I liked this, although I found it a bit overrated. I'm realising these stories have two plots: the main plot with the Doctor and flashbacks of the main villain to flesh out his character. In this case both work well, but (like in Omega) it is the latter that is the highlight of the story, while the other has nice character work and interesting lore surrounding human colonisation of the universe and of corporations in the future, but is way too long and by the end gets tiresome.

So yeah, Davros' story with Shan and the germination of the Daleks is perfect, along with the betrayal and the furthering of the Kaled and Thal struggle. I wish the whole audio would have revolved around the flashback, or at least Evelyn should have been with the Doctor to make it a bit more interesting (unless her arc is going somewhere else after the last story, I still haven't caught up).

Let's hope the Master's flashback delivers and McCoy and whoever is playing the Master work well.

Absolutely marvellous character work when it comes to Davros here, as of late he had a bit of a craving for Davros stories and this one did not disappoint.

I find his character here so interesting as a man totally obsessed with ultimate power to satisfy his need to be the supreme being but at the same time he has guilt for what he has done to get here and god forbid maybe even love? Even if he does not know it, the way he behaved with Shan doesn’t have any better explanation although speaking of her I love the addition to the lore that another person was the one that essentially came up with The Daleks, it really fits with Davros’s character to highjack the idea and turn what The Daleks could’ve been into a perverse reflection of Davros’s mind.

TAI was a fun location and I liked Ms. Baines especially (played by the great Wendy Padbury) as an apologist for The Daleks & Davros I wish this concept was expanded upon more in other stories as it feels very relevant to current times.

Sixie as ever was great and I think he might have my favourite dynamic with Davros out of what I’ve seen/heard so far with him not being as “nice” as Five but not full on god complex mode like Seven just on the right enough level imo, I’ll always be more fascinated by Davros’s & The Doctor’s relationship more than The Master or anything simply because of how fun it is to watch these two completely different beings who could’ve been so close as friends but are doomed to be as bitter as enemies endlessly intertwined with each other due to what Davros’s creations have done.

Great story all in all and I’ll definitely be listening to I, Davros after I finish the 6/Evelyn arc.

excellent psychological probing, both into the mind of a fascist leader, but also into the minds of apologists. im reminded of people who attempt to rehabilitate the third reich, saying "yeah but they did good things too, and they were very smart!" and its like. even assuming thats true, thats not the point is it. great audio

Next we have Davros featuring, you guessed it, the Master! No of course I’m kidding. This was part of a special trilogy in 2003 during the 40th anniversary celebrations which Big Finish was spearheading. While the Eighth Doctor got the main 40th anniversary story in the utterly insane story Zagreus, Doctors Five, Six and Seven got their own stories pairing them up with an individual villain and naming the stories after said villain. With Five we got Omega, Seven got the Master and Six was left with Davros. Picking up in between Resurrection and Revelation of the Daleks, Davros is restored to life thanks to the head of the galaxy’s largest corporation TAI. Mr Baines hopes to use Davros to make further advancements in TAI’s technology while his wife Mrs Baines (voiced by Wendy Padbury) is a historian who admires and is fascinated by Davros. The Doctor attempts to persuade them of how dangerous Davros is but ends up being employed to work alongside him instead.

This scenario is as entertaining as it sounds, listening to the Doctor and Davros trying to one up the other at work is very funny, but beyond that this story is a fantastic dive into Davros’s character. It’s the first Big Finish story to feature him and Terry Molloy easily sinks back into the role in what I can honestly say is his best work as Davros. I already considered him in this position but didn’t fully appreciate it from just the TV episodes, but Terry Molloy is by far the best Davros actor in all of Doctor Who, you can tell his successor in Modern Who, Julian Bleach (second best) is modelling his performance more on Molloy’s than his predecessors.

Unlike any other Davros story, this one focuses solely on him without featuring his creations which helps to demonstrate just how deadly Davros can be even without his Daleks flanking him. The story even offers our first glimpse into Davros’s origins as we hear flashbacks from before his accident and the signs of the cruel, power crazed monster he would later become. This would be expanded on further in the four-part mini-series I, Davros, a biography from childhood to wheelchair that I highly recommend. It’s an infinitely more superior origin story than the five wasted minutes Steven Moffat gave us in The Magician’s Apprentice.

It's been a few years since I've listened to this one, but dropping by with a review: this story is absolutely phenomenal. An incredible psychological examination of Davros underpinned by a tour de force from Terry Molloy. This is one of Big Finish's best, and pairing him with Colin Baker's Doctor was the right alchemy.