‘The Dalek Protocol’ (Audio)

‘THE DALEK PROTOCOL’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Daleks with the Fourth Doctor, Leela and K-9 as well as Anya and Mark

This is where the ‘Dalek Universe’ saga of ‘Doctor Who’ stories begins!

‘The Dalek Protocol’ with Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor is a prequel to the ‘Dalek Universe’ audio stories with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Originally, this wasn’t going to be a prequel to ‘Dalek Universe’. I assume ‘The Dalek Protocol’ would’ve been in one of ‘The Fourth Doctor Adventures’ seasons.

This four-part adventure written and directed by Nicholas Briggs was recorded in July 2018. This was way before ‘Dalek Universe’ had been conceived and recorded in 2020 and released in 2021. So, this is a pre-Covid-19 pandemic audio adventure with Tom Baker’s Doctor. This is so fascinating to know.

I enjoyed ‘The Dalek Protocol’ with Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Louise Jameson as Leela and K-9, voiced by John Leeson. It serves as a nice setup to what we’re about to expect in the ‘Dalek Universe’ audios and it also serves well as being a thrilling romp featuring our heroes fighting Daleks.

Anna Mitcham and Tom Baker in ‘The Dalek Protocol’.

‘The Dalek Protocol’ also serves as a sequel to many ‘Doctor Who’ stories featured in the series, both on TV and audio. Most significantly, this story is a sequel to ‘Death to the Daleks’, especially when the Doctor and Leela return to Exxilon and there’s a power-draining beacon upon their arrival there.

As some of you know, I wasn’t that keen about ‘Death to the Daleks’ when I saw it on DVD and when I reviewed it on my blog. But it’s made clear that Nick Briggs is a huge fan of ‘Death to the Daleks’. So, he gets his chance to write a thumping good sequel to the story with some new elements in it. 🙂

And yes! I say ‘thumping good’, because I found myself engaged with the story and the characters compared to how I viewed ‘Death to the Daleks’. Maybe when it comes to revisiting the story at some point in future, I might have more appreciation about what ‘Death to the Daleks’ tried to do. 🙂

Jez Fielder and Tom Baker in ‘The Dalek Protocol’.

In the story, Leela wants the Doctor to take her and K-9 to Exxilon, as he visited it on a previous occasion. This story also serves as a follow-up to the audio story ‘The Exxilons’ where the Fourth Doctor, Leela and K-9 encountered them. You don’t need to hear that story in order to hear this one.

When the Doctor tries to get him, Leela and K-9 there to Exxilon, there’s an instantaneous power drain. The TARDIS and K-9 are out of power, and the Doctor and Leela find a beacon atop a city on Exxilon. This surprises the Doctor, since he thought he destroyed the beacon on its city the last time.

There’s also disharmony among the humans collecting the parrinium to eradicate the space plague that’s affecting them in the universe with the Exxilons who want them off their planet. The Daleks meanwhile are behind most of the events going on in this story and want the parrinium themselves.

Tom Baker and John Leeson in ‘The Dalek Protocol’.

Now, there are arguably familiar elements featured in ‘The Dalek Protocol’ when you match the story to ‘Death to the Daleks’. Thankfully, the second half of the story takes place aboard a human spaceship where the Daleks come to attack and they’re attempting to steal the parrinium themselves. 🙂

This story is also a sequel/prequel to ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’ season of ‘Doctor Who’. Most specifically, ‘The Dalek Protcol’ features Jane Slavin as Anya Kingdom. In ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’ season, she was a travelling companion of the Fourth Doctor, who went under the alias of Ann Kelso.

It’s interesting to hear this story, as the events of ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’ have already happened for Anya, but for the Fourth Doctor, they’re yet to happen. Anya does her best to avoid making contact with Tom Baker’s Doctor and often hides her identity with a mask when talking to him. 🙂

Jane Slavin and Tom Baker in ‘The Dalek Protocol’.

It’s a shame Jane Slavin and Tom Baker don’t get to have many scenes together in ‘The Dalek Protcol’, but I think it works well that Tom’s Doctor doesn’t know anything about Anya Kingdom yet. I like how Anya has a scene with Leela at the story’s end, telling her not to tell the Doctor her name.

This story also features Joe Sims as Mark Seven, whom the Doctor describes as a hero of the Dalek Wars. Now, I’ve come across Mark Seven before on audio. He’s an android who appeared in ‘The Daleks’ unaired pilot episode ‘The Destroyers’, which also featured Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom in it.

In that, Mark Seven was played by another actor – Alan Cox. He’s also appeared in some of the stories from the Dalek Annuals. It was fascinating to hear him appear in this Fourth Doctor audio story before meeting the Tenth Doctor in the ‘Dalek Universe’ audios and how he teams up with Anya Kingdom. 🙂

Joe Sims and Tom Baker in ‘The Dalek Protocol’.

In ‘The Dalek Protocol’, Mark Seven goes through a moral dilemma when he’s programmed with the titular Dalek protocol in his head by the Daleks. The Doctor, Leela and Anya respectively persuade him to not follow what the Daleks have said through their lies so that he can protect humanity again.

Tom Baker is excellent as the Doctor throughout this audio adventure. It was interesting to hear his reaction to being on Exxilon and how he reunited with his old friend Bellal, who doesn’t recognise him in the story. Tom Baker carries off what Jon Pertwee went through in ‘Death to the Daleks’ well.

It’s interesting how the Doctor works out what’s going on when it’s unveiled Mark Seven is an agent working for the Daleks. He does all he can to persuade Mark that the Daleks have been lying to him and they don’t want to share the parrinium. He’s also baffled when unknown people are helping him.

Louise Jameson is equally good as Leela in this audio adventure. I like how the events of ‘The Exillons’ are carried forward in this adventure, especially for listeners who haven’t heard that story yet. Leela is also cheeky and mischievous when teasing the Doctor’s skills in the TARDIS console room.

Louise Jameson and Tom Baker in ‘The Dalek Protocol’.

Leela comes across as strong when telling people like Gislen that they’re wrong in their assumptions of them without questioning why they’ve come to Exxilon. Leela copes well when aboard the human spaceship, especially when the Daleks cause trouble and Mark Seven is letting them come aboard. 🙂

I enjoyed K-9 in this audio adventure. It’s a shame he was absent in ‘Part Two’ once the power drain happened in ‘Part One’ upon the TARDIS’ arrival on Exxilon. Thankfully, K-9’s power is restored when the TARDIS is aboard the human spaceship and he reunites with Leela who comes to collect them. 🙂

Interestingly, this is the Mark I model of K-9. Anya Kingdom met the Mark II model of K-9 during ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’ season. Yet she knows a lot about K-9 when she places a device on him for him to know everything’s going on aboard the spaceship when guiding the Doctor and Leela around.

As well as writing, directing and voicing the Daleks in this story, Nicholas Briggs also plays Captain Bernard of the human spaceship and Bellal on the planet Exillon (originally played by Arnold Yarrow in ‘Death to the Daleks’). Bernard is easily frustrated as things don’t seem to go his way in the story.

Nicholas Briggs and Tom Baker in ‘The Dalek Protocol’.

I like how Nick Briggs voices Bellal, almost sounding like his TV counterpart at times. A shame the Doctor and Bellal didn’t spend many scenes together and Bellal didn’t really trust the Doctor on who he said he was. I like how the Daleks were pretty manipulative in making Mark do what they wanted.

The story also features Anna Mitcham as Ellasi Craig, a SSS agent who works under Anya Kingdom and undercover when learning about the Daleks’ involvement with the new beacon on Exxilon and wanting to steal the parrinium. It’s assumed at one point that Ellasi Craig is a Dalek agent in the story.

And there’s Jez Fielder, who’s appeared in Big Finish audios like ‘Circular Time’ and ‘Prisoners of Fate’, as the Exxilon called Gislen. Gislen is very aggressive compared to Bellal. He wants the humans to leave Exxilon, and he suspects the Doctor and Leela are involved in the matter, as he threatens to kill them.

‘The Dalek Protocol’ has been an enjoyable audio adventure featuring the Fourth Doctor, Leela and K-9 as well as Anya Kingdom, Mark Seven and the Daleks. I’m intrigued about what will happen next when Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven get to meet the Tenth Doctor in the ‘Dalek Universe’ audios. 🙂

The CD extras are as follows. At the end of Disc 1, there are six tracks of incidental music to enjoy. At the end of Disc 2, there’s a trailer for ‘The Doomsday Contract’ with Tom Baker, Lalla Ward and K-9. There are also some behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, including Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Jane Slavin, Joe Sims, Nicholas Briggs, script editor John Dorney, etc.

‘The Dalek Protocol’ rating – 8/10

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The previous story For the Fourth Doctor was ‘Shadow of the Sun’ (Audio) For Leela was ‘Shadow of the Sun’ (Audio) For K-9 Mk I was ‘Shadow of the Sun’ (Audio) For Anya was ‘The Perfect Prisoners’ (Audio) For Mark Seven was ‘Island of Horror’ (Annual) For the Daleks was ‘Death to the Daleks’ (TV)	The next story For the Fourth Doctor is ‘The Time Vampire’ (Audio) For Leela is ‘The Time Vampire’ (Audio) For K-9 Mk I is ‘The Time Vampire’ (Audio) For Anya is ‘Queen of the Mechonoids’ (DRS) (Audio) For Mark Seven is ‘Queen of the Mechonoids’ (DRS) (Audio) For the Daleks is ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ (Audio)
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