The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Dalek Empire II: Dalek War

"They are not listening. We must make them listen. Release the plague..."

After the sedate pace of the previous instalment, Dalek War - Chapter Three steps up the action and also begins to show how the patient building of the overall storyline is going to payoff with confrontation and revelations abound, ensuring that this story is both tense and compelling. By the end of this play, it seems that no one can be trusted as their motivations are examined and also that anything can happen as characters are left to uncertain fates…

Chapter Three begins very strangely with a flashback to two separate earlier events concerning the Mentor and the planet Emmeron and an exchange between Kalendorf and Mirana regarding a mysterious transmission. These have an odd effect on the listener because it is slightly disconcerting to be thrown into events which don't follow on immediately from the last chapter, but as the story progresses the significance of these scenes and the reason for their inclusion becomes strongly evident. The scenes featuring the Mentor are genuinely disturbing as she demonstrates how her Daleks reward those who are too busy with their own petty concerns to appreciate their wider responsibilities while the scene with Kalendorf is obliquely hinting at a revelation which comes about later in the story but by showing these two scenes back to back, writer Nicholas Briggs is paving the way for the reason behind Kalendorf's actions by stressing the brutality of the Mentor first hand.

The story is structured well with all of the main elements of the ongoing story being developed individually before moving to the next one and this all begins with the Alliance fleet's progress on Jupiter. The possibilities for what had happened to the planet were intriguing when this scenario was revealed in the previous chapter, and while the fact that it was almost certainly a trap was a given thing, the reality of what the trap turns out to be is not as interesting as it might have been. All credit to Briggs for using existing Dalek continuity in a sensible way, but the surprise is telegraphed far too clearly by the cast listing which lessens the tension of not knowing what the menace the Alliance soldiers are facing is, and this information undermines the effectiveness of the scenes.

Briggs' choice to focus on some new characters during these events is interesting as, with the exception of Herrick who has appeared before, these are all individuals the listener hasn't heard previously but it emphasises the fact that the war is bigger than just the main players. These are humans who are prepared to put themselves into the front line of battle and the fact that when the ambush comes they all die shows the futility of battle and the senseless loss of life in a provocative manner. The brief return of Hive Leader Stralos, from Dalek Empire 3 - 'Death To the Daleks!', also shows the extent of who the Alliance consist of, as they are not just humans and the Allied Daleks but there are other races joining with them too, which is something that hasn't really been shown in the last two chapters.

After the awkwardness of their first meeting in Dalek War - Chapter Two, Briggs injects some tenderness to the scenes with Suz and Alby here. While his follow up to the conclusion of the previous story in his development of Suz's character doesn't follow the route it seemed to be on, what happens here is preferable as it allows him to further the relationship of these two main characters. The presence of Morli feels a little intrusive on this, but it's definitely supposed to as the reasoning behind her inclusion in the story becomes all too clear and thanks to the way that she has been characterised and performed, her actions here are both surprising and shocking for their sinister qualities.

Mirana, along with her first officer Marber, is very much pushed to the sidelines in this instalment, appearing in only one 'current' scene which finds them drifting in space, low on oxygen and fuel after escaping the Defiant. But what a scene it is! With both of them seemingly resigned to asphyxiating in deep space Marber's intense questioning of Mirana and her answers prove to be one of the best scenes heard in Dalek War so far as Mirana begins to admit that she feared knowing too much of Kalendorf's plan would leave her unable to help. She knows that to defeat the Daleks he's going to have to do something bad and take risks with billions of lives but she didn't want that responsibility on herself so left the moral dilemma to him. If this is the end for Mirana, and there is no last minute rescue awaiting her in Chapter Four, then it is a harrowing way for her to go but thanks to the conviction of the performances of Teresa Gallagher and Ian Brooker, it is a memorable one. This scene heightens the effect of the listener's questioning of Kalendorf as even one of his most trusted allies has questioned what he's doing and why.

By far the strongest element of this chapter, is the scenes involving Kalendorf which provide the story with a strong dramatically effective backbone on which the rest revolves around. Here we see Kalendorf miscalculating badly with his plans for Jupiter and incurring the wrath of the Mentor as she sees her plans going up in flames before her eyes. The tension between these two has been a strong undercurrent of both of the preceding entries into the series and Chapter Three sees it spilling over as it has threatened to do throughout the whole of Dalek War. The Mentor's anger is tangible as is her disgust at the realisation that Kalendorf is working against her and has been for years. Hannah Smith brings a degree of puzzlement into her performance too which works well as she cannot understand why Kalendorf would choose the course of action he has done when she knows that her Daleks and herself are in this Universe for the noble purpose of restoring peace and order to the galaxy, unable to see that her methods are the reason that he has rebelled.

Events take a darker turn when Briggs teases the listener with yet another flash forward featuring Siy Tarkov and Saloran Hardew, but this time we get to discover more about their vision. They refer to Kalendorf as 'the Dark One' and 'the Bringer Of Death' who caused the 'Great Catastrophe', and this colours the listeners perceptions of Kalendorf's actions by questioning his subsequent actions as we try and reconcile this image with the character that Kalendorf is. His cool indifference to the Mentor's actions in stripping him of his command of the Fleet make it seem that he had been expecting her to find out his secret and his actions lend credence to the idea that Mirana's biggest fear coming true.

With the revelation of what Kalendorf plans and who he is ostensibly working with to achieve those revealed towards the end of the story, events become very unclear but Kalendorf's behaviour does apparently change the tone of his past actions and shows them in a different light, and with Suz agreeing with his viewpoint, only Alby offers an objective position but he's not in possession of all the facts because Kalendorf refuses to inform him fully as there isn't time. The closing moments of the play with one protagonist keeping his plans from the other, who fuelled by paranoia and mistrust is bordering on the desperate, are very powerfully played but given that the former is played by Gareth Thomas, you can't help but notice the parallels with his final scenes as Roj Blake in Blake's 7, which seems a surprising thing for Briggs to pay homage to in this situation. It does make for an extremely effective cliffhanger though.

Another significant plus point in Chapter Three's favour is that it brings the Enemy Daleks back into focus sharply. They've been lurking in the background during the first two chapters, forced to share the stage with their alternative universe counterparts, and while they are still with us, Chapter Three puts the Enemy Daleks much more at the forefront of the drama and the sense that they have been waiting for the right moment to strike is palpable. The speed at which they have turned near defeat into their victory is incredible and shows that they have been planning something big for a long time.

The levels of performances throughout the story are of a universally high standard, particularly amongst the regular stars. Gareth Thomas is quite simply magnificent here, bringing out the darker shades of Kalendorf's character showing that while he of noble birth, he is skilled in the art of deception as one of the Knights Of Velyshaa and his actions have been far less clear-cut than they appeared, and yet his concern for Suz is incredibly touching. Mark McDonnell and Sarah Mowat get less air time here than usual, but the tenderness of their first scene together here is very moving and McDonnell in particular shines with intensity in the closing moments of the drama as he struggles to comprehend what's happening and why. Teresa Gallagher also doesn't get to do much here, but her scenes are excellent, particularly her final one. Dannie Carr also excels here with Morli's harmless side opening up to reveal something darker within, and given the quietly sinister performance which contrasts the brashness of what has been her normal persona until the point, the effect is startling. Hannah Smith is superb as the Mentor as usual, but here she gets to show more range as she becomes angry at Kalendorf's betrayal. Given the strength of her performance and the interesting nature of the character, it's no surprise that the Mentor has become such an intriguing individual, as well as being undoubtedly one of Big Finish's most memorable original villains throughout their ranges.

As always for this series, Briggs has contributed the story's sound design and music and both score highly. The sound design in particular has some excellent moments such as the scenes set on Jupiter which has a real vibrancy about them and it achieves its role of suggesting what is happening outside of the dialogue brilliantly. Briggs delivers a commanding score which is pitched just right with its ominous warlike tone achieving the right air of menace to compliment the drama well.

While Dalek War may lack the sheer scope of the original Dalek Empire series so far, Nicholas Briggs makes up for this by having a hugely intense and involving storyline which makes for an hour of thoroughly compelling listening. After the patient building up of the first two chapters, Dalek War - Chapter Three takes the listener headlong into the climax through some shocking revelations and by raising the drama to another level. The endgame is near and Chapter Three completes its role of leaving the listener eager to know where this will all end.

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