A virus called NFS – Neurotransmitter Failure Syndrome – has swept the galaxy, laying entire populations to waste. Siy Tarkov, after discovering evidence of an impending Dalek invasion, fell victim to NFS after leaving Velyshaa and placed himself in suspended animation after helplessly watching the rest of his crew die. His desperate distress signal, warning of the Dalek approach, has gone undetected…except by a mysterious man named Selestru, who hires a space traveler named Galanar to find Tarkov’s drifting ship and bring Tarkov back. Selestru wants to know more about the Daleks, and he wants to know about the planet Velyshaa, which has fallen off of the galactic star charts and into the realm of myth.
On a jungle world of Graxis Major, the planet’s natural evolution is monitored by the peaceful Graxis Wardens; led by Commander Frey Saxton, the Wardens set up their observation posts only where no indigenous life exists. But just as the Wardens await the arrival of a new recruit, something else lands on Graxis Major. And when the first Wardens go out to investigate the unexpected landing, those scouts begin dying violently. Commander Saxton asks the Confederation of Border Worlds, the government closest to Graxis Major, for assistance, but when the Confederation’s representative arrives, he has unexpected passengers on his ship. And a couple of Wardens who have barely survived an attack recognize the new arrivals as Daleks.
written by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas BriggsCast: David Tennant (Galanar), William Gaunt (Selestru), Ishia Bennison (Frey Saxton), Steven Elder (Siy Tarkov), Sarah Mowat (Suz), Laura Rees (Kaymee), Claudia Elmhirst (Amur), Octavia Walters (Japrice), Peter Forbes (Culver), Oliver Hume (Carneill), Dot Smith (Mivas), Greg Donaldson (Telligan), Karen Henson (Saloran), Dannie Carr (Morli), Jeremy James (Sergic / Snubby), Sean Jackson (Seth), Ian Brooker (Mietok), Jane Goddard (Roozell), Philip Wolff (Chauley), Colin McIntyre (Jake), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices)
Notes: The third “season” of Dalek Empire audios marked one of David Tennant’s final performances from Big Finish Productions; later in 2004, he starred in the miniseries Casanova produced by Russell T. Davies, whose new series of Doctor Who began in 2005; not long after the new series began, Christopher Eccleston announced he was giving up the role of the ninth Doctor, and Tennant was named as the tenth Doctor not long afterward, making his first appearance in Eccleston’s final episode, The Parting Of The Ways (which, coincidentally, also featured the Daleks as voiced by Nicholas Briggs). Tennant’s co-star, William Gaunt, also appeared with the Daleks on television, guest starring as the mercenary Orcini in the Colin Baker adventure Revelation Of The Daleks in 1985.
LogBook entry by Earl Green