With The Human Factor, Dalek Empire takes a sharp turn inward. After the blitzkrieg momentum of the opening episode, this second instalment slows the pace, tightens the focus, and digs into the ethical compromises that define Susan Mendes and her increasingly complex position in the Dalek-controlled galaxy. It’s a bold structural shift, and it works. This is the most emotionally resonant chapter of the series, where the horror comes not from the Daleks’ exterminations, but from the silence and surrender that surround them.

The strength of The Human Factor lies in its bleak, claustrophobic atmosphere. Most of the action takes place in just a few occupied zones, allowing us to watch Susan at work: using her ‘Angel of Mercy’ status to save lives, negotiate freedoms, and, slowly, lose her grip on what she’s actually achieving. Sarah Mowat is phenomenal here. Her performance captures a woman just starting to realise that even the smallest wins come at enormous cost. She isn’t naïve, but she’s desperate to believe that compromise is still resistance. Gareth Thomas’ Kalendorf, meanwhile, simmers with unspoken judgement, keeping his true agenda carefully obscured.

Alby’s subplot—trapped behind enemy lines, desperate to reconnect with Susan—doesn’t always carry the same weight, and at times it drifts a little into generic sci-fi territory. But even these scenes have an undercurrent of urgency. We’re watching a resistance movement begin to fracture before it’s even fully formed. Briggs’ script is tight, the pacing precise, and the sound design restrained. By the end, The Human Factor has set up not just a war, but a crisis of identity. If rebellion means working with your oppressors, is it still rebellion? And if survival is the goal… what are you actually surviving for?

Eh. When I was in the middle, I thought this was better than the first, sadly the more I listened to this one, the more of an “Eh” Reaction did it leave me with. There were some bits, which I really liked. The whole Idea about Susan being those two different Things like some have pointed out or the Ending Bit, but sadly it didn’t do much for me. It’s kinda average and competent, just not really an Audio that makes me want to jump in the Air and listen to the next one. Here is hope I enjoy the next one a lot more!

the dalek conquest continues, but theres hints that something more is happening behind the scenes to try and stop them. its an intriguing listen

A tad too long, could've packed a better punch had it had a good 15/20 mins shaved off. I'm really liking Suze, and this episode gives us a really interesting edge for her as a character. The romance with Alby? Not really interested at all tbh.

I think this really effectively builds on the themes and setting built up in the first story, I think I prefer this to that one. There's a lot to like, so going to go through it point by point

The first thing I want to draw attention to is the character of the Highness and his daughter. I love how they're characterised, initially their nervous laughter came across as grating and generally just frustrating, but then when the daleks leave and se see them drop it, we realise that's the point. They're doing this charade to fight the daleks in their own way, in honestly the only way they really can. It's not much, but it's a symbol of defiance for them, and when we see them both drop it later as they're broadcast to their people, them having that moment when things are getting too serious for them to keep it up, it works really well for me.

I think the small glimpse we get into Alby and Susan's relationship is really nice to see, and I love how Alby's part in it is somewhat flipping gender norms. We often see characters in fiction hung up on 'the one they let go', still loving them and not having told them, now split apart by circumstance and their driving goal being to tell them how they feel. We very rarely see the character who acts like that being male, or at least if we do, they're not portrayed in the same way Alby is here, it's just a fun dynamic to see, and it's a great way to keep the human element (or rather, the human factor) that's key to making this story work.

Susan's continued arc here is probably my favourite thread here. The face of hope, resistance, and the daleks. It's a really interesting dynamic. She needs to give people across the universe hope, saving countless lives in doing so, but she's not doing so as a freedom fighter, she's doing so as a prop, a monkey the daleks are putting on stage and forcing to dance, and then underneath it all there's her true acts of resistance. Those true acts of resistance also taking her to some dark places, condemning people to death to keep her secret hidden. It's a tough decision, but she's able to make those, and that's what's keeping her alive. It reminds me a bit of Katniss' story from the final book of The Hunger Games trilogy, which is another character arc I absolutely love, so is of course something I love seeing here, especially with that added level of darkness.

Also a smaller point, but I think this story really nails the 'powerscaling' of the daleks. The daleks can sometimes come across as completely unstoppable, yet sometimes as cannon fodder. Here I think it's just done really well. The daleks only leave a single dalek on one of the planets they control, not because a single dalek is completely unstoppable, I mean, it's stopped in the story, but because a single dalek is enough. It on its own kills most of a large group that're trying to kill it, and while it is defeated, it's not a dalek that's the villian, it's the Dalek empire, and when one goes down, they're going to send in their reinforcements. With a large enough group you might get lucky and be able to take down one dalek, but what happens next?

In the course of doing the review I've managed to convince myself to up the score from a 7 to an 8. I think the more I think about it, the more I like it

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! 

“THE HUMAN FACTOR: A MORAL DILEMMA IN THE SHADOW OF THE DALEKS”

The Human Factor places Susan in an agonising moral predicament—cooperating with the Daleks to instil hope among enslaved humans, ensuring their survival but simultaneously strengthening the Daleks' workforce. It’s a deeply uncomfortable situation that forces Susan to walk a razor-thin line between aiding those in need and inadvertently reinforcing the Daleks' grip on the galaxy. Meanwhile, the Dalek Emperor watches her closely, ensuring her compliance and tightening the noose around her freedom.

THE DARK SIDE OF REBELLION

Amidst Susan’s internal conflict, the human resistance continues its fight against their oppressors, but their actions are far from heroic. Their brutal treatment of captured Daleks and the slaughter of Robomen paint them as desperate and ruthless, blurring the lines between freedom fighters and monsters. This moral complexity adds layers to the narrative, forcing the listener to question whether victory at any cost is truly justifiable.

PURSUE AND SURVIVE

While Susan navigates her impossible situation, Pellan and Alby remain in pursuit, dodging Dalek patrols and struggling for survival. Their most compelling moment comes when they are stranded on a desolate planet, left with nothing but their thoughts as they await rescue—or death. This introspective interlude allows for strong character development, offering a rare moment of quiet amidst the relentless march of war.

A FRAGMENTED BUT INCREASINGLY TENSE STORY

Despite these compelling elements, The Human Factor still feels like a collection of disparate plot threads, each progressing at its own pace without much immediate connection. The sense of a slowly unfolding space opera is there, but the pacing can feel sluggish, stretching the story longer than necessary.

However, the tension escalates significantly towards the climax, as Susan’s uneasy position with the Daleks reaches its breaking point. Her apparent success in quelling rebellions turns against her in a dramatic and brutal finale, serving as yet another reminder of the Daleks’ sheer cruelty—and of Susan’s unfortunate tendency to trust too much.

📝VERDICT: 6/10

Strong performances and growing moral complexity keep The Human Factor engaging, but its scattered narrative structure and slow pacing can make it feel overly drawn out. While the groundwork for a grander conflict is laid effectively, this chapter could have been tighter. The stakes are undeniably high, but the journey to the next major turning point takes longer than it should.

For me this was a huge step back from a somewhat promising first entry.  The ideas in Invasion of the Daleks are pretty naturally expanded on in The Human Factor, but I found my interest in said ideas quickly diminishing.  It's cool seeing a different side of the Daleks and what a conquered race might look like suffering under their rule.  But the whole propoganda machine being run by Suz felt flat, the characters felt a little flat - I had to look up Suz's name which is never a good sign - and I just wasn't intrigued by the whole rebellion angle, either.  There's just nothing in the audio that really won me over.