Doctor Who: War of the Daleks (Paperback)

There have been times in the latter part of the TV series that the Daleks have seemed nothing but stooges to Davros, but War of the Daleks takes the ideas from Remembrance of the Daleks and runs with them, emphasising the divisions between Dalek ranks - being those loyal to Davros and those loyal to the Dalek Prime, hence the war. It is interesting to see Daleks starting to think for themselves again like in the good old days, and unlike some of the new range of Dr Who novels this story actually stays true to the TV version and doesn't seem like something completely different trying to compete with American sci-fi. If Big Finish make an audio version of War then I'll be the first to buy it.

In particular, why was Skaro seemingly abandoned by the Daleks ? Subsequent to 'Destiny of the Daleks', it seemed as if the Daleks had definitely lost their 'galactic superpower' status and were instead doomed to a near-eternity of civil war between those Daleks loyal to the memory of the 'true' Emperor Dalek (destroyed in 'Evil of the Daleks') and Davros who ultimately made himself 'Emperor' of a new Dalek race engineered on Necros (Revelation of the Daleks),

'War of the Daleks' resolves these issues in an ingenious fashion. In a fascinating dialogue between the Doctor and the Dalek Prime (the last survivor of the original 'prototype' Daleks build in the Kaled bunker), it emerges that both Davros and the Doctor have been misled by the Dalek leadership through all the events of 'Destiny of the Daleks' through to 'Remembrance of the Daleks'..

There are a number of interesting characters in 'War of the Daleks'; Delani is a Thal officer who has been morally brutalised by the hereditary war with the Daleks; the Doctor himself comes across as a little out of his depth as his dialogue with the Dalek Prime unfolds ; the Dalek Prime is described as having an appearance that resembles the Emperor Dalek featured in the 'TV21' comic strips of the 1960s - more importantly its existence is clear testimony to the Daleks return to being an autonomous species capable of devising its own strategies.

If there is to be a 40th anniversary special, 'War of the Daleks' is a prime candidate to provide its core plot. The novel's scenes are too epic for the BBC, but the plot, if portrayed properly, would restore 'Doctor Who' as a leading science fiction series.

Peel's characterisation is, I feel, somewhat hit and miss - Ayaka is possibly one of the finest Doctor Who characters ever written, constantly torn between her strong morality and her unwavering sense of duty to the Thal cause. The other Thals are also well written, as is Chayn. Perhaps the most interesting characterisation however is that of the Doctor, as we discover just how little he understands what has been happening in the Dalek empire over the last several centuries, and how he has been manipulated by the Dalek Prime. Also, his guilt concerning the actions of Delani and the Thals - it was, after all the Doctor who first convinced the Thals to abandon their pacifist ways and fight against the Daleks - is well-realised and believable. The character of Sam is also fairly well developed, as she realises just how much she cares for the Doctor, and how out of her depth she is when faced with the menace of the Daleks.

The Daleks themselves, however, while presented fairly well as a civilisation (perhaps not the appropriate term for the Daleks!), are often poorly written, and I found it difficult to imagine a Dalek saying much of the dialogue in the later chapters. Davros too, who seems to have been modelled on Terry Molloy's somewhat misguided version of the character, is disappointing. While he is occasionally given some splendid dialogue, he is on the whole presented as a ranting imbecile, and a long way from the quiet, cold, calculating genius of Michael Wisher's original performance in Genesis of the Daleks.

The actual plot is, as I mentioned, incredibly complex, and shatters everything that you thought you knew about the Daleks, casting new light on the events of every Dalek story from Destiny of the Daleks onwards. This may be too much for the casual reader to digest, but provided you grasp the details of the Dalek Prime's master plan and the events leading up to the war prophesised in the title, the rest of the book is highly entertaining, and not at all slow-moving, as has been suggested by other readers.

By far the most disappointing aspect of the book for me, which prevents it from receiving a five-star rating, was the ending, which after the epic events of the final few chapters, seemed like rather an anticlimax, as the Doctor realises that the Dalek Prime has manipulated him once again and the Thals (and indeed the entire galaxy) are in grave danger - all well and good, but following this realisation, the Doctor devises and executes an effective solution far too easily, and the whole final chapter seems rushed and rather unsatisfying.

Gripes aside, War of the Daleks is a highly entertaining read, and re-establishes the Daleks as a dangerous, intelligent enemy in their own right, as opposed to simply being Davros's 'heavies', as they were often portrayed in the later TV stories. While casual readers would do better to investigate Peel's subsequent Dalek story (Legacy of the Daleks), War of the Daleks is, on the whole, a highly satisfying read for the die-hard Doctor Who fan.