The Dalek Factor
By Simon Clark

     When you think of Doctor Who, you also think of his most famous enemy the Daleks. To date, none of the books have featured this tin nemesis, but here is one at long last that does, and sadly it is the last. Blame the BBC for not renewing Telos’ license and thus depriving fans of more of these excellent books. Set on a green hell of a planet, a shipload of Thals are trying to root out their ancient enemy and are investigating sightings. They get these, and a whole lot more besides; there is worse here than just Daleks and it seems the crew are to die one by one. But they are not totally alone for a mysterious being they dub “The Professor” is keen to assist, if only he could remember who he is or how he got there.

     Teatime fare this ain’t, and with Simon Clark in the driving seat you can expect some horror and plenty of surprises. It had me wondering whether this is perhaps the type of story the new series-to-be might serve up; it manages to skillfully combine the ambience of the TV show with a gritty, scary plot. Narrated by one of the Thal platoon, it shows an alien world through the eyes of a human-seeming individual without the histrionics of one of the Doctor’s companions. The Doctor himself is not given as any particular incarnation (perhaps he is supposed to be the new broom? Take your pick) but he bears a strong likeness to Patrick Troughton’s portrayal in his speech although it is clearly not him for reasons revealed by reading the book. As with all these novellas, this comes highly recommended.