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mrcoldstream's review
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
🙏🏼56% = Average! = Skippable!
Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!
FIVEY AND NYSSA FACE THE DALEKS!
Big Finish’s early Dalek stories have been average at best, and they’ve also struggled to make Fifth Doctor stories interesting, so I am not particularly excited when heading into The Mutant Phase, the third release in the Dalek Empire arc and a remake of an older Audio Visuals release from the 90s.
Part 1 eases us into the story by harking back to past Dalek adventures (it feels a bit like The Dalek Invasion of Earth, infused with Planet of the Daleks) and setting Five and Nyssa to explore their new time and place. The atmosphere is perfectly interesting to begin with, as Nicholas Briggs slowly builds the main mystery and makes this adventure a sequel to the superb The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
The middle parts reach a standstill and barely move the plot along, so it's easy to lose focus. The second part introduces more erratic elements, which further complicate the story in a traditional Big Finish Dalek Story fashion.
What annoys me somewhat is the fact that the script is a mishmash of ideas and concepts previously explored in Terry Nation-penned scripts. The entire concept of the Mutant Phase virus is similar to the main plot points in The Evil of the Daleks.
But the base ideas are interesting: mutation, time travel, the Daleks requiring help to avoid getting wiped out, and the Doctor having to go through a Genesis of the Daleks moment when deciding what to do.
Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton are pretty good together here, but I’m still not a fan of this small TARDIS crew, and their performances don't convince me I should. Nyssa isn't that interesting, and it's annoying how the plot point of Nyssa getting stung at the start is stretched out to the point where you believe it's going to be very important later on, only for it to be brushed off quietly.
The most notable guest actor is Mark Gatiss, who plays Karl Hendryk with a strong accent and does it pretty well. Nicholas Briggs is also really good as the voice of the Dalek Emperor. I also like the idea of the Dalek Emperor in a human body on paper, even if it is a bit silly and makes little sense.
There's a perfectly fine, tense atmosphere throughout this that keeps it going, even if it's hardly scary or exciting. The Dalek-ravaged future Earth comes alive pretty well, and the Daleks have a steady presence. The audio isn't quite as messy as The Apocalypse Element or The Genocide Machine, but as we get closer to the end, everything becomes a bit more muddled.
The final few moments of Part 4 are pretty exciting, as the Doctor attempts to stop the Dalek Emperor from changing the future.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
This story features a Commander Ganatus and a Starship Dyoni, both named after characters from The Daleks.
We also find references to the TARDIS jumping time tracks (The Space Museum) and activating the HADS (The Krotons; Wild Blue Yonder).
nerdy_elle's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
ultron_gold's review
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
faiazalam's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
nwhyte's review
another good Dalek story (ie a good story about Daleks, rather than a story about a good Dalek). I have to say that Sarah Sutton as Nyssa particularly impressed me this time round, unlike the previous two audios I heard her in, Land of the Dead and Winter for the Adept. Lots of time travel action, two very bleak and convincing pictures of Earth at different tragic stages in its future, lots of continuity references to, of all stories, The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It got a little tangled up in time paradoxes and who the Dalek Emperor was actually being at the time towards the end, but very much kept my attention.
meganmargoking's review
2.0
This took me ages to get through. Not a fan. It all ends up being a paradox. I feel like it wasn't written or performed well.
kateofmind's review
4.0
This episode was a big ol' mess of paradoxes, Daleks, Dalek puppetry, and timey-wimey craziness. In other words, a Dalek Empire story. Special props to the sound effects crew; the noisy menace of the titular monsters was a wonder!