The Trojan Dalek [AUDIO/2021.7.14]

★★★☆☆

  The sauce of The Trojan Dalek, so to speak, lies in Joe Sims' Mark Seven and his emotional journey. It's been a steady line of progress since the previous Dalek Universe boxset, but the narrative is finally at a point where it certainly feels like they've done pretty much all they could do with a Space Security Service android. I was certainly surprised that they retired him (read: killed him off) at around the halfway point of the series, but I think it's an interesting choice, and one that keeps the viewers from finding these stories too predictable. You see, there's nothing in particular about Trojan Dalek that truly captures me; sure, turning humans into Daleks is an exciting idea, but it's not as vividly executed as it could have been... and the same could be said about the main villain of DU1 ending up returning as a victim instead of a perpetrator. If I were to be far less charitable towards this audio drama, I would go as far as to say this is John Dorney on strict autopilot mode. It's a bridge between two arguably more resonant (and memorable) installments with a tiny bit of spice included to keep the listening experience as entertaining as can be. That spice happens to be Mark Seven saying his final goodbyes to the remainders of his past, before he is killed by the Daleks. For that, and David Tennant giving it his all, I'm not about to give this a lower rating anytime soon. Would I listen to it again? When the mood strikes me, I suppose.