Image Credit: Big Finish (Fair Use)
Image Description: The cover of The Enemy of My Enemy
By John Salway
Name: The Enemy of My Enemy
Type: Audio Drama
Price: £10.99
Current TLV investment: £153.87
Now that we’ve seen the Dalek Restoration Empire in glorious animated technicolour, it’s time for them to make their mark on the audio world as they join Paul McGann for the second story of his Time Lord Victorious trilogy, The Enemy of My Enemy.
The ingeniously simple set-up sees the Daleks procuring the Doctor’s help to understand the changes to history that are littering the universe. In particular, they want to understand the sudden existence of the Wraxian Empire, a force to rival their own… – but as usual, the Daleks haven’t quite told the Doctor the whole story.
The Wraxians are a delightfully canny foe for the Daleks, making overtures of peace while concealing a ghastly weapon. While outwardly far more cultured and relatable than their Skarosian counterparts, their low tolerance of other races, as well as their proud archive of genocide, makes it a tough bet for the Doctor regarding who to side with.
On the opposing team, the Dalek Executioner and Strategist are back from Daleks!, coming into occasional conflict as the Strategist’s machinations conflict with the simple death-dealing mission of the Executioner. This time we also have the Scientist, who has a weasely, obsequious tone, and the Time Commander, who functions as a sort of mini-Supreme and leads the squad. The importance of Nicholas Briggs’ exceptional voice work here cannot be overstated. Even without the aid of visuals, there is no doubt at any point as to which Dalek is speaking, and inter-Dalek dialogue scenes are consistently a treat. In addition to this, Briggs also voices Krinso, one of the humanoid people of the planet Wrax, with consummate skill. Perhaps we should consider this a Nicholas Briggs audio story featuring Paul McGann, rather than the other way around!
That would, of course, be very unfair, as McGann performs at his usual high level. Despite all the intrigue around him, the Doctor is absolutely the central thread to events, poking around archives, deciding the fate of empires, and developing a coy partnership with the Dalek Strategist. I’d keep your eye on that one if I were you, Doctor, he’s a slippery bugger…
I was really impressed with The Enemy of My Enemy, which packs a lot of strong ideas and excitement into a one-hour release, shows off the strengths of the Dalek Restoration Empire (which has now been cemented as my favourite Dalek range), and effortlessly combines a mostly standalone adventure with a greater context. An unexpected delight was the way this release ties into the previous Short Trip tale, Master Thief; finally revealing its connection to the Time Lord Victorious arc and compelling me to listen to it all over again.
But despite the success of this collaboration, it looks like it’s all going to end in tears for the Doctor and the Daleks as the final audio in the trilogy sees them heading towards Mutually Assured Destruction…
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