Genetics of the Daleks

Time Lord Victorious Special

Released: 10 December 2020

Listened: 2/20/22

This story is part of the sprawling Time Lord Victorious storyline…except the connection to that overall plot is quite tenuous. Specifically, it’s a prequel to the “A Dalek Awakens” escape room game, but you don’t need to experience one to enjoy the other. So, viewing this entirely in isolation: The Doctor arrives on a generation ship, halfway through its journey. Unfortunately, some criminals have infiltrated and replaced some of the crew. Worse, they found what seems to be an empty, frozen Dalek shell floating in the Oort Cloud, and they’re letting the science officer experiment on it by himself. Never a good idea. What follows is a tight, well-paced horror story, in which the Doctor is slightly more clever than usual with establishing his bona fides, and the commander is less stupid than usual in accepting his help. Unfortunately, when multiple members of the crew are lying about their identities, for different factions, that may not be enough. The win isn’t quite as clean as it seems to be, because then there couldn’t be an escape room sequel. But credit to Jonny Morris for telling a Fourth Doctor story in the Time Lord Victorious framework without messing up any timelines.