What's this? Via actually doing a review! I know right! Now, don't get used to it folks this is just a spur of the moment thing because I remembered I haven't actually reviewed this release yet.

Can I just kick off by saying how much I enjoyed this release. I never expected to be made to feel sympathy towards the Daleks but this release makes you feel it. I thought Alternate Bill's (henceforth to be referred to as Billternate) story was expertly done and really heartbreaking. Emancipation also includes what I think might be my favourite representation of an alternate universe Earth or at least a very close second behind Turn Left.

Secondly of all, Dan Starkey does a very good Capaldi impression which helped me get engrossed in the overall story and Jonathan Morris' writing of 12 lends itself very well to the audio novel format. Billternate is also a really good and fleshed out character, with (as already stated) a heartbreaking backstory without 12 to be there for her.

Overall, this is probably my favourite audio novel they've released and is rapidly becoming my fave 12 story in general

Emancipation of Daleks- a story that is much more in line with 1984 than Doctor Who. It's by far the most mature Big Finish story I've heard in such a long time. And it's a shame it's not a full cast audio drama with Pearl Mackie and Peter Capaldi. But this audio book is able to play into its niche audience and provide a really adult Doctor Who story. And I applaud it for that.

To date this is easily the best Big Finish audio the Twelfth Doctor has had, it's a real shame his collection of audios has been so small, even if they can't get Capaldi on board that still shouldn't stop them from doing more with this Doctor. If you're familiar with Jonathan Morris you know that in almost all his stories he employs some kind of spin on time travel, we now come to Emancipation of the Daleks which may not be my favourite work from him but it is probably his most quintessential bit of writing. The setup being Bill encountering an older Bill from the future, as the Doctor sets about investigating this unusual phenomenon, the TARDIS collides with a crashing Dalek saucer. Tracing the saucer they find themselves back in Bristol but something is very wrong with the world. What appears on the surface to be an altered future under Dalek control with facotires, slave workers and robomen couldn't be further from the truth as the Doctor is about to uncover a terrible secret.

It's amazing how even by 2022 you could still write a unique Dalek story, here Jonathan Morris has created a world where the English government after uncovering the crashed saucer that fell on St Luke's university killing everyone including the Doctor, have now harnessed the Dalek technology and have begun using the Daleks as slaves! Part two is easily the best of the story as we get a very bleak painting of how rotten the world progressively gets throughout Bill's new life from childhood to adulthood.

Like with any of these Audio Novels, it's quite the marathon to get through in one go, especially this story which is split in three two hour chapters. Probably not the best idea pacing wise but thanks to an engaging plot, some great narration from Dan Starkey, a wonderful characterisation of Bill and the Daleks especially getting a fantastic showcase, Emancipation of the Daleks represents a major high point for the Twelfth Doctor

Emancipation of the Daleks is a superb story. It manages to make us feel a degree of sympathy for the Daleks, it has a wonderfully dark and bleak dystopia future, one we get to see not only at it's height  but also how it unfolded. The time travel is done extremely well here, the twists and turns through out and also the conclusion so that it is not simply undone as such by the end. Of course things go back to normal, but the explanation for the whole story is great. Dan Starkey provides wonderful narration and does a great Capaldi and he captures the Bills well too. Definitely an excellent addition to Twelves era from Big Finish in this release.

While the story is good plot-wise, I found that it seriously mischaracterized Moira as a loving and caring mum who can keep a boyfriend. It's clear in The Pilot that she has gone through a fair number of boyfriends (at least somewhat implied to be ill-advised, too) and I just don't believe that she would be better in a universe that was worse. I also thought that it was missing the spark of genius in Bill’s character. She’s definitely smarter in the series than this audio makes her, which can maybe be excused in the case of Alternate and Future Bill, but not for Our Bill. Bill is one of the smartest New Who companions and is always asking very, very smart questions, and I just felt like this audio had her not quite there. In my opinion, the alternate history was a little overly heavy-handed, too. The first and second parts were a bit difficult to get through because of those three things. All that said, the story wraps up VERY neatly even by DW standards — very clever and thoughtful plotting on the time travel stuff that brings my review back up to a 2.5. Plus, the addition of sound effects and having Nick Briggs voice the daleks was a very nice touch.