Enemy of the Daleks

I usually approach any Dalek audio dramas with some trepidation as they're usually far too loud, with the screeching Dalek voices, death rays and explosions ramped up to ten+. Thankfully, this wasn't the case with Enemy of the Daleks, and I was actually able to enjoy the story.

The tale’s main hook is certainly an interesting idea to explore; even more so when the Doctor is to play a key role in the titular enemy of the Daleks’ fate. The Kesabia (Japanese for “parasite savior”) - creations of an unhinged scientist desperate to win an unremitting war - are the Daleks’ opposite numbers in every respect, save for, of course, their overriding advantage – they eat metal. And, as if that weren’t enough, once they’ve eaten their way through a Dalek’s casing, they lay the eggs of their young within the Dalek mutant.

The Kesabia are a dangerous breed; so dangerous, in fact, that the Doctor knows it’s only a matter of time before they will wipe out not only the Daleks but humanity too, to say nothing of any other races that they might encounter. One of this story’s central themes is the examination of how far one has to go to beat a monster. And so the scheming, controlling, and utterly ruthless Seventh Doctor reappears in order to wipe out the Kesabia.

Meanwhile, the natural warrior in Ace really shines through in this play, blending into the Valkyrie unit effortlessly. Encountering the Daleks for the first time, Hex is well and truly out of his league here. His witnessing the death and destruction the creatures cause evokes Tegan's similar feelings in Resurrection of the Daleks.

Overall, this was one of Big Finish Productions' better Dalek stories. Thought provoking and deliciously relentless, it maintains the high quality of the latest run of Seventh Doctor/Ace/Hex adventures.