Doctor Who: The major foes of the Fourth Doctor’s latest season have been revealed
By James Aggas
Some very old enemies return for the next box set in Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures. But they’re probably not the enemies we’ve been expecting…
Last month, the latest season of Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures began with the first half of The Syndicate Master Plan. The second half will be released later this month, but for the longest time, Big Finish have kept quiet about some of the major details. Until today.
Honestly, I can see why they kept quiet for so long. Because while I was expecting an old enemy to turn up, I must admit – these were definitely not the enemies that I was expecting.
It all goes back to The Daleks’ Master Plan. Yes, it turns out that the title of The Syndicate Master Plan was definitely more than a nod to that classic serial. In the original story, the Daleks weren’t the only ones who wanted to take over the universe. There was also Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System, and the representatives of seven galaxies.
These characters didn’t appear to be a major threat at the time. Or at the least, they weren’t seen as the major threat. After all, if you ally yourself with the Daleks, that’s basically asking for an automatic death sentence.
But once the Daleks were destroyed, the Doctor never did find out what happened to them. Which probably wasn’t a good thing. Because while they weren’t the main masterminds of the original plan, they were people who were very, very keen to take over the universe. And with the Daleks no longer around to keep them in check, that just meant that they could create a new master plan, all on their own…
Major consequences
Making a sequel to The Daleks’ Master Plan is an interesting idea, especially when you don’t focus on the Daleks themselves. I always love it when Doctor Who explores consequences from the Doctor’s previous adventures, ones that you don’t see coming. For example, while The Long Game isn’t one of the strongest episodes in Series One, it is satisfying finding out what happened to Satellite 5 in Bad Wolf.
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So it’s fantastic that Big Finish have actually asked themselves what happened to these smaller characters, and what they got up to next. The Syndicate Master Plan got off to a really fantastic start last month, and the second half now looks even more promising.
Especially the finale, The Perfect Prisoners. This particular line from Big Finish’s description sounds like we’ve got a lot in store for this one:
"Alliances will shift. Friends will die. Can even the Doctor come out of this alive?"
That sounds quite dramatic. But then again, so was The Daleks’ Master Plan. And considering companions really did die in that story, it does raise the question: will new companion Ann Kelso survive?
Whatever happens, it’s going to be exciting finding out in the second part of The Syndicate Master Plan!
Next. Review: Missy’s own series is a lot of villainous fun!. dark
Have you been following this series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures? Did you expect the representatives from The Daleks’ Master Plan to come back? And do you have your own theories on how the series will end? Let us know in the comments below.
