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

"I prefer to make my own future."

Dalek War - Chapter Four is the end of an era, drawing not only the Dalek War series to a close but also the bigger story begun so long ago in Dalek Empire as well. The authorial intent of Nicholas Briggs to bring closure to his epic permeates the whole tone of the play with its bleakness and sense of finality. This is the endgame where anything can happen and no one is safe.

After structuring the previous three chapters as an ongoing closely knitted story with only occasional leaps outside the main narrative through flashback and the impressions of the future, Briggs gives his final story a complete change of pace by bringing the listener directly into those scenes of the future with Siy Tarkov and Saloran Hardew. This shift in timescale and setting is unusual and discomforting initially but as Tarkov and Hardew are introduced properly, it brings into sharp focus their actions over the last three audios as the listener can understand their perspective better, knowing far more about who they are and most importantly why they have been examining these old records.

Beginning with Tarkov's arrival on Velyshaa, which by its very nature leads the listener to assume the connection to Kalendorf by the fact that it was his homeworld, both Tarkov and Hardew are presented as being very different characters. Hardew is embittered about spending ten years with her team of experts on this planet, her ideas and theories having been laughed at by the Galactic Union as being irrelevant to the needs of the Universe today, so she has been studying what she can here for a long time. Tarkov seems uncomfortable at the whole idea of being there, but he needs Hardew's help and has spent a great deal of time himself getting to Velyshaa. This initial conflict between the characters helps to give these scenes impact and while both these characters have appeared before in the other Dalek War releases, this is the first time we get to actually see what sort of people they are.

All actions have consequences and given the context of these initial scenes within the play, this is a chance to see how the war against the Daleks effected the universe as a whole two thousand years later. Technology is much less advanced and where life once thrived, it now struggles to survive. The interesting thing is that the real reasons for these overwhelming changes have been forgotten on the whole by civilisation. That the knowledge of the people who fought and even who they fought against have been lost in the wake of something known only as the Great Catastrophe, brought about by a mythical figure known as the Dark One. Only Saloran Hardew with her interest - some would say obsession - with the past comes anywhere near understanding what truly happened.

This is how Briggs brings the listener back to the main thrust of the story, which in Chapter Four belongs squarely with Kalendorf. With the progression of chapter three's cliffhanger, the reason for the parallel with one of Gareth Thomas' most famous scenes in another role become all too clear as it was a means of diverting attention away from what really happened. It's a clever ploy on Briggs' part as the cliffhanger is resolved in a most unpredictable way which leaves the listener reeling. It's a shocking scene in terms of both what happens and why given that so much of the series has revolved around these two characters over the course of both series. It shows that sometimes love just isn't enough when there are greater considerations at stake.

Strangely, this single act helps to ease the suspicion that was built around Kalendorf during the preceding chapter where his motivation was being actively questioned as it shows the depth of feeling he has instilled in support. The actions taken are not those of someone under a compulsion to do so, but a free choice to sacrifice another so that billions of others will get the chance to fight for themselves.

As the next phase of the war begins with the broadcast from the Defiant, the structure of the audio enables Briggs to return to the more fast-moving nature last seen in the Dalek Empire series, as Hardew's account of what she has learned on Velyshaa enables her to recount the most important instances from the long and brutal war that followed as the Alliance turns on its former allies in the Mentor's Daleks.

The characterisation of Kalendorf is interesting to note because of the way it progresses as the audio goes on longer. His goal, getting rid of all the Daleks for good at any cost, consumes him to the point where he lives only for battle. As a warrior of noble birth, there is a sense that he has already planned ahead what he wants to do but how does he achieve it? The war has isolated him from all of the other main characters and leads him to take unnecessary risks such as leading a ground assault force personally when there is no need for him to do so just so he can feel alive. This results in a fantastic scene where Gareth Thomas really demonstrates a hard edge to Kalendorf seldom seen where his hate for the Mentor is driving his actions and he pulls apart a damaged Dalek to get at the mutant within so he can talk to it without having her listening in. Briggs uses this as an opportunity to hint strongly at what Kalendorf's ultimate agenda is but because of the way that it's hidden in a story he tells the dying mutant, the reality of what it is isn't immediately apparent.

Questions of the morality of war have always been part of the subtext of both the Dalek Empire and Dalek War series and in certainly one of the most thought provoking scenes of this CD, Kalendorf faces the Mentor one final time and they debate the nature of the conflict they find themselves waging and it makes for fascinating listening. Briggs reminds the listener of what happened in Chapter Three with Kalendorf's betrayal by having the Mentor still pondering the question of why Kalendorf chose to work against her forces. The Mentor offered peace and order, but in doing so demanded that it was ubiquitous - as she says 'On a crusade against evil, there can be no equivocation.' She can understand the human factor enough to be able to manipulate Kalendorf into falling into a trap to bring him to her, but she cannot understand how free will and the self-determination are fundamental and inalienable rights which cannot be destroyed through fear and or control. She believes that freedom of thought is a licence to wage war and that if her people are given peace and beauty they will be content without this freedom. Kalendorf knows that it is down to individuals to fight this kind of repression but while his point is well made, the Mentor's position is unchangeable.

Where the Alternate Daleks differ from the Enemy Daleks though, is that the Mentor has the power to see things clearly. Whereas the Daleks of the 'real' universe are concerned with conquest ('Daleks conquer and destroy!') the Mentor's Daleks can see when there is no chance of victory and have no interest in fighting a conflict which will lead only to pointless destruction. This contrasting of the two really highlights the single-mindedness of the Enemy Daleks as they would fight until they die rather than surrender a battle to their foe.

The events that conclude Kalendorf's story, and Dalek War really has been his story, are typically powerful as he confronts the Dalek Emperor on Earth. The way that he engineers the Great Catastrophe, playing on the paranoia of the Emperor until the moment is right is extremely dramatic and full of impact. But as Haloran relates this information to Tarkov, you have to question whether it was a victory or not. Was putting the universe back by thousands of years to the extent that it has still not recovered two thousand years later and the death of billions too high a price for the removal of the Daleks? While Kalendorf is himself forgotten, he has become known in myth as a figure of evil, the Bringer Of Death, and the reasons why he acted in the manner he did forgotten by all but those who have searched them out.

This CD ends on a very downbeat note, as the threat of a war that has never really ended against a greater evil is set to begin again. But there is also hope that the examples of people like Kalendorf, Suz, Alby and Mirana who all fought the Daleks and made their defeat possible shows that this evil can be fought and bettered.

The quality of the acting is again exceptional. Gareth Thomas is a commanding presence, befitting someone of Kalendorf's stature, who exudes power throughout the story but he also convinces in the more reflective scenes such as his meeting with Godwin just before departing for Earth towards the end. All through the previous releases both of Steven Elder and Karen Henson have appeared in fragmented scenes, hinting at the nature of the future, but here they are alleviated to the forefront of the story and they both do well at fleshing out their characters fully. Henson in particular conveys great emotion during several of her scenes and Elder successfully develops Tarkov from a man who is hoping that he's feeling that there is a threat out there to the security of the Galactic Union is wrong to someone who knows exactly what he must do to ensure his people are ready for the coming onslaught. Both Sarah Mowat and Hannah Smith have less to do here than usual, but both actresses acquit themselves wonderfully with Mowat beautifully understated in her early scenes and then hideously brutal in her final ones. Smith appears only once but it is in the scene where the Mentor and Kalendorf debate the nature of war where her precise delivery and firm belief in her own philosophy is truly disturbing and because of the combination of the great writing and the strong conviction of both Smith and Thomas' performance, the scene is truly remarkable. Helen Goldwyn also joins the cast here as Godwin, one of Kalendorf's soldiers in war against the Mentor's forces, and while she's good in the role and shows a different side to her voice from her more familiar vocal performance she doesn't really have the opportunity to build her character up so we're left with only impressions of who she really is apart from the fact that she is devoted to Kalendorf and the cause of destroying the Daleks for good.

As ever with this series, as well as writing, directing and performing in the stories, Nicholas Briggs is in charge of post production and musical duties for this release and because of the fact that he knows all of the story inside out and twice over he has excelled himself with these aspects of the production to reflect its bleakness and create an ominous atmosphere which runs throughout the story.

Accompanying the main story with Chapter Four is a special bonus disc, humorously titled Dalek Empire Strikes Back, which contains a wealth of behind the scenes material including interviews, trailers, out-takes and musical cues. While Big Finish have done behind the scenes features before, most notably with the CD of the online story Real Time, none of those were anywhere near as comprehensive as presented on this disc. From the moment it begins with Mark McDonnell's hysterical summing up of Alby's story throughout both series, it's evident that the tone is firmly on being informative and fun and in this respect it succeeds brilliantly, offering insights into the writing process and all aspects of the production. The cast are all enthusiastic about the project and this comes through well in their interviews, with other highlights of the disc including producer Jason Haigh-Ellery's thoughts on the genesis of the Dalek Empire series, a conversation between Briggs and Jubilee writer Rob Shearman (recorded in a restaurant!) discussing the nature of the ongoing story which raises several interesting issues and perhaps most fascinatingly a sequence with Briggs where he demonstrates the evolution of a single scene from the initial dialogue recorded in the studio right through the whole post-production process.

The addition of the bonus CD compliments the main disc well, and by going behind the scenes it helps to emphasise the finality of the concluding chapter. Chapter Four is unmistakably the end of the Dalek Empire series, but even then it does offer a way for there to be a continuation of the ideas found within although the Dalek Empire Strikes Back indicates that if there is a third Dalek Empire series it will take a different form to its predecessors and not follow the obvious route the ending allows. Over the course of eight stories, Nicholas Briggs has shown the battle against the evil of the Daleks by ordinary people, fighting against the overwhelming odds to change the universe for the better. It has been an extremely thought provoking series and because of the humanity of the central characters, they are individuals who the listener can care what happens to. The downbeat nature of the conclusion ensures that it is sad that it is all over but it has been a phenomenal ride and scintillating drama. This series has obviously been a labour of love for Briggs, and it is a testament to his vision that it has been so profoundly enjoyable.

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