We Are The Daleks


We Are The Daleks by Jonathan Morris

Are Daleks scary? Some would say yes. Some would say no. I would say it depends greatly on the mileage of the story. I'd be hardpressed to find the Daleks in many stories intimidating. Point to most Classic or Moffat/Chibnall era Daleks that have the durability of a wet sponge and my head tilts downward out of boredom. In many ways, there is quite an argument for Dalek fatigue. And I tend to groggily agree, half awake, just about to drift off-to sleep, and then a story like this jolts me to attention that "YES! NEW THINGS CAN BE DONE WITH THE DALEKS!" And then proceeds to literally kill me for Two Hours.
We Are The Daleks is the Seventh Doctor I like - it's less in tone of the silly season 24 or the morbid Hex audios, and it finds itself a very good balance to go with. It's not a comedy. It's not a horror. It's not bonafide shooty shooty action adventure or boring sci-fi aliens talking about the tachyon emitters being out of phase with the duraline artron contracter - no, no, it's got balance. It's a story that has the Daleks at their most manipulative, and yet the best part of it is the same part as the best part of Jubilee - the titular idea that "We Are The Daleks," that we can do atrocious things. While Jubilee used an alternate reality to forward it's ideas, We Are The Daleks uses a very real and very elegantly written character, Celia Dunthorpe. (You know the character is good when they're only in one story but I know their full name by memory without having to look anything up because they're just that memorable and stunning) Celia is a politician figure that is scarily real, yet personable, and friendly, because she's a politcian, and she's going to smile ever so sweetly while plotting the imminent Dalek invasion. The story just drips this wonderful 80s atmosphere - never taking itself too seriously (At one point, Daleks chant "Daleks Invest and Return!" at a stockholders meeting) while having some absolutely great cliffhangers and dramatic moments. If anything, it would be perfect Who if it didn't at times get trapped into some of the classic-who standards (the one dimensional rebel characters that show up in every Terry Nation story are here in full force) and a few of these elements feel a little too "oh, I've seen that before" which is a bit jarring next to the other ridiculously bold yet cool new ideas. Either way, it's still a really strong story for Seven and Mel, a happy reminder that not every Seventh Doctor story needs to make you want to cut off your ears - 9/10 

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