It’s time to listen to and discuss Dalek War: Chapter 3
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!
I’ve enjoyed the Dalek Empire series so far. Really. I enjoy it while listening to it, but I finished this only a month ago and I can’t separate the parts.
I gave this part 3.5/5. So it was a solid listen, but I’d be damned if I could give you any story beats.
I’m gearing up for a Series 3+4 listen, but I think in the end it will ultimately be enjoyable for me while listening but forgettable.
This series has sort of hit a particularly level of enjoyment for me - a sort of solid 3/5 throughout. Nothing is stand out but nothing is particularly bad.
Morli turning out to be a sort of Dalek agent/roboman/brainwash was the least surprising twist ever.
I also sort of think the whole ‘alternate Daleks’ thing has been squandered by just making them as bad as the originals. I think there was probably more interesting angle to be played there, although I’m not entirely sure what.
Suz and Alby I’m sorry I just can’t with them. Their relationship is going to make me pull a muscle in my eyes from how much I’ve been rolling them. Wish Morli’s assassination attempt worked…
Um what to say about this one. It was an episode. Daleks shouted. Karlendorf tried to stop them. Morli was - shock horror - a spy. She wasn’t even as fun in this episode.
Nope sorry, I’ve got nothing. I think I might have enjoyed this entire series a little more if I’d blasted it start to finish. As is, it’s just washing right over me with little impact. I’m sure I’ve heard rave reviews about this whole series but I’m afraid it’s just not living up to that for me
I think the time jumps at the start really hurt the Suz/Alby relationship. If we could have seen a bit more of them directly after the invasion, dealing with the immediate fall out before being separated because Suz refused to leave, it might have helped a bit.
Yeah, I mostly bother with these because of the audio club at this point. It’s just more of the same. Not much more to say about it.
4/10
Despite its grim atmosphere and political intrigue, Dalek War: Chapter Three struggles to be engaging. The plot moves at a glacial pace, the romance is unconvincing, and the Mentor’s Daleks fail to provide the fresh perspective they initially promised. While the seeds of betrayal and shifting alliances are planted, the execution feels laboured rather than compelling. A chapter that ultimately feels like filler rather than a meaningful progression of the story.
This is a lot better than the previous chapter, and it’s almost entirely down to the expanded role of Karlendorf.
Alby and Susan’s role in this story does get a little more interesting as they start to try to piece together Karlendorf’s plan, and Morli is predictably revealed as a roboman for the ‘good’ daleks. Despite the predictability of the twist though, I think the way the characters respond to it, using that information to piece more things together, works nicely. If it were just left as a shock twist it may not work, but the way it’s revealed and the repercussions of it do make it for me.
As per usual though, the highlight here is Karlendorf. I love his constant scheming, how you can never quite be sure why he’s doing what he’s doing. Even when he reveals his plan to Susan at the end, he chooses to keep Alby (and by extension, the audience), in the dark as to what’s really going on. His interactions with The Mentor, as he’s hiding what he’s doing, feigning ignorance, is a particular delight. When he falls into the dalek’s trap, leading to the deaths of hundreds, you’re never quite sure if that was intentional. There’s a darkness to his character, and honestly, he’s the main reason I keep coming back to this series.
Also yeah, sure, there’s another cliffhanger at the end. These are starting to feel out of necessity more than anything else to be honest.
He’s really getting on my nerves more and more.