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Reviews for Dalek Empire III: Chapter Six - The Future

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Unexpected!

By:Joe Ford, Eastbourne
Date:Tuesday 23 November 2004
Rating:   8

I'm certain nobody thought this would be the end result of Nick Briggs' third Dalek Empire saga but it is certainly a return to form after the last few discs treading water. Characters are dispatched left, right and centre and the level of drama maintained is nail biting, especially at the climax when it is uncertain whether the goodies have achieved ANYTHING.

Really this series of Dalek Empire feels like a prelude to the next with some tantilising possibilities opened up for future development but it has been an entertaining six disc series, full of good characterisation and superb production values.

Nick Briggs has earned the right to voice the Daleks in the new series.



Ultimately Pointless Soap Opera

By:Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA
Date:Tuesday 17 July 2007
Rating:   6

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Rather than review each of the Dalek Empire III stories individually, it seems more sensible to write a combined review that covers them all, as there's not too much that really distinguishes one episode from another. After having listened to each of the six episodes, I'm left with the feeling that there isn't much of any real in-depth story that has gone on here - at least not what would be expected over the course of six discs.

It is far in the future after the events of Dalek Empire II, and no one in the galaxy really knows who the Daleks are. Plague has broken out, and the Daleks have come along offering a cure. The Galactic Union, incomprehensibly, decides to trust the Daleks, accepting their "help," and agreeing to work with them. Siy Tarkov, who has been in suspended animation for twenty years on a drifting spacecraft since contracting the plague when it was first arising, has been found, resuscitated, and treated. He knows the truth about the Daleks. He must convince the authorities of their evil intent, and to do so, must retrieve proof from a distant planet.

The first three episodes focus on the Graxis Wardens, a sort of scientific military group that has been studying indigenous life on a planet that is now being taken over by the Daleks. What remains of their group after a mostly unsuccessful rebellion against the Daleks end up rescuing Siy, along with the enigmatic Galanar and Elaria, who are both very long-lived augmented humans who have some very unusual abilities.

What we come to find out, at the very end, is that this entire run-around comes down to this: the Daleks created the plague so that they could gain the trust of the humans by "curing" it. And the cure is a means of creating more Daleks - it involves a delayed second stage that causes a mutation, and the mutation produces a Dalek.

Hmmm... using humans to make more Daleks... does that sound familiar?

I don't know. To me it just all comes off as being very dry, and being much to do about nothing (or at least, nothing really new). The Daleks are still irritating, though not as irritating as in the previous two series. I feel they are best in small doses, and are better when we have the visual along with the grating voice.

However, technically, these productions are very nicely done - very well-realized soundscapes. And what really kept me listening was probably David Tennant as Galanar, with some assistance from William Gaunt as Selestru and Ishia Bennison as Frey Saxton. Steven Elder's Siy Tarkov takes away from this part of the equation, as Tarkov was fairly irritating through the entire range of episodes, partly due to him being a plague victim, and thus manifesting a serious speech problem that quickly becomes difficult to listen to.

Overall, there's enough here to keep the listener interested, but at the end, when we are left with the situation completely unresolved as concerns whether or not the Galactic Union will find the will to take any action to remove the Daleks from the galaxy, it all just feels like we've been taken for a joyride that went nowhere, while Nicholas Briggs just had a fun time being the Daleks.



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