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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Revisitation of the Daleks

As usual, our latest episode -- that being a review of Lance Parkin's The Dying Days -- can now be found here for those of you that haven't downloaded it yet.

Keep a beady ear peeled for late July when we revisit the Daleks with John Peel's War of the Daleks.  From the back cover:

[Warning:  The back cover pretty much reveals the entire plot about halfway through the book.  We're including it here just because we don't want to break precedent.  However, we recommend that if you wish to remain spoiler-free, jump past the italicized text below.]

The Doctor is repairing the TARDIS systems once again when it is swept up by a garbage ship roving through space, the Quetzel.

When another ship approaches and takes the Quetzel by force, the Doctor discovers that he and Sam are not the only unwitting travellers on board -- there is a strangely familiar survival pod in the hold.  Delani, the captain of the second ship, orders the pod to be opened.  The Doctor is powerless to intervene as Davros is awakened once again.

But this is no out-and-out rescue of Davros.  Delani and his crew are Thals, the sworn enemies of the Daleks.  They intend to use Davros as a means to wipe out the Daleks, finally ridding the universe of the most aggressive, deadly race ever to exist.  But the Doctor is still worried.  For there is a signal beacon inside the pod, and even now a Dalek ship is closing in...

You may remember when we reviewed John Peel's second Dalek novel, Legacy of the Daleks, back in Episode 7.  If your memory doesn't cheat, you probably know that we don't have very high expectations of this month's entry, but it's important in that it's (1) the first original Dalek novel to be published since the television series was canceled in 1989 and (2) assuming you believe the novels are canon, it's a gigantic game-changer for the history of the Daleks (listen to our upcoming podcast for more details).  Legacy of the Daleks followed it, and the BBC never again published a Dalek story for either the Eighth Doctor or Past Adventures ranges.  (Some Dalek stories have been published in the New Series Adventures, such as Prisoner of the Daleks and I am a Dalek.)

Fun links: