The Daleks' Master Plan (episodes 8 - 12)

When the Daleks discover that the taranium element they recovered from the Doctor is a fake they dispatch another of their time machines from Skaro to once more track the TARDIS through time and space to get it back. The Doctor realizes that the Daleks would eventually be after him, but they are not the only ones, as the Monk appears looking for revenge. But while the Doctor must outwit a second foe, the alliance assembled by the Daleks is starting to waver, with Mavic Chen himself teetering on the edge of megalomania and the fate of the universe itself hanging in the balance.

I think the break provided by Big Finish's new material served its purpose well; with the threat of the Daleks left behind for a while we got to know the TARDIS crew a lot better, in particular Sara Kingdom, before the pace was once more hectic. Having Sara come into her own as a proper companion makes her eventual death that much more poignant... because it's no secret that Sara is the next casualty of the Dalek plan. She doesn't necessarily go as heroically as Katarina, but nevertheless her death is felt by Steven most of all, which would allow for Big Finish's attempt to play with the formation of a relationship between the two of them. When Steven tallies up the dead - Katarina, Bret, and now Sara - his grief is there for all to see (or in this case hear because only episode 10 exists to be seen). The Doctor? He calls all this death "a waste".

This part of the epic is really just borrowed from The Chase but thankfully is nowhere near as lame or as long. The TARDIS lands at a cricket match and its presence is narrated away by the observing radio commentators who try to make sense of its presence in a very calm and British sort of way. There's only one more stop, which is in Egypt, where the shifty Monk tries to ally himself with Chen and the Daleks to get his revenge on the Doctor and ends up with another serving of comeuppance. I'm not sure if the Monk was really necessary; I think he was supposed to provide some comic relief,
or the incidental music in his scenes seems to suggest that he was. After episode 7's lapse into hilarity, though, I'm not entirely sure that was needed, unless it was to take some of the edge off the Daleks and Chen who are actually pretty nasty and brutal this time around. But why wouldn't they be? They're pissed. Without the taranium there's no time destructor, and Chen is always quick to point out that if it had not been for him there would be no taranium. You can see and hear the Daleks barely tolerating his presence, and you know it's not going to end well for him once they get that taranium back.

As with the first portion of the story it's almost all on audio, save for episode 10, which makes for good car ride material or just something to enjoy with your tea or what have you. First time I got the sense of the serial, though, was the second volume of John Peel's novelization under the title The Mutation of Time  back in the 90s. Intriguingly it featured a red Dalek on the front which did not appear at all in the televised serial, but hey it made for a very striking novel cover and a custom action figure idea in later years. A few action figures as it happens.

NEXT EPISODE : THE MASSACRE OF ST BARTHOLOMEW'S EVE