Doctor Who – The Monthly Adventures

#224b. Dalek Soul ~ 10/10

◆ An Introduction

Dalek occupations exist across the width and breadth of creation: whole planets where their rule is absolute, and resistance movements struggle tirelessly to make a difference. Things usually turn out alright in the end, when a certain blue box arrives on the scene; the genocidal salt-shakers are dispatched, the populations are liberated, and another evil regime is toppled…

But what if the Doctor actively aided the oppressors, infiltrating rebel forces and convincing them to follow battle plans that would lead them into traps set by the Daleks?

What if his faithful companion was tasked with creating a viral contagion that would cause the native population to turn against each other in violent rages?

Welcome to the planet Mojox, where this is the situation at hand…

◆ Publisher’s Summary

On the Dalek-occupied world of Mojox, a group of rebels is engaged in a futile fightback against the invaders – but at last they’ve found an ally, in the form of the mysterious Doctor. Elsewhere, however, the Daleks' Chief Virologist is seeking to perfect a biological weapon to wipe out the Mojoxalli, once and for all.

Her name… is Nyssa.

◆ “Nyssa”

Nyssa has always been a talented scientist, which is an important thing to remember for many of her storylines – the majority of the “Older Nyssa” arc had her using these skills to synthesise a cure for Richter’s Syndrome – but what if these skills were used to assist the villains? Guy Adams delivered some excellent material which asks exactly that… but nothing in this episode should be taken at face value.

Sarah Sutton takes the lead in ‘Dalek Soul’, delivering a truly unique performance. There is something genuinely horrifying listening to such a moral character experimenting on resistance members, simply because the Daleks are ordering her to. You might think they’ve got some sort of coercive control over her, but Nyssa genuinely believes that the Daleks are her friends!

Killing her own people doesn’t come easily to Precuso, and nor should it. Nyssa justifies it as necessary testing for the viral strain, claiming that they aren’t Precuso’s people anymore: they stopped being that when they decided to join the rebellion. She condemns the rebels as being dangerous, violent criminals, and believes that Virus 6P84 could finally bring peace to the planet. Nyssa is the Daleks’ Chief Virologist: it’s her job to develop the virus. The Daleks are her friends, she serves them gladly. Without them, the planet Mojox and its people would be considerably worse off than they currently are! She’s a scientist, and scientists believe in hearing all the evidence before arriving at a conclusion.

◆ “The Fifth Doctor”

Imagine taking the most morally righteous incarnation of the Doctor and turning him into a sadistic cretin, who takes immense pleasure in witnessing resistance plans fail due to his own sabotage. Realistically, this kind of episode would only work with this incarnation: the others can slip into moral grey areas on occasion, so it wouldn’t have the same impact if someone like Seven started acting like this (that’s just another day in the office for him!)

There is something inherently wrong with listening to this incarnation turn into a vindictive sadist, but it feels so right! Peter Davison gets to flex his acting chops in ‘Dalek Soul’ by literally playing the villain, and he does it marvellously.

The Doctor believes that the rebels are beneath their consideration: it hardly matters if ten die, or ten-thousand! He’s a slave that’s been allowed a good deal of autonomy, because he gets things done. His loyalty can hardly be in question.

◆ A Question of Identity

Part one zones in on the concept of the Doctor and Nyssa turning bad; assisting the Daleks by laying traps for the local resistance movement, and synthesising a new viral strain to be dispersed throughout the atmosphere. You spend those thirty minutes waiting for their masks to slip – for them to reveal that this has been a grand deception in order to defeat the occupational forces – but they never do. Something far more interesting has been happening on Mojox…

You may recall that the Doctor and Nyssa were briefly kidnapped during ‘Alien Heart’. During their incarceration, the Daleks took DNA samples and created duplicates of them both.

They duplicated the Doctor with the intention of using his reputation against the rebel forces. By presenting himself as an enemy of the Daleks, the duplicate was able to infiltrate the rebellion and convince them to follow strategies that would lead them to certain death, limiting the rebels’ ability to oppose the Daleks until they were finally defeated. Unlike his template, the duplicate Doctor was also a massive sadist, taking great pleasure in witnessing the rebellion fall fowl of his sabotage.

The duplicate of Nyssa was assigned the role of Chief Virologist, using Mojoxalli test subjects to perfect a virus for the Daleks that would turn the native population against one another in violent rages. The first duplicate was contacted by Toru – leader of the resistance movement – who showed her footage of the real Doctor and Nyssa’s escape, before leading her to a facility storing thousands of duplicates. A second duplicate was created, but she soon realised what was going on, and decided to sabotage the viral strain so that it only targeted Dalek DNA!

◆ Sound Design

It’s important that sound artists know when to take a back seat, because the last thing you want is to overpower a dialogue heavy script with an abrasive soundscape – see my reviews of any adventure from Series Two of the ‘Bernice Summerfield’ range. Fox and Yason understood this, so offered up a polished yet minimal soundscape for ‘Dalek Soul’.

Two resistance members are exposed to the viral strain, with one mutating into a snarling and feral beast. Dripping tunnels beneath the Dalek headquarters. The piercing sound of a cutting laser used by the resistance members, allowing them through the vent. Death ray blasts massacre a whole platoon of rebel soldiers. Mojoxalli agents of the Daleks can be heard conversing in the canteen, cutlery clanking in the background. The distorted voice of the resistance leader, as he talks to Nyssa through an encrypted transmission. Whistling winds howl across the surface of Mojox. Viral pods detonate in the planet’s atmosphere… containing a contagion that only effects Daleks!

◆ Music

This score is far more ominous than the one used in ‘Alien Heart’, far more focused on building atmosphere. The twinkling synthesisers are used beautifully throughout. This adventure features another suite of music that Fox and Yason should be incredibly proud of.

◆ Conclusion

“The Doctor was a hero. You’re just an empty shell filled with all the hatred of a Dalek.”

The occupational forces on Mojox have encountered nothing but problems from the local resistance movement, but that is all about to change. Their Chief Virologist has been synthesising a virus that will cause the native population to turn against one another in violent rages, and eventually wipe themselves out! But Nyssa’s whole world is about to be turned upside down, when the leader of the resistance movement contacts her…

The concept of the Doctor and his companion aiding the villains is a novel one, especially when you listen to the former being a sadistic cretin and luring resistance members into deadly traps! You spend the first half of this adventure believing it to be some form of grand deception, but Guy Adams is much cleverer than that: the twist is totally unexpected, but perfectly executed.

Davison really leant into this corruption of his incarnation, infusing venom into every condescending line, as though he felt nothing but contempt for Daleks and Mojoxalli alike. Sutton absolutely blew me away with her performance, making her character feel totally cold and clinical.

While the other script bundled into this release was vacuous and boring, ‘Dalek Soul’ is a genuine breath of fresh air. Guy Adams exceeded expectations.