The BF Time Warp 032: Time of the Daleks

[SiHart]

The Doctor has always admired the work of William Shakespeare. So he is a little surprised that Charley doesn't hold the galaxy's greatest playwright in the same esteem. In fact she's never heard of him.

Which the Doctor thinks is quite impossible.

General Mariah Learman, ruling Britain after the Eurowars, is one of Shakespeare's greatest admirers, and is convinced her time machine will enable her to see the plays' original performances.

Which the Doctor believes is extremely unlikely.

The Daleks just want to help. They want Learman to get her time machine working. They want Charley to appreciate the first ever performance of Julius Caesar They believe that Shakespeare is the greatest playwright ever to have existed and venerate his memory.

Which the Doctor knows is utterly impossible.

McGann takes on the Daleks for the first time, but is it a triumph of writing or a damp squib?

[Rob McCow]

Uh - I think this one might warrant a re-listen! I have very little memory of it, aside from Daleks quoting Shakespeare and lots of mucking about with mirrors and page boys.

Of course, it's all just build up to the magnificent Neverland.

[SiHart]

I remember this one being bizarre and a bit average at the time. I've not heard it an age, so I don't know whether that still holds. It just didn't feel quite as triumphant as it should have done for the first meeting between the 8th doctor and his arch-enemies.

[Stuart Wallis]

lots of mucking about with mirrors and page boys.

Oh my!

[Anthony Williams]

There was very little of this one that I actually remembered, beyond some nonsense about Shakespeare and there being Daleks in it. So, I came back to this one without that many preconceptions, which was nice.

Like both The Chimes of Midnight and Seasons of Fear before it, this one starts with a mystery. Why doesn't Charley know about Shakespeare? She's an educated young Edwardian lady. Surely she must have heard of the most popular playwright of all time?!? And certainly, how could she have heard of both Marlowe and Johnson, but not Shakespeare? Curious and curiouser!

There are moments here that are just wonderfully bizarre. While the time-travel element seems at many points to be a total rip-off of Evil of the Daleks, it's absolutely lovely to have Daleks wondering around, quoting Shakespeare! That's just so brilliantly odd, and unexpected. I do like it when Daleks are used in unusual ways in any story.

But that's really as far as this one goes in terms of being any good. Beyond that, it's all downhill. The guest characters are throwaway characters, and utterly unmemorable. Then there's the Doctor and Charley - I can't remember the last time that the main characters in any Big Finish play were SO utterly underused.

And beyond Shakespeare, what is there that's memorable about this play? I vaguely remember some kind of alternate future dystopia ruled by a dictator, but honestly... I listened to this less than two weeks ago, and I've forgotten the majority of the plot, beyond mirrors, clocks, Daleks, Shakespeare and dystopia.

But then, there was nothing inherently bad about this one, either. It's just dull and unmemorable. Another clunker from Justin Richards, that stands next to Red Dawn, rather than Whispers of Terror. 3/5 from me - average, due to the innovative use of the Daleks, which are at their best when engaging in subterfuge, as they are here.

[Si Hunt]

Absolute "Evil" rip-off. You can't do another Dalek story involving a victorian house and time travel with mirrors, can you? It's been done before.

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" - even if it is just a glorified excuse to get Don Warrington quoting Shakespeare I quite like this one. Not perfect but enjoyable none the less.

[Nyder]

Listened to this last week - yes the story was a bit too similar to Evil and Paul M seemed to be sleepwalking through a lot of his lines - but hey there's good stories to come so I'm told :-)