The Small Defender - 5.5/10

This is a very cute, very short story (no really it is only 3 pages long)

There is not a lot to say here, a little mole disables a team of Daleks attempting to land on Earth and it's adorable to imagine. Jeff Stone also is mentioned at the end commending the Mole which is rather delightful really.

All in all The Small Defender gets a 5.5/10 because it is super cute but that's it, but again it is adorable to imagine a little mole thwart a Dalek invasion.

The Humanoids - 4/10

The Humanoids once again is a story with Jeff, Andy and Mary but this time they land on Mars. Andy's Spectroscanner shows no signs of Dalekenium on the planet but after stumbling across two injured humanoids things turn south for the group once again.

This story was very weak once again but it still had some interesting ideas. The biggest being whats in the title, the story shows the Daleks using human like agents to trick our protagonists into a trap which is an idea that will be used countless times in future but rears its head for one of if not the first time here. Another little note for this story is the fact its made concrete here that the Daleks outer shell is made of Dalekenium which is an idea that has been continued even into the new series of the show decades later.

All in all this story is nothing special but doesnt linger on enough to become terrible, it has some good ideas here and there but it's really nothing special in my opinion. (but I will say I did quite enjoy the fact it ends by them blowing up what is implied to be every single Dalek on Mars)

City of the Daleks - 6/10

City of the Daleks is the first part of this Dalek book I would actually consider quite good, from beautiful artwork to very interesting ideas this little story had a lot to it.

————————————————————————————————————————

We rejoin Jeff Stone but this time he’s in a solo mission to Skaro, he travels all throughout the Dalek city (as the title would imply) taking in the sights. I’ll just stop to mention properly here that the artwork down for this story is very pretty, it really depicts the Dalek city well I feel and gives a huge scale which I can get on board with.

There isn’t actually much of a story here with all that really happens being a minor chase at the end after Jeff is discovered to be snooping around. The Dalek Emperor is seen here which I thought was interesting to bring up but certainly for me the most interesting detail given here is the fact that the Daleks crush plant life which they turn into gas to act as food for them around the City - nothing especially exciting just I thought it was a super interesting concept I’d never heard before. This story possibly shows us how the Daleks created the ‘Robomen’ from ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ too with the ‘Schizoid Accelerator’ being used to turn humans into ‘humanoids’ which blindly obey Dalek command. I thoroughly enjoyed the sections of Jeff scouting through the Dalek Culture Dome and the various Museum pieces around the City as it shows the Daleks in a new light for me and weirdly expands on their character too, with a section even passing through a kind of Dalek school which is fun. Lastly there was one speech bubble in which a Dalek said they could disguise themself as an asteroid to go undetected in the solar system for 100 years, I thought that’s quite a fun line especially for a small child who could possibly believe such a thing! (Also the double page spread of the anatomy of the Dalek was a fun little read too)

All in all I really did quite enjoy this little short story for what it was and would recommend you go have a glance over it yourself.

The Secret of the Mountain - 4/10

This part continues on with the storyline featuring the small family of Andy, Jeff and Mary.

Once again there is WWII undertones as the brothers stand atop the ‘mighty’ Winston Damn looking at the ‘Great’ Churchill Mountains. The story quickly lays out that the Daleks have seemingly vanished but as the title suggests there’s a secret in the mountains. The brother quickly find their sister within the mountain and then swiftly defeat the Daleks by turning the lights off and running away which leads the Daleks to just leave Venus? I mean it’s not made the Daleks out to be quite the unstoppable force they were thought to be has it. Either way it then quickly concludes with the space army blowing up the fleeing Dalek ships.

All in all this story was pretty terrible not only did it lack much of any substance, but to be fair it is a short story in an annual, it also made the Daleks out to be extremely weak and makes them retreat because their slaves ran away. It’s a whole mess.

The Message of Mystery - 1/10

i almost have no words for this story if I’m honest. This was one of the strangest things I’ve ever read and not in a good way.

The whole story is using still images mostly from the tv story ‘The Daleks’ to tell this weird story about Susan borrowing the TARDIS and flying to Skaro at an unknown point in her timeline. Weirder still at a point in this short story a Dalek becomes ‘fond’ of her because she did not show fear? That little plot line goes as far as the Dalek following her out of the city and begging her to stay with it? I mean seriously I know this is a short story in a Dalek annual but that is atrocious. She develops a cipher to decode the ‘message of mystery’ from the story but she runs away before telling the Daleks which does give a little activity for children who bought the book to enjoy.

But overall that was absolutely terrible to say the least and I’m very glad it was as short as it was deary me.

The Oil Well - 4.5/10

This is a very short part of the story, and doesn’t add a whole lot other than the fact Mary is still alive.

The Daleks have oil wells set up all over Venus and are using human slaves, Mary helps the Daleks be more efficient granting her passage to the other wells to employ the same plan.

Alls this part does in terms of character development is show that Mary wants to help, and shows that Jeff and Andy are ready to fight back against the Daleks by any means necessary.

So overall another decent part to a developing story but nothing magnificent it had to be said.

Red for Danger - 5/10

This section is good continuation of the first part to this story, it follows Andy’s point of view as he finds his brother Jeff on Dalek controlled Venus.

The story being more focused on Andy gives chance for him to develop a little bit in the sense we learn about his aggressive tendencies and all in all fighting nature, but also his deep care for his brother and sister who are in Dalek hands. The character of Andy is definitely somewhat likeable and good to root for.

The actual plot line is very slow here with the title playing a big part in the story as Jeff is locked up and helping the Daleks by providing them a red lead finish to counteract the rusting the Daleks are facing on Venus due to moisture in the air. To cut to the point Jeff spikes the paint with a form of crystal that acts as an explosive when heated in the sun which in turn allows the brothers to escape the Dalek controlled lead mine.

All in all a solid continuation of the story but not yet an entertaining one.

Invasion of the Daleks - 4/10

this is a strange opening to a story but to be fair it is the first of its kind.
The Daleks are taking over the solar system , systematically making slaves or exterminating all that stand in their way. They end up on Venus where they take ‘New Paris’ which is a clear parallel with the Nazis taking Paris during WWII. The story then introduces us to three characters: Andy, Jeff and Mary. Jeff and Mary are quickly captured by the Daleks and taken to be slaves which leaves Andy alone in the jungle. Long story short Andy blows up a Dalek and then the story once again draws a parallel with WWII as this part comes to a close with Jeff telling Andy to think of the mountains which are called ‘Churchill Mountains’ which spurs Andy to remember Churchill as a great fighter which makes Andy ready to fight the Daleks

Overall quite the odd little read but not the worst thing in the world I’m intrigued to continue this story.