Doctor Who: A wonderfully old-school yet refreshing Dalek story in The Dalek Occupation of Winter
By James Aggas
This year’s season of Doctor Who: The Early Adventures audios begins with The Dalek Occupation of Winter. How well does this capture Dalek stories of the original era?
I must admit, The Dalek Occupation of Winter intrigued me ever since I first heard of it. I’m a big fan of the Sixties era of Dalek stories, so kicking off the latest season of Doctor Who: The Early Adventures with such a story was definitely a good idea.
Also, aside from last year’s Across the Darkened City, we’ve hardly had any First Doctor audios with the Daleks at all. Which is surprising, considering how many there were in his TV era.
This is David K. Barnes’s first script for Big Finish, but based on the quality of this story, I really hope it’s far from his last. The Dalek Occupation of Winter is such an incredibly strong story, for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, Barnes clearly understands exactly what made the original Sixties Dalek stories so successful. The tone is exactly right for the era, and the Daleks always feel like a very real threat.
But more than that: we get the Daleks being very dangerously clever and devious, too. There are clear nods to Second Doctor story The Power of the Daleks in how they act in this one. In later eras like the Time War, they get to be openly evil and destructive right from the start.
In this audio, however, they’re clearly much more restrained. It adds a great layer of tension to the story, as we’re all waiting for the moment when the Daleks finally lash out and begin to exterminate everyone.
A more morally complex Dalek story
But it’s not just the nods to previous stories or matching the original era that makes The Dalek Occupation of Winter such a fantastic listen. It’s also how fresh and distinctive it is, too.
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
A key element that gives Winter such freshness is that it has a more morally complex issue than in many other Dalek stories. Without giving too much away, the Daleks aren’t simply invading the city of Winter, not this time. They’re taking advantage of a very desperate situation. A situation that the humans of Winter will accept any help to fix.
Because of how complex the issue is, the Doctor, Steven and Vicki have a bigger challenge than usual this time. The stakes may be in some ways smaller than other Dalek stories. After all, the entire audio is focused just on one city on one far off-world, and not the fate of the universe, as in other Dalek stories.
But that actually allows things to be uncertain, and Barnes is given more freedom to give us an ending that’s less happy and easy than usual, for a change. It’s really refreshing to have a Dalek story that’s so small in scale, as it gives us a very different look at both them and the human reaction to them.
Overall, The Dalek Occupation of Winter is a fantastic story for Dalek fans, and a great debut from David K. Barnes. Like the best Big Finish stories, it’s a perfect fit for the era it’s written for, while at the same time, provides something very fresh and new to listen to. Definitely recommended.
Next. Review: The Witchfinders – a scary monster episode, or a clash of genres?. dark
What’s your favorite story to feature the Daleks? Do you enjoy their larger scale plans like The Parting of the Ways, or something smaller such as The Power of the Daleks? Let us know in the comments below.