Fugitive of the Daleks is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions that sees Stephen Noonan doing another pretty good impression of William Hartnell’s version of the Doctor. Jonathan Morris returns as scriptwriter with Nicholas Briggs pulling double duty as director and the voice of the Daleks. Maureen O’Brien reprises the role of Vicki, who has lived as Lady Cressida in Earth’s distant past. Lauren Cornelius is also back as Dodo, who was originally portrayed by the late Jackie Lane. Ashley Cousins, Mark Elstob, Genevieve Gaunt, and Gary Turner make up the guest cast.
Vicki has lived a long, prosperous life after being left behind by the Doctor and Steven in the doomed city of Troy. She has raised a family and told tales of her previous travels in the TARDIS. She is informed that a strange blue box has appeared, and she recognizes the description. She is reunited with the Doctor who seems to be mysteriously injured and suffering from some sort of amnesia. He is restored to health on a space station with three survivors of a mysterious plague. They soon realize that the Daleks are on their trail. Vicki starts to notice some peculiar inconsistencies in the Doctor’s behavior. A mysterious presence is on board the TARDIS. Another chase has ensued, but Vicki is not sure that she can trust the Doctor as she did in times past.
Noonan’s performance echoing the vocal mannerisms of the late William Hartnell continue to improve. O’Brien is now about 80 years old and still sounds fantastic. There is a moment in the cast interviews where Nicholas Briggs assured O’Brien that she did not need to sound like an old lady even though she was playing a Vicki close to her own age. It was the right call because Briggs was right when he pointed out that many older people retained a youthful voice, and there was no need for O’Brien to sound more like an old crone. O’Brien still manages to easily slip into her “Vicki voice” and is fantastic in this release. Dodo doesn’t appear until pretty late into the story, but Cornelius doesn’t disappoint either when she finally makes her appearance.
There are some pretty good twists that offer some interesting callbacks to some of the television episodes. I am not sure that liked the final twist all that much, but I am not going to spoil that one.
My first instinct is that Morris is just echoing a little too much the television serial known as The Chase. I am a little annoyed that there is some repetition here, but there is just enough unpredictability to help me forgive it. Morris has been one of Big Finish’s most consistent and competent writers. Although I do not rate this one as a top tier contribution, it’s still pretty good.
Even if I have to work at it a bit to enjoy the First Doctor, I still appreciate Big Finish’s efforts to bring new stories to represent the era.
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