The Apocalypse Element throws everything at the wall—Daleks, Gallifrey, Romana, time travel shenanigans—and hopes it all sticks. As a sequel to The Genocide Machine and the second chapter in Big Finish’s loose Dalek Empire trilogy, this one ups the scale considerably.The Daleks invade Gallifrey itself (yes, and years before this became something which happened in every other series finale); Romana returns after decades as their prisoner, and Evelyn finds herself in the middle of all the chaos, trying to keep up with the technobabble. It’s a bold story on paper, and it definitely doesn’t lack ambition.

The problem is, it’s just too much. There’s barely a second to breathe between scenes of Daleks shouting, Time Lords bickering, and everything exploding.The invasion of Gallifrey should be huge, but it flies by in a blur of noise without landing any real emotional weight.Romana’s return has great potential (her being held captive for decades is a brilliant hook, and Lalla Ward screaming “I am NOT Unit 117” lives in my head rent free), but the story barely explores what that means. Instead of digging into character or building tension, the script just keeps ramping things up until it all becomes exhausting.

There are some strong ideas here, likethe Daleks using time-sensitive slaves and the broader implications of Gallifrey’s vulnerability, but they’re drowned out by relentless action and overloaded plotting. This is a story that really wants to be a blockbuster, but audio just isn’t the right medium for it. It’s not unlistenable, and fans of large-scale lore-heavy chaos might find it fun, but for me, it felt like listening to The Invasion of Time on fast-forward. With someone shouting “EXTERMINATE” in your ear the whole time. And we all have our kinks… but that isn’t one of mine.