Enemy of the Daleks

 

Enemy of the Daleks by David Bishop 

I've never reviewed the Settling or No Man's Land on this blog, and perhaps that was an oversight. It's been a long time since I've heard those two tales, but my feelings on them are critical to how I feel on Enemy of the Daleks, which I think is a mixed beast. The Hex arc itself does feel quite odd though, I must say, especially since whilst the Fifth Doctor and Sixth Doctor are doing the same sort of things they did on television but with more depth and nuance, The Seventh Doctor's stories are starting to feel like some of his books. Stories too deep and broad for the television screen was a sentence plastered on the back of the first ten or so Virgin Novels, and I can't help but take issue with the term, especially since they often didn't earn it. Big Finish is smarter than that, to be fair, and there aren't any sex pest idiot characters, but the mood, the edgy element, that feels somewhat present. That, I don't care for. 

To some extent, I suppose I will always find the usage of such dark themes in Classic Who stories shocking. It's part of why the Hex arc troubles me so. Every time I start to have some real fun with the stories, some edgy shit happens. It doesn't always feel like it naturally evolves out of the story, but ultimately, I usually end up giving the story a high mark, because, well, it was effective edgy shit, wasn't it? Every time I end up doing that, I think I feel a little more drained of the whole thing. While the Hex arc is infinitely more thought provoking and objectively speaking, well done than the Ace/Mel stuff, I can't help but prefer that era, because well, it's more in line to a television Who story than a VNA. It feels like The same Seventh Doctor you see in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, playful but with a plan, not the Seven in the two seconds in The Curse of Fenric where he denounces Ace as an emotional cripple. (Frustratingly, I think that's one of the only scenes that Seven writers pay attention to.) I think I prefer the Seventh Doctor most when his darkness is at a balance with the story itself. Seven is quite serious indeed, in say, The Happiness Patrol for instance, but the story's camp plays off of that, and as a result, it ends up feeling a little more textured, and in the end, a three-dimensional piece. For every scene with the Kandyman gurning, we get a soft and deadly scene like the one where Seven forces the man to put down the gun. I appreciate that, I really do. I don't like things being completely black. Those are  Of course you can criticize my beloved Torchwood range for similar, sure, but they at least have stories like Goodbye Piccadilly for instance - out and out romps with nothing but joy for a full seventy minutes. The lightest this arc's gotten has been Magic Mousetrap, and that was just a dark story with a sense of humor. To be fair, I hear that Dreamtime and The Dark Husband are light stories, but everyone I know yelled at me to not do them. I'm curious, I probably should go back and do them at some point. Because as it is, well, the bleak is currently my largest problem. Which is a shame, since although the bleak moments are stellar, When everything is bleak, the bleak moments start to mean less. 

Enemy of the Daleks is concerned primarily with an allegory to Genesis of the Daleks, and in it's own way, probably deserves another spot on my "most original Dalek stories" list. It does crib a lot, but it's a thoughtful cribbing. Not a direct copy but an evolution of the previous story's themes. Like many of the best ones, it's specifically about humanity's relationship to the Daleks - an analysis made many times over, but one that never ceases to be interesting, especially when we meet in this story, a figure, who is without exaggeration, a human version of Davros. I love how Shimura is played here, as a man who you can see is on that dark path, but not completely on the whole "mm yes, blowing up everything is a fascinating thought experiment," mindset just yet. The story is at it's best, similar to Genesis of the Daleks in the singular long scenes that are just Sylvester McCoy and Shimura talking. The story is not at it's best when for the third time, Hex is confronted by the Horrors of War. I love me some Hex, but these threads relating to this empathetic passionate guy ending up in horrible situations are starting to feel a little tired for me, when Hex has had two previous encounters with situations arguably just as horrible. I know the story plays it off as "this is the most amount of death he's ever seen," which I do believe, and I do think Oliver sells it, it's just that while this is the most, The Settling and No Man's Land were damn close!! I LOVE that he actively considers leaving the TARDIS at the end - I've always wondered why Hex even bothers with Ace and the Doctor when it's just so traumatic. There's better usage for him here. I can't seem to think Ace has done much, the soldier characters, while not exactly developed, and her kind of blend together to the extent I don't feel she's useful to the plot all that much. I do prefer her being like this though, proficient and experienced soldier Ace is a much better suit to these stories than the more generic Ace portrayal we've seen so far., a nice blend between 'Just McShane' and childishly screaming her name like a Pokemon. It's a good turn for her, even if she doesn't do much, she does get to talk back to Daleks nicely. The soldiers have some decent work that puts them above literal trash tier soldier guest stars we've seen so much of in Doctor Who, and I appreciate that. But there's so much damn begging for death and suffering and stuff that it can be just, weirdly unenjoyable for me personally. Couple this with the Dalek corridor bullshit, and the soundtrack (which although fitting, just I do not vibe with it, it only increased my feelings of 'EDGY') and the story isn't flawless. Not at all. But there's enough here I still can't give it a bad score. Even when the Hex arc is edgy and frustrating, I can see it's beautiful ideas and character work shine through. 6/10