REVIEW ALSO POSTED IN ALIEN HEART

I wish I were reviewing these two part stories as standalones - Dalek Soul on its own would easily get a 10/10. However, it's brought down by Stephen Cole's average, and again formula Alien Heart.

Davison and Sutton give some of their best performances in the show so far - the latter especially. There's such a stark contrast as they are at their peak in Alien Heart, dealing with a standard Dalek plot, but it evolves into a far greater, storyline as the Doctor and Nyssa are working for the Daleks, and opens up an AU in which we see how differently these characters could've come to be. The Doctor is so soothing and reassuring, which makes it incredibly uncomfortable when his evil counterpart regularly orders extermination, seeding paranoia and doubt wherever he goes. However, this story is absolutely about Nyssa, and as her last solo outing, I'm glad we ended on such a high, really showcasing the end to her character arc in full swing, as she takes the role of the Doctor after learning from him for so long.

This is the last Dalek story for a while, and they're not too bad. Their plan is rather generic in part one, but Guy Adams brings an innovative and creative side to them, showing an essentially Doctor-lite episode, in which it displays the Dalek experiments and their ruthless tyranny, very similarly to Mission to the Unknown. I wasn't sure if they'd show up in Alien Heart, but I think their reveal was done well. They're brutal, dark and brilliantly shows the evil pepperpots at the height of their power!

The setting of the first half is very generic, basic JNT Who - pretty much a mining colony, lots of corridors and nothing too special. The same can be said of the second half, but it's used a lot more effectively, a very dark atmosphere flowing through it, with the terror of the Daleks constantly imposing upon them - they're in enemy territory and they're never safe, and the writer continually perpetuates this tone.

The side characters are cool; Phoebe's a spineless, slimy character and makes a great villain to pit against Nyssa, taking charge - acting like the Doctor has its drawbacks, I guess! The others didn't particularly stand out, but I appreciate having quite a lot of them killed off, especially at the end of Alien Heart - I didn't expect that to happen, and it really highlighted the Dalek threat.

Did I notice an homage to the Dark and Endless Dalek Night in Alien Heart? I appreciate that, if so. The Daleks' theme in this episode is brilliant, really audibly engaging and has a mix of classic and new who sounds to make something new.

Favourite Line: "He's still out there, saving worlds."
"At least... this is one world he doesn't have to... to... I wish I'd met him..."

Overall, this is a brilliant conclusion to the audio range of stories between the Doctor and Nyssa. It's been a long run, but finally I can get back to watching the TV series (even though I've got another long range of stories between Arc of Infinity and Snakedance...) For all the criticisms I've given Alien Heart, I don't think that Dalek Soul would've worked as well if they hadn't been paired together, as total opposites. It's a great release, and thoroughly enjoyable.