Easily the worst story of the Troughton era. It lacks all the "so bad, it's good" weirdness of "The Dominators" and the strong presence of Gemma and introduction of Zoe in, "Wheel in Space." What we get is a story that crawls particularly with the first two episodes where our heroes are left with little to nothing to do. The characters are all dull stock characters, except for Milo Clancey, who's fairly insufferable.

The story's one redeeming point is that it features a mystery, which has an obvious solution to the main question of who's behind the Space Pirates does actually have a couple twists in some minor points. Other than that, this is a dull story with very little to offer.

Comedy is hard, particularly in Science Fiction. Stories that get it right (the One Doctor or the Star Trek episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles") tell a story with comedic undertones that has comedy involving the regulars be things that are funny but true to the character. Others disregard the characters and go for laughs anyway they can. Sadly, the Dark Husband goes the latter direction. The story has some funny lines, but far too often, they just aren't true to the characters who are saying them, making them fall flat. Other lines would work fine in a sketch comedy, but really don't seem to fit a long-form science fiction program. In addition, the story makes a tonal shift in the final episode that's really hard to buy into given what came for. It's jarring and doesn't make sense. Overall, one of Big Finish's more feeble comedies.

Sarah Jane, Rani, and Clyde are sent through time by a mysterious man in a shop to obtain three items made of metal and if they fail, the Earth is doomed. As a story idea, this isn't bad but the limits of having our heroes on three separate quests is a great way to explore their characters. However, the limited time to tell the story meant that our heroes didn't experience much or interact much with the history of the period, so instead, all of their adventures took place in one location in the past. Rani had a good emotional journey with Lady Jane Gray, but the rest were merely okay.

The story leaves a lot of questions not satisfactory answered with some very dubious issues with Sarah Jane's story. By no means is this bad, but this is probably the most flawed episode of the series I've seen.

Kade survives the events of Part Three and gets another promotion from Landen and is sent once more into the breach to stop a Dalek plan to destroy Earth's solar system, but Kade also has a reckoning coming with Landen after what he learned in the previous episode.

Kade still remains formidable and tough, but has lost so much that his mind is going. Noel Clarke, who has been brilliant throughout the series manages to capture Kade's fragility and anger.

The plot is decent, though there are a couple of holes in logic, and there's one scene whose outcome was negotiated in a compromise between actor and star. The result is not entirely satisfactory. Still, Dalek Empire IV shows the durability of the series and the potential to tell new stories set during the Dalek War without having to go further into the future. It's a good war story with a strong character arc and a must-hear performance from Noel Clarke who shows the real depth he's capable of.