The Death of the Daleks

Companion Chronicles #14.1

Released: 26 April 2022

Listened: 5/17/22

This 2022 release had been delayed for some time, probably because of covid-related reasons. It returns to the Companion Chronicles format of mostly being a story related by the companion to a third party, which keeps the cast small. As usual, Frazer Hines plays both Jamie and the Second Doctor. Victoria is stated to be asleep in the TARDIS, because this story explicitly takes place immediately after “Evil of the Daleks.” For all the time and energy spent on the Doctor wiping out the Daleks in the Time War, and revisiting the “do I have the right?” scene from “Genesis,” it’s often overlooked that the Doctor willingly wiped them all out before. And because TV was very episodic back in 1967, that was never dealt with. So this story mostly deals with the Second Doctor trying to decide if genocide was justified to rid the universe of the Daleks, and he mostly seems to think not, which makes sense at this point in his life. There’s also the idea of a kind of Dalek Grim Reaper that goes around erasing all evidence of Dalek defeats (including injured survivors) so that Dalek tech can’t fall into enemy hands. That bit doesn’t come off as well, but it’s mostly a thinky story, as opposed to an action one. The other character in the story is played by the famous Emma Samms, who does an excellent job as another person who sacrificed a lot to defeat the Daleks. It’s a grim story, but it fits nicely with what we know of later history.