The Genocide Machine is the first story to feature the Daleks in the Big Finish range. It’s the first Dalek story since Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). The story is written by Mike Tucker who worked on the show during the last few years and also worked on such shows like Red Dwarf.
The Daleks are known for not being impatient and also for not giving in. So it was quite ingenious that the Daleks had been waiting in some sort of cave. There was a sense of Déjà vu when Ace got copied and her duplicate was took into the library. This mirrors the Daleks plan in Resurrection of the Daleks (1983) so it’s not a new plan so there is not the air of the unexpected. Also the Time tunnel reference in episode two was also first mentioned in that 1983 story.
This story sees a character that could have been a really good companion. Bev Tarrant was a role that would have worked well with Ace and I could see their relationship be more like brother and sister. Louise Faulkner was very good as Tarrant and I liked how she could have been a new Bernice Summerfield.
The fact that Prink wasn’t able to speak was quite funny, it gave a comedic feel to the beginning of the story. It was part four before we even heard the talkative cataloguer speak. Elgin was a very good character. I felt Bruce Montague gave the character a feeling that he could be trusted and gave the idea that you could be trusted. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred sound as good in this story as they did in Survival. The relationship between them is very enjoyable to listen to and is one of the highlights of the early parts of this story.
There were a few things that I found strange. First thing was how strange the Daleks sound. They almost don’t sound like Daleks. Even the strange sounding Daleks back in Day of the Daleks (1972) weren’t as bad as these ones. Ok the Emperor Dalek sounded quite good but the rest of them were weird. It’s not a brilliant story but just average. I think that this being the first Dalek story there was a lot of expectation and it just didn’t work. The pace of it wasn’t particularly fast at time it was frustratingly slow but it’s early days for Doctor Who in the Big Finish world so give it a few stories and we might see what can be done.
The Daleks are known for not being impatient and also for not giving in. So it was quite ingenious that the Daleks had been waiting in some sort of cave. There was a sense of Déjà vu when Ace got copied and her duplicate was took into the library. This mirrors the Daleks plan in Resurrection of the Daleks (1983) so it’s not a new plan so there is not the air of the unexpected. Also the Time tunnel reference in episode two was also first mentioned in that 1983 story.
This story sees a character that could have been a really good companion. Bev Tarrant was a role that would have worked well with Ace and I could see their relationship be more like brother and sister. Louise Faulkner was very good as Tarrant and I liked how she could have been a new Bernice Summerfield.
The fact that Prink wasn’t able to speak was quite funny, it gave a comedic feel to the beginning of the story. It was part four before we even heard the talkative cataloguer speak. Elgin was a very good character. I felt Bruce Montague gave the character a feeling that he could be trusted and gave the idea that you could be trusted. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred sound as good in this story as they did in Survival. The relationship between them is very enjoyable to listen to and is one of the highlights of the early parts of this story.
There were a few things that I found strange. First thing was how strange the Daleks sound. They almost don’t sound like Daleks. Even the strange sounding Daleks back in Day of the Daleks (1972) weren’t as bad as these ones. Ok the Emperor Dalek sounded quite good but the rest of them were weird. It’s not a brilliant story but just average. I think that this being the first Dalek story there was a lot of expectation and it just didn’t work. The pace of it wasn’t particularly fast at time it was frustratingly slow but it’s early days for Doctor Who in the Big Finish world so give it a few stories and we might see what can be done.
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