Emissary of the Daleks

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Memories of a Tyrant

I don't normally care for Dalek stories as most of them are rubbish. The Daleks being involved is a clear sign that the writer has ran out of ideas. That is not the case for this story surprisingly. It's by no means incredible or even that unique, but it manages to be really interesting and quite entertaining. It helps that Andrew Smith knows how to write Daleks interestingly, they aren't incredibly witty or anything but they have a certain snark to them in this story that I really like. They feel less like the caricatures they often are in other stories.

This story follows a traditional Dalek story format, with the Doctor showing up to a place enslaved by Daleks, teaming up with a resistance, getting captured a few times and then finding some critical weakness that the Daleks have never seemed to have before and using to it to blow however many there are into atoms. This adventure follows that to a tee but adds some interesting subplots and themes about reconciling with family and standing up against injustice. Honestly I don't know how to fully explain why I like this story. It's just good.

Next Story: Blood on Santa's Claw