Shadow of the Daleks

Shadow of the Daleks 1 and 2

Adversity breeds Creativity. I highly doubt we'd have gotten something as bold and strange as Shadow of the Daleks' two MR releases if it were not for COVID-19. The spots that would have taken Shadow's place in the main range (The Lost Resort, Perils/Nightmare) had a difficult time coming together, and as such, Big Finish had two slots in their series that needed to be Fifth Doctor themed, and basically no one but Peter Davison and four other actors to do it with. It's ironic that the whole endeavor, one of Big Finish's oddest moves is a result of restraint in format. But as said - that helped the whole thing come together. It's really rather fascinating to me. 

This being said, I have very little clue how to review it - because neither the anthology, boxset, or wholesale review formats really fit Shadow. I don't know what I'd rate some of these stories to be frank, and even the lesser stories all have a point to them that I truly, truly respect. I don't really wanna give these things numbers, I think that's sort of the wrong thing for them. 

Aimed At The Body by James Kettle

Aimed At The Body is a really brilliant start to the show, and possibly, one of, if not the best episodes in the whole thing. It's an anthology story, but it also sort of explains nothing, because that's the job of other stories later down the line, so it's just sort of mad and ridiculous and really makes you want to learn more. The characters are vividly drawn, it feels historically real, but then it also just sort of completely goes off and does very surreal and confusing things with the Daleks in a way that I've not ever seen them used before. This is used throughout the eight stories, but it's used first here, and it has a lot of impact. I really enjoy Aimed at the Body. It's great. 

Lightspeed by Jonathan Morris

Lightspeed sort of introduces the main conceit of Shadow of the Daleks and kind of wouldn't be very good without it, but it's very interesting to hear the characters you just met in different roles, and doing different things, and it holds your attention very nicely by telling a very familiar Doctor Who story and maintaining the surreal elements from the previous tale. It's not really got much more to it beyond that though, which can be frustrating. The concept of a ship accelerating and blowing up when it reaches Lightspeed is a cool concept, but it's not used to it's full potential. I'd like it a lot less if it wasn't for the series around it helping to carry it's flaws. 

The Bookshop at the End of The World by Simon Guerrier

I find amnesia stories very frequently dull, but The Bookshop... is a decent episode. It didn't hit me like a truck like it apparently did with other people, and to be honest, I found the way that there wasn't a pause between someone speaking and then narrating their thoughts very difficult to follow. It rewards your attention with some very interesting stuff, and it's also quite nicely very vague with what's going on, even at the conclusion. As a story about paranoia, it's fine, but I mean, Midnight exists, so it's sort of already gone ahead and done it's whole deal better. It's a sort of slippery audio, I'm not quite sure how to define the whole thing. But as it is, there's a lot you can do that's much worse. The references to the war being so oblique is absolutely the right move though. I feel this is one I would benefit from another listen to though. 

Interlude by Dan Starkey

I love Interlude up until the point where it careens into technobabble island and has to explain really inexplicable things. The whole thing leads up to a big twist that isn't so much mindbending as it is completely made-up, like it feels sort of python-esque in it's complete lack of even attempting to seem proper. Like, it sort of feels like the twist was poorly thought through. It does introduce the concept of the time bubble which helps Towards Zero to be even better later on, but it baffles me slightly. I can forgive the monumental dumbness for the wondrous first half about an alternative history earth where Florence is sort of the ruler of everything. The Doctor flitting from incomprehensible location to incomprehensible location and dealing with the Daleks periodically is exactly what I'd like more Time War material to be like, and on the whole, I really like Interlude, it may be one of my favorites of the set, because Dan Starkey is one of those writers that just has a beautiful effortlessly jovial energy. I can't lie to you though, it really... just sort of loses itself. 

Echo Chamber by Jonathan Barnes

Echo Chamber is the one thing I am 100% certain on - it's the best story out of all eight in the entire two sets. I adore it to bits, I have no criticism, and it has no flaws. Perfect usage of the Fifth Doctor as a character, Davison absolutely shines, the guest stars are wonderful, and the ending is chillingly gorgeous. One of the more "normal" stories in that it sort of could exist outside the Time War, but also it's just so bloody gorgeous I don't really mind.

Towards Zero by Roland Moore

Towards Zero is an Agatha Christie parody where the Doctor investigates a time anomaly, and his own murder, as we find the concept of the series where each character is someone new each episode played with further. It's a remarkably smart one, and probably my other favorite story minus Echo Chamber. This sort of miniseries' or whatever you'd care to call it's sheer willingness to just do bonkers crap and then not explain itself is an utter blessing. There isn't much in terms of conclusion to said murder mystery, which can be frustrating especially since the mood is so evocative up to a certain point, but it's a quite good pastiche of everything detective-wise but the detective story ending I suppose, and I'm willing to tolerate the lack of the ending because of the emotional stuff and how well it ties together previous elements and teases towards the future.

Castle Hydra by Lizzie Hopley

I'm hesitant to say this is the worst Shadow episode, because I really care for it's hook of a Castle that kidnaps time variant people, and sort of is kinda figuring out that something's messed up with time, the repeating people, and wants to fix it, but on the other hand it also kind of left my brain next to immediately. Like there's something about me that has a hard time remembering it, it's not boring, but I have had to remind myself about it's details for this whole thing a few times. That may be down to the fact that a lot of it is weirdly action for some reason and it's sort of a little too big for it's britches. I really like it even so, despite it's problems, like it's evocative and smart enough for me to get behind it, but it does have structural issues, and you know, while I really like it and might even take it over Lightspeed, I can't deny that it's one of the weaker ones.

Effect and Cause by John Dorney

Effect and Cause is John Dorney's rather deft conclusion to the whole thing, and I do like it, and I really like it's explanations, it's got really satisfying explanations. I'm just not sure what it's got beyond those explanations in a way, it's not really a story more than it is a finale piece. It's for sure the most openly Dalek-y out of all the stories, but there's not even so much of that element to it. It's mostly just explaining what's been going on, really well, and it does leave a lot of the mysteries satisfyingly open, it knows what choices to make, it's just sort of not a story, it's a conclusion, and while it's a really satisfying conclusion, it cannot be reviewed as an anthology and I don't know what to say or think anymore reviewing Shadow of the Daleks is so damn difficult

Do you get it yet? I'm not sure what I'd rate these things at all?? like, WHAT?? None of them make sense without each other at all. but writing one review for the whole thing?? utterly foolhardy. there is no good choice to make here. I'm not sure if this review will even be that helpful. I am sure of my advice to you though- Shadow of the Daleks is absolutely worth your time and support. It's one of those things that is better than the sum of it's parts, immensely so, and it's a thing that needs to be more experienced than reviewed. I adore Shadow of the Daleks as a whole, and while you can critique the parts, it's hard to find fault with the complete picture. 10/10