Review of Liberation of the Daleks by hallieday
9 November 2024
This review contains spoilers
The Fourteenth Doctor #01
'Liberation of the Daleks' from Doctor Who Magazine 584-597.
My second read here of this story as I couldn't really remember anything about it from when I read it around this time last year. I'm glad to have grown a larger appreciation for it than I had back then. Probably one of the better simulation-related plots I've seen in Doctor Who, with Daleks within multiple adjacent simulations being used as tourist destinations for the public, all fighting one another to be the ones to make it out to take over the Earth. Fourteen's personality here really shines well, and there are actual consequences of the story, with thousands dying on a version of the planet in the future and The Doctor leaving those responsible to decide whether or not to keep going with their tourist trap or not. Pretty brutal stuff. A very nice introduction to this new incarnation of the Doctor, and I'm glad that they destroy Thirteen's horrible sonic screwdriver not only once, but twice for good measure.