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Reviews for Energy of the Daleks

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Back to the old days....

By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Monday 4 June 2012
Rating:   9

A two part dalek story. I was actually thinking this wouldnt be long enough to justify having the daleks in it. I had a notion of it being too quick and too packed in to be enjoyable, but gladly I was wrong.

I really liked the throw back to the seventies daleks with all the Genesis of the Daleks sound effects and all that, what with their nasty death rays sounding just like they did back then. BFP certainly do there homework, and they get the sounds spot on as usual.

Louise does very well in her first meeting with the metal pepperpots, and the way she stands up to them is brilliantly realised and performed. I love the scene of her resistance to the robotiser. I also like the appearance from Mark Benton, a classy actor in my book and yet again a lovable role. Sad its just a role for a two parter.

Tom baker of course needs no talk. Hes just got back into the mantel of the fourth doctor with such ease, its great to hear him again. All I would say is I hope he soon gets beyond just all these two part stories. They are brilliant, but overall I prefer a longer story so you can truly get into the role of the supporting cast. That is not to say that the cast dont breathe brilliant life into Nick's script for this one. They do. In no uncertain terms.

And the daleks are back being as stupid and dippy as ever! So what more could one ask for? I just hope that the next Tom season with Mary Tamm has a cyberman adventure in it, that would just be classy!!! A sure and solid adventure is what we have here, only maybe not 100% original, but still very enjoyable indeed.



Energy of the Doctor

By:Doug W, An Alternate Reality (formerly Pocono Summit), United States
Date:Monday 15 October 2012
Rating:   7

At last, in Energy of the Daleks, Tom Baker has been brought pretty fully back to effectively sounding like he did back in 1977, which was sadly not quite the case in the previous three fourth Doctor releases. I think the key is to have a good amount of sound effects and other ambient sound and music in the mix, to cover over the moments when the effects of the passing of 35 years of time since 1977 would be apparent in a more subdued and basic mix.

However, the result is that this audio play does not sound like it could fit in between seasons 14 and 15, unless perhaps a completely different production team had taken over suddenly, I suppose. With all of that sound, there's a lot more going on here than was typical for the shows of that era. The season 14/15 TARDIS sound effects help with this, though, and are a great, and necessary touch. Nevertheless, what results here is a high quality Big Finish audio production, much better produced and directed than the previous three (Destination Nerva, The Renaissance Man, and The Wrath of the Iceni). Though the previous three are good productions, Energy of the Daleks is noticeably better. Here, Tom has a higher energy performance and better dialogue that is more on pitch with his TV run.

None of these are fantastic stories so far, though they are entertaining, and it's great to hear Tom back in the role. Having the fourth Doctor back and joining in these full cast audio dramas is indeed, imo, the biggest event Big Finish has had going for a number of years. Mention must also be given to Louise Jamison's pretty consistently excellent performances here, who is no stranger to Big Finish, as she has appeared in numerous Gallifrey series audios.



It's Definitely 1977

By:David Layton, Los Angeles, United States
Date:Wednesday 13 March 2019
Rating:   7

Energy of the Daleks would have fit well into the mid season of the 1977. It has several cultural references to the 2010s, but still plays as a 1970s story. The Doctor intends to take Leela to one place, ends up in London 2025 instead, and finds the UK as a quasi-authoritarian state running out of energy and a corporate genius with seemingly magical means to get the UK endless energy. It is nice to have Doctor 4 go up against the Daleks without Davros. Tom Baker plays the part as if he had never left it. It's entertaining, though there are some major plot holes (no light gravity on the moon?).



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