The Dalek Contract

Fourth Doctor Adventures #2.6

Released: 11 June 2013

Listened: 6/10/22

Big Finish, and Nick Briggs especially, like to make sure that every companion gets a turn with the Daleks, especially those who didn’t have a crack on TV, so that’s where this story comes in. And if you’ve got David Warner signed on to your series, you’ll want to use him as much as possible, so he’s back as Cuthbert, along with Toby Hadoke as Dorrick. It’s rather later in Cuthbert’s life at this point, but he’s still conducting whatever transdimensional experiment he was up to in “The Sands of Life.” Unfortunately, that means damaging some unsuspecting planet and ticking off the populace, so he’s actually hired the Daleks to be his muscle. Or at least, he thinks that’s what he’s done, because anybody who’s seen a Dalek story knows better than that. Because this is the first half of a two-parter, not much really gets done in this story. There’s a lot of running around with the rebels on the planet, Romana and K-9 get separated from the Doctor, and the usual threats and surrenders take place. It’s always fun to have Nick Briggs as the Daleks, but the story itself is a bit ordinary.