Daleks Among Us (2013)

The final part of the Seventh Doctor series picks up from the great cliffhanger in Starlight Robbery. The way that Starlight Robbery ended brilliantly and set this story up well and what Daleks Among Us had to do was to satisfy that ending and finish the series of satisfactorily. This story has been written by Alan Barnes who does have a track record of writing stories that do require you to pay attention. This isn’t a bad thing because its good to have people who try and make you think differently whilst enjoying a Doctor Who story. His 2008 adventure ‘Brotherhood of the Daleks’ is one of the most baffling stories that I have ever listened to and it’s still fun to try and listen to. There is no reprise from the previous story and instead we get a nice gentle scene which eventually sees the first appearance of the Daleks. Klein seems somewhat unimpressed when the Doctor and Will appear.

The continuity seems somewhat confused to me as I thought that the Klein stories take place after Ace and Hex but it appears that the Dalek doesn’t recognise the Doctor which implies this takes place before Remembrance of the Daleks. The was a nice Counter Measures reference  in this episode as they are about to make an appearance in the future 1963 Seventh Doctor adventure. There is also a nice Ace reference which I always approve of. The title is worked into the story after 27 minutes and it was at this moment that it was clear that the episodes are longer than normal.

Things were moving along quite well and then Terry Molloy turned up. I love it when I am blown away by something that I wasn’t expecting. It’s such a rare thing nowadays and even though it’s a Daleks story it doesn’t make Davros’ involvement in the story any less of a surprise. I like how Davros would rather Will didn’t tell the Doctor about him. From the moment Davros appears I was counting down until the Doctor and Davros meet. When they do meet it’s a great scene and both Sylvester McCoy and Terry Molloy work so well together but Molloy could work with anyone. Cliffhanger number two sees Klein reunited with her father. Another surprising ending. I love how they have progressed with Klein’s story in these stories and think that Tracey Childs has made it work.

I found myself wondering by the halfway mark that either the episodes are getting quicker and quicker or I am enjoying it. Even though the episodes are longer than normal it still feels like their running time is like a regular. After Davros was used brilliantly in ‘The Curse of Davros’, it was nice that they tried to do something different with him here and he is used differently but more importantly in a way I like.

As the third part was playing I must admit that I did start to get a bit confused as to what was happening but I was involved enough in the story to just go along with it. Compared with Night of the Whisper I enjoyed this story enough to stick with it. The fourth episode continues this slight confusion but again the story was moving along at such a fast pace that I still found myself enjoying it. There is a nice reference to the scene in Genesis of the Daleks when the Doctor tells Davros all of the Daleks victories.

I have been impressed with both Klein and Will in these stories and think that this duo is a nice one that we can go to because when they continuously use Ace and Hex it can feel like its getting a bit repetitive but now they have Klein and Will and they work just as well. I thought that the stuff I understood about this story was brilliant and there were some things in it that genuinely had me on the edge of my seat. Though due to me some of this story because confusing to understand, I still enjoyed thought that it was the end to another great Seventh Doctor series. I thought that the characters were solid and they were given some good dialogue. Ken Bentley rarely gets a mention in my reviews (to my shame) and I will put that right because he has directed three great stories and has managed to make this confusing plot work for everyone.