Audio Club Extra: Dalek Empire - Dalek War: Chapter Four

Audio Audio Club
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It’s time to listen to and discuss Dalek War: Chapter 4

Buy it online using the link above, or listen for free - you’ll find links where to listen free on the story page!

Once you’ve listened, talk about it below! Even if you listened to it before and just want to discuss it - dive right in! Just please use spoiler tags where appropriate.

Everyone who participates will get a coveted Audio Club badge! :medal_military:

Just for fun, add your rating here:

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2 Likes
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So after all that nonsense before, Dalek Empire finally, finally manages to get its flashback concept right. Telling this story like a history made it 1000x more engaging to me - not sure why, but it did. I think it gave it a more - I don’t know, almost legendary quality. It was easier to believe that the war was huge and all-encompassing when the story was told in its ruins.

Can’t say I wasn’t happy when Alby died too. That was a long time coming…

Kalendorf proved himself to be the best and most interesting character of them all, and when he was allowed to actually take the bulk of the story, it was good. Actually, maybe I just really hated Alby.

This was easily, easily my favourite of all the DE episodes we’ve heard. In fact, it was almost enough to make me want to keep going with the series, even after all I said last week about being done with it.

9 Likes
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Oh I am so excited to listen now I’ve read this from you. I am wondering whether or not I go ahead w S3/4 or wait for it to come round here again.

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Yeah, me too! I trust @sircarolyn’s judgement! And this seems like the improvement I’ve been waiting for.

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It might also be because I’ve found the rest of the series so dreary so a bit of change of status quo was nice, but I actually honestly enjoyed this episode

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I have to agree with you omg, loved this story. I just wish the build up to this felt more like build up? This finale really just kinda came outta nowhere in a sense, the build up was so lacking to me. Oh thank god we have no more bloody Alby :sob:

Curious if we’ll get to S3/4 someday, I’d like to do them either with you all or solo.

4 Likes
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Right, I was like ugh okkk let’s finish this and I was so blindsided by how engaged I felt by the whole thing. I almost wish the whole series had been framed like this, as an account of some great and terrible historical event. I might have enjoyed that more

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Totally. I’m curious as to how it’s going to continue, I actually wouldn’t be opposed to them doing a revival of this someday in the near future with new characters and a more modernish tone?

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Kalendorf is what I wish the characterisation of the War Doctor was more like. Noble goals but willing to do horrible things to get there.

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Finished this off this morning and I’m sort of glad we’re at the end. Alby’s death felt very inconsequential simply because I kept expecting him to reappear having only been a bit wounded. The focus on Kalendorf was welcome but a bit like the first series, it just felt like the 2nd and 3rd parts were treading water just to get us to this point and none of the rest of it really mattered.

And I really, really didn’t like the ‘but the Daleks are still out there’ ending. It just feels like a series that Briggs doesn’t want to ever end. (I can’t remember how Series 3 ends but I’m not in a rush to remind myself).

It’s odd but my memories of this series were much more positive than I’ve found it to be on a re-listen. This is a rare example of something dropping in my estimation. I hadn’t remembered Alby and Suz being quite as irritating as they are; I hadn’t remembered how little was actually done with the alternate Daleks; I hadn’t remember how bloated the episodes felt.

Although I will probably not revisit this series for a long, long time, I sort of intrigued now to read the Short Trips collection dedicated to this series just to see how that plays in the toybox:

6 Likes
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A great ending to Dalek Empire 2.

I get why some people are annoyed with this, but while listening I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I enjoyed the characters, the setting, the pace. The story structure can be weird at times, but I like weird.

I have series 3 to listen to in about 20 releases time, and I can’t wait.

4/5 for this release. And I give the second series as a whole 3.75/5.

7 Likes
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It’s great you’ve enjoyed it and I’m glad there’s at least one person :slight_smile: .

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Okay, so this wasn’t bad, but I didn’t find it particularly good either. I agree that the framing device here helped the story, but since I’ve been pretty disinterested from the start, I struggled to connect all the loose ends here.

This series overall has been a major disappointment. But that’s how it is sometimes. Maybe I’ll like it more if I ever decide to relisten, but as of now, I’m happy to be done with this.

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While Dalek War: Chapter 4 attempts a unique storytelling approach with its framing device and character-driven focus, it ultimately feels like an underwhelming conclusion. The lack of action, combined with a finale that fizzles out rather than ignites, makes it difficult to feel truly satisfied. The arc had so much potential, but it never fully capitalised on its premise, leaving this ending feeling more like a quiet whimper than a triumphant crescendo.

4 Likes
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Well thank god that’s over

In all seriousness, I absolutely agree with what everyone else has said, that was honestly a superb finale.

Dalek War: Chapter Four - 8/10

Dalek War has been a pretty bumpy road overall, hell, Dalek Empire so far has been, but there’s one thing that’s always kept me coming back to this series (apart from the TARDIS Guide Clubs): Karlendorf.

Here, Karlendorf truly comes to center stage, we learn more of his motivations, his reasonings, he’s never presented a bastion of morality, but his morals are clear and unshakeable. Honestly from the way he’s presented, he sometimes feels more like a force of nature than a character, an oncoming storm, if you will, and the way this story is told, being uncovered by historians as a tale from thousands of years ago just adds to that larger than life character he builds up for himself.

Albie’s death here surprisingly kind of just doesn’t affect the story, almost proving how much of a secondary character he really was in Dalek Empire. It’s almost a shame, but also yeah, I just don’t really feel anything about it at all.

But back to Karlendorf, I think the two best scenes in this story are him talking to the leaders of the two dalek factions. His conversation with The Mentor especially is really interesting. The way The Mentor is characterised here, not as a good dalek, still a monster in the way that she and her daleks have treated planets that didn’t join the war, but still somewhat reasonable. There’s a cruel logic to her actions, and you can really see how the differences between her and davros ended up creating such similar yet different daleks. Her and her daleks, to me at least, feel like what you would get if you replaced the rage and fury of N-Space’s daleks, with a cold pragmatism. I love that they choose to leave, not because they think they’d loose, but because they can forsee that the conflict would lead to death for everyone, and that Karlendorf would let that happen rather than give in.

And then the final confrontation with the Susan-Emperor. The tale that the historians are telling in the future of the story that inspired Karlendorf, Karlendorf’s plans all coming together, forcing Susan to the forefront and using her connection to the emperor to the daleks, to kill them all in one fell swoop. Karlendorf killing countless millions of lives, dalek and otherwise as all dalek technology is destroyed. Where the Ninth Doctor refused to kill all people on earth to wipe out the daleks, Karlendorf doesn’t hesitate to wipe out solar systems.

Victory or Death.

How else was a Dalek War meant to end, I suppose.

A spectacular finale to the series, and I’m so glad I stuck with it for that.

5 Likes