I think this is widely regarded as part of Big Finish’s holy trinity – and after listening to it, I can see why!

This is one of the rare occasions where Colin Baker doesn’t have the most interesting material of the story, and yet he’s still able to carry such an engaging presence throughout. Despite the presence of the Daleks, he seems to feel more threatened by humanity, and his reaction to how they’ve puppeteered his image into being a poster-boy for this fascist state is a brilliant premise. It’s hard not to compare this to the television adaptation, Dalek, and while I think Eccleston manages to capture the relationship between the Doctor and the Daleks better, this serial manages to explore the Doctor’s relationship with time far more interestingly. These characters are always gallivanting through history, but this asks the question: How reliable is our version of history? It’s a tremendous understanding of the core premise of the show, and something that we really don’t see enough of. The Doctor and Evelyn are at odds with the rough edges of history, how the victors are able to write the past in their own favour and how that can shape society as a whole. Even the Doctor’s alternative future can be moulded according to their attitudes: He’s stripped of everything that keeps him going, and even when he still doesn’t conform, he’s locked away in the basement and a romanticised version of him is paraded around instead. What is also refreshing is the role of Evelyn, who shows the unique perspective that a companion such as her can bring. This isn’t her first encounter with the Daleks, and arguably she got thrown in at the deep end with The Apocalypse Element, so at first I was a little surprised about how easily she offered empathy to the prisoner. However, the closing scenes offer so much insight into her character: As an older companion, she already has her own perspectives of the world, and is able to see through the lines of black-and-white far easier than someone else would. If any story justifies the addition of Evelyn Smythe to the lore of the show, this is that story.

While the TV version presents the Daleks as more of a threat, I’d argue that they aren’t the real villain, but humanity are – which makes such a strong set-up for a conflict. They scapegoat and vilify the literal embodiment of evil to make excuses for their own wrong-doings. They turn the Daleks into a joke and merchandise them to normalise their own behaviours. They believe themselves to be following the Doctor’s teachings but fundamentally misunderstand his entire mission statement – This feels so ahead of its time and incredibly relevant to the state of the show now – it always has been and always will be “woke”, and that’s not a bad thing. While there’s the obvious parallel from the Daleks to the Nazis, this story poses an extension of that, exploring the post-war “golden age” of Britain – They defeat the fascists, but without the influence of second-wave feminism, the civil rights movement and other similar political activity, they end up pedalling similar rhetorics. It’s rare that a guest cast can leave such a lasting impression, but the double-punch of Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres as our tyrannical despots Nigel and Miriam is superb – they’re so incredibly slimy and hateful, constantly victimising themselves while having no regard for what that actually means. Again, it feels all too similar to real-world politics, especially as the two try to outbid the other to gain power but never truly change the state of affairs.

We return to the Tower of London, a symbol of Imperialist Britain, in which rulers can cut the heads off their enemies and torture anyone they don’t like. It’s a solid backdrop which creates some creative images, especially as we start to play around with larger set-pieces – the colourful jubilee celebrations in a war-torn London especially add so much scale to this adventure. I just adore how this episode sets up its overall conflict of “history is written by the victors” before we even step out of the TARDIS, and Shearman’s control over the timey-wimey-ness proves how masterfully he understands the show.

The two soldiers Farrow and Lamb don’t have a huge role in the overall story, but they still manage to make an impression with their callousness. They revel in torturing the Dalek and their cavalier nature to violence is a great highlight of how this alternative Britain has encouraged conflict. At any opportunity, they’re eager to inflict pain and assume control for themselves, and are easily manipulated because they have no-one else to rely upon.

I don’t think the soundtrack is particularly memorable – it harkens back to the music of the 1970s, which is nice enough, but there’s really not much I can say about it.

One of Shearman’s strength is clearly how he writes dialogue: Every character feels so distinct and real, managing to clearly highlight the messages of the story without feeling like a lecture. There is so much wit and warmth injected into this script, but it has an air of tragedy about it: The silly Dalek song, the obnoxiously fake romance of the Rochesters, the Doctor’s occasional delirious rant – you can see how this world has fallen into disrepute, and it’s fun to mess about with these ideas but also heartbreaking. It’s very tough to choose just one final line, from the Dalek’s realisation that it can’t fathom the concept of free choice, to Evelyn’s romantic advances in the film, or the Doctor’s speech about power in the final episode.

Favourite Line: “You should have given me better orders. Why did I not have better orders?!”

Favourite Cliffhanger: Part One

This might be recognised as the story which was the inspiration for one of the best TV Dalek stories of the New Series, but this is one of the best Dalek stories in its own right. There are so many ideas which beg the question: Why have they not been done in the show before? It’s a fantastic characterisation of our TARDIS team, an excellent threat, political messaging that is clear but not overbearing, beautifully paced, a memorable side cast. Easily one of the best Doctor Who stories out there.