"Blood of the Daleks"
by Steve Lyons

The Eighth Doctor's audio adventures move forward in a refreshing and new way with Blood of the Daleks, an adventure by Steve Lyons. The two-part story, divided across a pair of individual releases, starts off an eight-CD season starring Paul McGann in the title role, joined by Sheridan Smith as his new companion. Set after the Eighth Doctor's travels with Charley and C'rizz, each of these new episodes is fifty minutes long, and is consciously similar in pace and style to the New Series.

The story begins with the Doctor travelling solo, and a young Northern girl materialising unexpectedly in his TARDIS. She's Lucie Miller, who has been placed under his care as part of a Time Lord witness protection programme, and when he finds himself unable to return her home, they arrive on distant planet Red Rocket Rising. Its doomed population are in disarray, but have been given a glimmer of hope, when a race of hideously-mutated creatures in robotic shells offer them salvation . . .

And so begins a new era for the Eighth Doctor. More subdued and downbeat - even a little grouchy - than we've seen him before, Paul McGann manages to bring new dimensions to a role which he's been playing for many years now, which is impressive. His co-star Sheridan Smith is an absolute joy, making Lucie Miller as gutsy and loveable as Rose Tyler, far easier to empathise with than Charley Pollard. Her character is imbued with realism and emotion, and by the end of the first disc the audience will find themselves mesmerised by her splendid performance.

The guest cast boasts 'big names' including Anita Dobson, who plays the leader of the colony on Red Rocket Rising, cleverly making her character likeable and easy to empathise with, despite some questionable behaviour; and Kenneth Cranham, who is equally strong.

The script is dramatic, epic, and funny; well-written and easy to become lost in. Whether it's tension (the magnificent cliffhanger which closes the first episode) or humour (Lucie asks if the Doctor's flowing locks are real) you favour, you're likely to find yourself well catered-for in what is a beautiful and well-plotted adventure. A fascinating scene towards the end of the second episode involving the character of the Headhunter hints ominously at the ongoing arc for this series. It's a dramatic moment which is an excellent example of what makes this pair of CDs so exciting and enjoyable.

Appended to the CD releases of these episodes are "extras", consisting of behind the scenes interviews and information about the production of the series. The most interesting contributions come from producer Nicholas Briggs, and stars Smith and McGann, whose enthusiasm and energy are encouraging and infectious. It's clear that everyone involved with this new series is excited about it, and keen to do good work; something which shows through in both the interviews and the play itself.

My only complaint would be that, in terms of actual material, there's as much story on these two products than there would have been on a single release of old, but the price is significantly higher. The high quality of the story doesn't quite make up for the fact that splitting the two parts across two CDs is, quite frankly, a bit of a rip-off.

Blood of the Daleks is a highly-polished, well-pitched opening to this series, which sets the bar very high indeed. An absolutely fantastic story.