Blood of the Daleks [AUDIO/2006.12.31 ~ 2007.1.7]

★★★★☆

  Big Finish's gigantic back catalogue often yields a few surprises when it comes to having cast actors that are now household, big Hollywood names. What do you mean Dan Stevens from the "hit" FX show Legion was in The Cradle of the Snake? What do you mean Benedict Cumberbatch of Doctor Strange fame played Howard Carter once? What do you mean, current Mission: Impossible star Hayley Atwell played the human villain role in a Dalek story that kicked off a new Eighth Doctor series that aired on BBC Radio 7? Strange days we're living in, eh.

  Here we have Blood of the Daleks, a two-parter epic that makes the mistake of putting almost all its cards on the first half, leading to the second half feeling more than a little bit like extended padding. Very good, very entertaining padding, though I must add -- if you're going to stretch out your story, do it like Steve Lyons does and give both your main characters a lot of defining moments and fun sequences. Somehow, somehow, Part 2 doesn't dissolve into an incoherent mess, but rather stays razor-sharp and intense. The end result is that this Dalek two-parter is one of the better ones from Big Finish; the pepperpots are threatening, their fascism (thirst for racial purity) cannot be more apparent, and the Eighth Doctor is a lot more sombre and intense as the enemy of these Daleks. There's a definite chemistry between the down-to-earth Sheridan Smith (who was, and continues to be, a household name) and the Romantic adventurer of Paul McGann (although his poeticism is toned down a bit for the more action-heavy story). If you want to start with the Eighth Doctor's adventures in Big Finish and would prefer a style closer to the new series than anything else, Blood of the Daleks is the perfect starting point for you.