of
Cuthbert (once again played with brio by David Warner). Neither cliffhanger
feels especially memorable which is a shame because as scripted they are both
great moments, especially the first one which subverts the usual Dalek shtick
and sees them behaving in an unusual fashion, which is often when they are at
their best. It’s non-stop action with some pleasant character moments for the
Doctor and Romana (I feel that Briggs understands the characters without ever
attempting to probe them too much) but very much the first half of a much
larger story and you might feel a little short changed once you have reached
the end of the disc purely because it abruptly stops just as the story hits a
dramatic high. I’m not sure how to judge The Dalek Contract on it’s own merits
because so much of it’s effect will depend upon the concluding half (we still
don’t know why the Daleks have teamed up with Cuthbert or what his experiments
entail) but needless to say this was diverting, time-honoured Who of the sort
that I will never get tired of, even if it isn’t exactly firing at full
throttle. What others will make of this undemanding effort is beyond
me, but it does at least entertain for an hour and thanks to an authentic score
really feels like it has come from the era: 6/10
3 comments:
Wow! An audio review at last! Very happy to read it! :)
I also got this this week and enjoyed it very much. Do you know how I can contact Big Finish as I'm a subscriber but my copy of The Justice of Jalaxar has yet to arrive?
Email sales@bigfinish.com. If you don't get a response after 24 hours, try enquires@bigfinish.com.
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