Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101133 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-30
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio CD

Customer Reviews

Immense
I have to set my stall in the positive camp and say that this is a return to form for the malevolent pepperpots, as well as a triumph for both The Seventh Doctor and his companion the teenage tearaway Ace. With impressive sound effects, a solid story and confident performances from the leads this is a decent audio drama from Big Finish.

Daleks, a rainforest and a double Ace
"The library on Kar-Charrat is one of the wonders of the Universe. It is also hidden from all but a few select species. The Doctor and Ace discover that the librarians have found a new way of storing data - a wetworks facility - but the machine has attracted unwanted attention, and the Doctor soon finds himself pitted against his oldest and deadliest enemies - the Daleks!"

So, the Daleks make their first appearance in a Big Finish audio adventure... and I'm pleased to say that the Doctor's oldest and deadlies foes make the translation to the new format with considerable aplomb!
Mike Tucker's The Genocide Machine is a classic Doctor Who story, with quirky characters such as Bruce Montague's Chief Librarian Elgin and the unfortunate, ever-silent Cataloguer Prink, a random element (Louise Faulkner's mercenary Bev Tarrant) and a suitably villainous foe in the form of the Daleks. The rainforest planet of Kar-Cherat is conveyed excellently by the story's use of atmospheric sound effects (this is rapidly becoming a habitual trait of the Big Finish stories). The Daleks sound excellent, voiced with a harsh edge by director and composer Nicholas Briggs, who also provided Dalek voices for the new TV series with Christopher Eccleston.
The Daleks in The Genocide Machine seem to fit the timeline of the new TV series more than anything else, being commanded from Skaro by an apparently massive Emperor Dalek that sounds a lot like that revealed in The Parting of the Ways. However, to please the crowd, The Genocide Machine also features a Dalek Supreme and, in a triumphantly recogniseable appearance using the original sound effects, a Special Weapons Dalek. The Daleks are also up to their usual tricks, duplicating humanoids and taking over planets.
The cast are good, although Sophie Aldred sometimes doesn't convince as the robot Ace. The running joke of Prink as a supposed chatterbox who never manages to get a word in edgeways is somewhat predictable, but overall The Genocide Machine is well scripted and performed. An entertaining turn; the Big Finish series continues to impress.

Excellent Dalek story. (Wonderfully atmospheric cover art too!).
The Daleks sound very urgent and menacing as though they really do mean business! And with different sounding voices for the different Daleks speaking so you can follow which one is talking. The special weapons dalek, the Dalek Supreme and the Emperor Dalek especially sounding very distinctive, the emperor sounding quite creepy. I loved the character of Mr Elgin, the head librarian, his voice and character were extremely well put across, very distinctive. Sylvestor McCoy and Sophie Aldred played their parts to perfection and the sound of the raindrops and continual rainfall of the planet were also very effective too. One of the best from Big Finish, especially the first two episodes which were quite simply superb. A treat for all Dr Who fans everywhere.