201. We Are the Daleks

This was excellent. An action-packed, dramatic entry into the Doctor's battles with the Daleks, specifically 7's. The first episode sets the stage for a strong story and the following episodes simply ramp it up from there. There's something almost pedestrian about the bulk of the first episode. Had the Daleks not been revealed in the opening moments, there's not a whole lot that we would find out of the ordinary (with the exception of the advanced video game...). Of course, that all gets turned on its ear in short order and by the second episode things really start to take off.

The regulars acquit themselves well, and Bonnie Langford is fantastic as Mel. McCoy has a lot fun with this one, but at times he sounds a little tired and others as though he's really pushing for the emotion. That said, it's still a great performance and those are nitpicks.

The supporting cast is quite nice, especially Angus Wright as Alek Zenos but everyone is more than up to the task of this story. One also can't help but wonder if we'll see Celia Dunthorpe again... There are some really nice twists and turns in the plotting for these supporting roles and you can tell the cast was having a great time working on this one.

There are some callbacks to other Dalek stories and I think it's wise to have some familiarity. The Daleks, Planet of the Daleks, Evil of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks (though technically, this story takes place before Remembrance) would fit the bill, but are certainly not required.

In addition to being a cracking story there's some nice socio-political-economic commentary to boot, thought it does get a little lost in the action to come. Chuckles can't help but come int he treatment of some of these threads, in particular the Daleks desire to rule the economy.

Overall, very good stuff and certainly worth a listen. As someone who has read a lot about the disappointment overall of the 7th Doctor's run in the audios, this one will stand out amongst his better, if not best, outings. Recommended.

As a "Last Starfighter" homage, this is a decent alien invasion story. Mel gets a chance to put her computer programmer background to use and have a bit of personality generally vacant from her TV serials. Unfortunately, this is supposed to be a Dalek story and it underwhelms in that regard. Sure, lots of classic Dalek themes come up. Humans are mind controlled a la the Robomen from Invasion and there's talk of human or Dalek factors from Evil but there's never really much of a direct threat from the Daleks. It's as if the story were written with a different alien and Daleks were name dropped in at the last moment to spice things up. Instead it has the opposite effect and turns a decent but forgettable story into an underwhelming disappointment.

A bit reminiscent of the lost story The Elite, but a classic nonetheless. Fair balance of humour and drama, you can't do a Mel story without humour and it is great to see her doing something smart that isn't having her as a basic sidekick. The seventh doctor also shines in this story and no time is wasted introducing the daleks or making them a surprise villain.

Many Dalek stories resemble each other. To its credit, We are the Daleks does enough to distinguish itself. As has been mentioned before, the story uses a bit of a mash up between Doctor Who and the Last Starfighter as the Daleks use video games sold on Earth to help with fighting their own war.

The story has a lot of great comic moments as Morris goes for satire, as well as some epic scenes. It also gives Mel a really juicy role. Where the story falls down is a lack of logic in many of the character actions and motivations, as well as a script that tries too hard to pull a rabbit out of its hat one too many times. Still, the story was a very enjoyable way to kick off the next 100 Big Finish releases.