📝6/10 = SOMEWHAT ENJOYABLE!

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

HAPPY TIMES ON SKARO!

This story opens with a lengthy TARDIS sequence before we are taken to Skaro, at a time when the planet is run by peaceful Daleks maintaining a huge educational facility. The story slowly reveals new aspects of this strange occurrence (the Daleks lack weapons but have names; they have pleasant voices and use their skills for various benign purposes), keeping the reader on the edge while they await the inevitable turn in the plot. And with the Doctor being suspicious of these new, nice Daleks, we are in another Power of the Daleks situation here.

The story doesn’t evolve a lot from its initial premise, and the biggest takeaway is the Doctor's refusal to believe that there could be a reality where the Daleks aren’t brutal and cold-blooded killing machines. This leads to his argument with Ace over whether or not such a universe should exist and the wider philosophical debate over whether established realities should be altered.

Blackman herself narrates this story, and her narration isn’t all that interesting. It’s a bit mumbly and monotone, and it doesn’t give the characters much personality.