Blood of the Daleks

Editor: Peter Labrow · Last update: Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The eighth Doctor and his new companion Lucie land on the devastated planet Red Rocket Rising – where a disgraced scientist is attempting to replicate the work of Davros, and create a new race of Daleks.

Blood of the Daleks CD 1

Blood of the Daleks CD 2

Writer: Steve Lyons
Director: Nicholas Briggs
The Doctor: Paul McGann
Lucie Miller: Sheridan Smith
Eileen Klint: Anita Dobson
Tom Cardwell: Kenneth Cranham
Asha/Martez: Hayley Atwell
The Daleks: Nicholas Briggs
Computer/Headhunter: Katarina Olssen
Release date: January 2007

Blood of the Daleks was the first in a new series of audio dramas written for BBC 7, starring Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor and Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller. It was first broadcast between December 2006 and January 2007 and is now available on two CDs.

The story opens with Lucie Miller appearing, without warning, inside the TARDIS. She’s an unwilling passenger – and the Doctor isn’t that keen either – but his attempts to return her to Blackpool, where she lives, fail because a temporal shield prevents him from landing. Instead, the Doctor and Lucie find themselves on Red Rocket Rising – a planet which has suffered an asteroid impact and is in the grip of an unnatural winter, as the clouds raised by the impact of the asteroid block out the light from Red Rocket Rising’s two suns. Much of the population has fled in its few remaining spaceships, but those who are left scratch out a meagre existence – and face almost certain death.

The Doctor and Lucie meet three of the planet’s survivors – Eileen Klint, the planet’s acting president, Asha Gryvern, a disgraced scientist, and the paranoid (seemingly bordering on the insane) Tom Cardwell, who is convinced that Red Rocket Rising is about to be invaded by aliens. Indeed, Cardwell (who wears a tin foil hat to protect himself from alien telepathy) believes that the Doctor is part of the invading force.

Asha, who was introduced as the assistant of dead scientist Martez, turns out to actually be Martez – and has succeeded in creating a new race of Daleks from the dead population of Red Rocket Rising, using Dalek technology found in a crashed Dalek ship.

Martez has signalled the Daleks to help at the birth of this new race – and the Daleks are on their way. When the Daleks arrive, they offer to help the acting president by rescuing the survivors of Red Rocket Rising and taking them to another world where they can live. Of course, the Daleks have never been especially helpful and this deceit is simply a means to find both the Doctor and Martez – the Daleks simply slaughter those they take on board to ‘rescue’.

The Daleks’ real purpose is to find and destroy the new Daleks – to keep pure the blood of the Daleks. War breaks out between the two Dalek races, with Red Rocket Rising caught in the middle.

This audio adventure has much to commend it. The pace remains strong at all times, Stephen Lyon’s tight script is handled well, under the direction of Barnaby Edwards.  The introduction of Lucie Miller, The Doctor’s first companion not to be from London or the home counties (whether from cast from Earth or an alien played by someone from Earth) starts this adventure with a bang. Lucie is almost a ‘northern Rose’ – a straightforward Lancashire lass who doesn’t take rubbish from anyone, including the Doctor. But it soon turns out that there is more to Lucie than meets the eye, as she’s been placed on the TARDIS by the Time Lords, for her own protection. From whom, and for what reason remains a mystery. Sheridan Smith (Janet from Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) plays Lucie with obvious relish and great conviction – and given how attractive Smith is, it’s a shame this is an audio-only adventure. She’s a good foil for the Doctor and the part is both well-written and well-played.

McGann, of course, puts in a strong performance as the Doctor – the initially reluctant escort of Lucie Miller. Anita Dobson drops so naturally into the part of Eileen Klint that there isn’t the slightest echo of Angie Watts. Hayley Atwell shines as Bryvern and Kenneth Cranham breathes real life into the misunderstood Tom Cardwell – initially assumed to be off his tree, but later confirmed as the only person to actually understand what has been going on all the time, since the initial asteroid attack was actually orchestrated by the Daleks to cripple Red Rocket Rising to the point where there would be little resistance.

Nicolas Briggs plays both the ‘real’ and ‘new’ Daleks and, as always, creates creatures which you can believe in. Gone are the robotic Daleks of yesteryear, Briggs brings out the full evil of the Daleks – from their initial scheming helpfulness to their more usual brutal bullying.

The play itself moves along at an excellent pace, with a few twists and turns along the way. Comprising two one-hour episodes, the story has enough time to gives solidity to the characters (which isn’t always the case with the 45-minute television adventures) without the plot ever sagging. An excellent adventure, providing yet another glimpse of how good McGann could have been as the eighth Doctor, had the TV movie succeeded in rebooting the series.

The CDs each contain enjoyable extras in the form of production interviews with the cast and crew.