The first volume of Big Finish’s newest Tenth Doctor series Dalek Universe is out now! Starring David Tennant as the Doctor, Jane Slavin as Anya Kingdom, and Joe Sims as Mark Seven, there is a lot to talk about. But before we get into spoilers (and honestly, if you can listen to this set of stories without knowing anything I highly recommend that experience), let’s set up the story and talk some general thoughts first.

“Dalek Universe”, told in three volumes of three stories each, follows the adventures of the Tenth Doctor, Anya Kingdom, and Mark Seven in a time that the Doctor- this Doctor- should not be in. The Doctor is pulled into this adventure sans-TARDIS and has to face his past without the chance to easily escape. 

Volume one is a ride right from the word “go”. There is so much going on in these stories, but you’ll never be lost. Though Anya and Mark both have histories of their own outside of this series, this set does a good job of catching the listener up. The stories in this volume set up the broader story of the series, but also have a lot to unpack themselves. The opening two-parter, “Buying Time” and “The Wrong Woman” in particular are packed with twists and turns and some HUGE surprises. The cliffhanger at the end of “Buying Time” alone is worth the price of admission for this set of stories!

From this point on SPOILER WARNINGS APPLY! Like I said before if you can listen to this series without any spoilers, I highly recommend it. Having zero clues as to what was coming when I first listened was one of the wildest rollercoasters of emotions I’ve been on thanks to Doctor Who since “Spyfall”. Think part that, part “Blink”, and part “Stolen Earth”… and then go listen before you read any farther!

Buying Time by John Dorney

Putting that cliffhanger aside for a moment (if only so those who have scrolled this far don’t get spoilers this quick after the warning), this story is still superb. Though I’ve not listened to “The Dalek Protocol” prologue and only know Mark and Anya from their story in “The Diary of River Song” volume 8, the story did a great job of introducing these characters and showing what their relationship with the Doctor is. Both characters have backstories that go back at least a few years. Anya has been in a number of Fourth Doctor audios. Mark’s history goes farther back with books, comics, and audios as he’d originally been conceptualized as a character for a Dalek spinoff TV series by Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks.

Listening to the behind-the-scenes interviews, I learned that quite a lot of the elements in this series are Terry Nation creations. The obvious ones being the Daleks, of course, though they only show up very briefly in this set. In this story, we have Mark, the Space Security Services (or SSS), and part of Anya’s backstory as Sara Kingdom was a brief companion of the First Doctor. The Visians, the creatures that attack the SSS team sent to the crash site are also from Anya’s aunt’s only television story “The Daleks’ Master Plan.” Though I am not as familiar with these elements (or what connected them) as others are, I never felt lost or like I was on the outside of some reference that I wasn’t getting. That does sometimes happen with Doctor Who (in any medium!) so I very much appreciated how these stories never leave out the newer fans!

I really love Ten’s relationship with both Anya and Mark, too. Though he does not trust them very much given their past run-ins at first, the team-up to investigate both what happened to the crashed ship and Sheldrake does help. The Doctor makes a few flippant remarks, but despite his hurt at having lost “Ann Kelso” (Anya’s deep cover identity) many years ago, he does begin to trust Anya more. But something major happens at the end of this story that could change that… so let’s talk about it.

Last chance for the major spoiler warning.

The Doctor. The Tenth Doctor. The Tenth Doctor being shot in both of his hearts and regenerating. WHAT.

When I listened to this story for the first time, I fully freaked out. I was taking notes to help me write this article later, and the section where that happened is just lots of capslock, lots of question marks and exclamation points, and a whole lot of “WHAT” and “I AM VERY CONFUSED”! Though this cliffhanger does borrow a bit from series four’s “Stolen Earth,” it pushes the idea even further by having the Doctor fully regenerate before the episode’s end. And then you hear Gemma Whelan (who is sneakily billed as “The Newcomer” in the cast list) say “Well, I didn’t expect that to happen!”

Just… full-on freak-out. I knew that all I had to do to find out what was going on was to listen to the next episode but I had to take a bit to process what had just happened, honestly. And those are the best kind of cliffhangers. The ones that get you hooked, but that need a brief pause before you keep going! It was amazingly executed. I’ve loved seeing everyone else’s reactions to this reveal on Twitter, too! Especially as most- or at least many- are being very respectful of those who haven’t listened yet by only referencing the twist.

And then it just keeps going from there.

The Wrong Woman by John Dorney

Not that I think anything else could have been done, but I am so glad that this episode picks up right where the last one left off. It even includes a quick recap. You know. In case you’ve somehow forgotten how much you’ve freaked out over the last few minutes of the previous episode!

After the recap, the story heads straight into what seems to be your usual “The Doctor just regenerated but the world still needs saving” story. A bit of confusion on the Doctor’s part, some post-regenerative lack of coordination, and, of course, some new clothes. The scene where the new Doctor picks out some new clothes and sees her face for the first time (well… sort of, but more on that later) is utterly delightful and hilarious. Her exclamation of “Oh my, I’m… gorgeous! That is definitely an upgrade!” had me laughing and wanting to defend how pretty David Tennant is in equal measure.

But, as this is “Doctor Who” and a Doctor Who series that has clearly been billed as a new David Tennant/Tenth Doctor series, I knew something had to be up. Granted I did not guess the right ‘something’ until much farther into the episode. But that is, again, down to the great writing in this story! So much of what the Doctor does in the first half of this episode is easily put down to post-regenerative symptoms. Though Ten’s voice is heard in the “time shifts” that Anya keeps experiencing, I simply guessed that time would be rewritten. A usual enough explanation in “Doctor Who”.

But then that reveal. Ohhhhhh, that reveal. John Dorney just… continues to be one of my favorite Big Finish writers and these two stories just cement that opinion even more.

It wasn’t until the Doctor said something about how there were no screws to use her sonic screwdriver on that I began to question what was going on. And then she unceremoniously ripped out the part of Sheldrake’s time machine tech that the Doctor had previously said was so dangerous, told Anya that she’d never forgiven her, and stepped into a book that she’d brought along that turned out to be a TARDIS. A TARDIS with the Doctor- the Tenth Doctor- locked up inside.

Aaaand then I freaked out again. In my notes, I first guessed the wrong type of plot that this character was carrying out, guessed the right character, guessed the wrong character, guessed the right character, and then the story confirmed that I was right.

It’s the Meddling Monk.

While I am not familiar with the character’s TV appearances, the Monk has appeared in other Big Finish productions. Namely, Missy. The Monk (though not this one) appears in several stories in Missy’s Big Finish series. And I should’ve known that this was the Monk and not the Master simply because both of the Missy stories with the Monk are by John Dorney as well! I utterly adore both of those stories as well, so I was delighted to have the character pop up again! But of course, that’s not the end of this twist.

The Tenth Doctor exists in a universe where he is the only Time Lord. It’s something he knows for a fact. So he struggles with the idea that the Monk is still alive and, well, meddling. But as they talk, the Doctor discovers that the Monk- this Monk- is from before the Time War. From before he killed his own people. (Or locked them in a stasis cube, but Ten doesn’t know about that.)

That conversation and the one where the Doctor is begging the Monk not to leave is phenomenally acted by David Tennant as well as brilliantly written. Though the Doctor knows he can’t tell the Monk what has happened/will happen, some of it does slip through. He tells the Monk that it “Doesn’t matter how” the Time Lords are gone, but that “it didn’t end well”. The heartbreak in the Doctor’s voice is, well, heartbreaking. Even though the Monk is only interested in herself, the Doctor is desperate for any connection to his home. Much like with the Master in series three, he just wants a friend. But he keeps running into the not-so-great fellow renegades…

“Time is part of who we are. We’re Time Lords. Oh, you don’t know how good it is to say those words…”- The Doctor to the Monk

In the end, the Monk leaves under the impression that the Doctor is trying to trap her- despite him trying to tell her otherwise. With the Monk gone, he gets Anya to help close down and fix the tears in time that Sheldrake’s invention has caused. Granted that “help” is her holding a leaver while he finishes some “complex” calculations, but still. It brings them closer and helps them trust each other more. And the touch of Sheldrake being more fearful of being sued for damages than being jailed for what he did is equally hilarious and frustratingly real…

Once things are wrapped up, Anya, Mark, and the Doctor go looking for SSS time travel technology. They’re able to find the pod that had originally sent Anya back to the 1970s. As the Doctor works on it so he can get back, Anya questions why he doesn’t just go back to his homeworld to get help. He explains:

“I want to go there more than you can imagine. Stand again under an orange sky, see the sun rise over the capitol… But it’s gone. For me. All gone. I can’t go back. It would hurt too much. Just remind me of what I lost.”

But of course, with another story in this set and two more volumes to come, it can’t be as simple as finding and fixing this pod. No sooner does the Doctor get it working than a Dalek appears in the pod’s time bubble. He shuts it down quickly, but the Dalek still fired at the pod and overwhelmed its systems, making it inoperable. The Tenth Doctor is stuck on the wrong side of the Time War.

And so we move on to the final story of “Dalek Universe” volume one.

The House of Kingdom by Andrew Smith

Though “The House of Kingdom” doesn’t have the huge twists and turns of the first two stories in the set, it’s still a great adventure. There are still some pretty high stakes involved, but it gives the characters a little more time to breathe. Listeners are able to get to know the characters a little more this way. It also helps the relationships between them develop before diving into the rest of the series’ events.

Though I am, again, not overly familiar with Anya’s story and family that was established before this series, it is interesting to get to know more about her. Service in the Space Security Services runs in her family. This does clearly take its toll on the Kingdom family, however.

The Doctor’s discussions with Anya about what her grandfather, Merrick, did are very well written. It’s a great way to explore Anya’s past and to get a bit of an insight into what’s going on in the Doctor’s head now that he knows exactly when he is in relation to the Time War. Anya blames Merrick for what he did- or more what he was unable to do- but the Doctor understands how difficult decisions like that can be with the lives of loved ones on the line.

“You can’t blame him for what the Daleks did. He had an impossible choice- I know what that’s like… I’ve made sacrifices to stop them. To finish them. Bigger than you can imagine… I had to make a choice. Really big choice. The lives of millions, billions, against something I held very very dear.”

It’s the type of Doctor-y speech that could easily be shouted at someone close to making a similar, horrible choice. But he says it with care and understanding. Knowing what it’s like to lose someone (or everything) because there was something bigger to worry about. It still hurts, of course, but he follows it up with a piece of simple advice for Anya. “All I’m saying is you can’t forget who the bad guys are. They’re the ones to get angry at.”

The relative quiet in this episode before the huge conspiracy gets rolling really lets these characters get to know each other even better. It solidifies their friendship even more than what the Doctor thought his final words to Anya were going to be before he became stuck in this time. Yes, he said that he forgave her and hoped that one day he’d like Anya as much as Ann, but now he’s making good on those words. He’s trying to help her since he knows a bit of what she’s going through with her grandfather.

These more calm character moments are, in true “Doctor Who” fashion, soon interrupted by a bigger problem. It’s quickly discovered that Merrick and his associate Dr. Abigail Crane have been developing samples that Merrick took from Skarro many years ago. In fact, the weapons that were developed from the venom of the Varga Plant were behind the attack on the station that nearly killed the team!

The Doctor and Mark get some time on their own when Dr. Crane gets Merrick to dump them in an area where they’re sure to get crushed by the Mechanoids. These scenes highlight how they are somewhat similar characters. They’re both highly intelligent people. And they have a bit of a problem with putting themselves in dangerous situations so that others can escape. And given that Mark is missing from the cover of Dalek Universe volume 3…. I’m a little worried about that.

And since this is the last episode in this set of stories, there has to be a cliffhanger. I don’t think I was expecting it to be Mark’s programming suddenly shifting and him evacuating all of the oxygen that the Doctor and Anya need from their space ship but uh… That’ll do it! Is it July yet?

Thoughts on the release overall

“Dalek Universe” volume one is an amazing first entry into this new series. I have been WAITING for Big Finish to do something like this with the Tenth Doctor! Like a lot of things that have happened over the past year, I do wish that the circumstances in which they were able to make this release were a lot different, but I am glad to have it. This is a great first step into stories with the Tenth Doctor that are outside of his set “series”.

I am also THRILLED that the Tenth Doctor is getting to interact with more of the extended/Big Finish universe. I was beside myself when I realized that the Doctor was meeting the Monk. And not only the Monk, but a pre-Time War Monk. There are just so many directions that this can go. Especially with the Tenth Doctor on the wrong side of the Time War. And I really can’t wait to hear where it does go!

Though I feel it’s a bit unlikely, I do hope that the Doctor goes to Gallifrey- despite his reservations. With River Song in the third and final set of stories, I’d wager that she’s how he gets back. So not the Time Lords. But it’d still be so much fun. I adore the “Gallifrey” series and would probably collapse if the Tenth Doctor got to meet Romana, Narvin, and/or Leela. If this series doesn’t do that, though, there’s always September 2022’s “Tenth Doctor Classic Companions” release!

Overall, “Dalek Universe” volume one is just a phenomenal release. It sets up so much and has so many possibilities! With how it’s started, though, I can’t help but wonder what else it’s got in store. When something opens with a cliffhanger regeneration, the return of the Monk, the Tenth Doctor stuck in a time he shouldn’t be in, and an android going rogue… I can only prepare for more mind-blowing reveals and twists to come. And I can’t wait!

Allons-y!

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