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Doctor Who spin-off review: Dalek Empire III ends on a bleak note with The Future

By James Aggas

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Our heroes face both a desperate suicide mission and an uncertain future, in the final episode of Doctor Who spin-off series Dalek Empire III.

The Future is more than just the final chapter of Dalek Empire‘s third series. Chronologically speaking, it’s the last chapter in the Doctor Who spin-off altogether. While a fourth series was made a couple of years later, Dalek Empire: The Fearless takes place during the events of the first series. So how well does The Future resolve the story?

The final chapter of Dalek War seemed like a pretty dark ending. The heroes won, but it came at an incredibly high cost. Friends died, and the entire galaxy suffered from a huge disaster in the aftermath. It wasn’t exactly the lightest of endings.

But to be honest, that ending seems as much of a happy ending as Return of the Jedi compared to the ending of Dalek Empire III. This isn’t an epic battle, not in terms of whole armies fighting each other. Instead, The Future is the story of an incredibly desperate suicide mission. One that not only has a small chance of success, but won’t even destroy the Daleks. Or at least, not immediately. Nicholas Briggs doesn’t just end Dalek Empire III on a dark note, but on an uncertain one, too.

The story that began with The Exterminators ends in The Future. Is the final episode an effective resolution?

(Image credit: Dalek Empire/Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

A built up friendship?

With the story left so open, how are the characters handled? Are their stories resolved effectively, at least?

To some extent, yes. Particularly regarding the friendship between Galanar and Tarkov. That’s essentially been the focus of the series, or at least, what the series has been building towards. It partially began in the last episode The Warriors, but mainly develops here, in the final chapter.

Ironically, we actually don’t get to hear that much development, as a few months are skipped. So we hear them go from two people barely starting to trust each other to suddenly sharing banter with one another.

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I’ll be honest, it almost feels like a bit of a cheat, especially as this a friendship that the series has been building towards since its first episode, The Exterminators. Still, it is nice to get something of that payoff and to hear a little of that friendship before the end.

A dark ending

But that’s the only thing nice about The Future. I’m not saying it’s awful, far from it, but it’s definitely depressing. If the regulars don’t die, then they suffer a fate worse than death. Nicholas Briggs pulls no punches here, and ends the series in such a way that it makes To The Death – one of the darkest Doctor Who stories ever – seem hopeful and optimistic by comparison.

For many other epic sci-fi series, this would be a strange note to end on. But Dalek Empire has always been just that little bit darker and nastier than most other sci-fi series. Chronologically, at least, The Future seems like a strangely fitting note to end on.

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Have you listened to Dalek Empire III? What were your overall thoughts on the series? Do you think it was as strong as the first two series? Let us know in the comments

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