The Curse of Davros
Audio Drama by Jonathan Morris
Big Finish Productions
This audio adventure, the first of a new trilogy featuring Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor, is positively fizzing with ideas through Jonathan Morris’s inventive script.
The Doctor is reunited with companion Flip (first heard in The Haunting of Thomas Brewster) in present day London, closely followed by the Daleks. There are a few terrific scenes in the city before a hijacked Dalek ship takes the duo, plus Flip’s boyfriend Jared, back to 19th Century Europe and the Eve of Waterloo. It is here that Davros, in league with Napoleon, plans to alter the outcome of the battle and change human history forever.
The scenes of French and Prussian soldiers preparing for battle are acted with real passion and insight, and contrast well with the Dalek’s own mindless warmongering.
Lisa Greenwood gives a spirited performance as Flip, though her lack of lasting concern over the various massacres she witnesses seems unrealistic (the Doctor’s own seeming callousness forms an important plot development).
Of note too is Terry Molloy’s performance as Davros, casting his physical predicament in a new light, tinged with the current right to die debate.
But it is Colin Baker who really delivers a tour de force in this audio, making the most of his two handers with Davros, and the ? ? opportunities the Dalek’s mind transference device afford both him and the story. To say more would spoil some wonderful moments.
From Daleks chasing a ‘Boris bus’ to Napoleon facing a crisis of confidence, the story offers multiple pleasures for the listener. The prospect that this trilogy may yet turn full circle for both The Doctor and Davros is an enticing one.
