The Daleks have devised a fiendish plan that looks set to deliver a decisive victory against the humans of Earth’s solar system. General Agnes Landen and her fleet are all that stand in their way. And then there’s Salus Kade, rumours of whose death have been proven to be greatly exaggerated. But can he overcome his hostility towards Landen long enough to turn his rage against the Daleks...?

Roughly a year has passed since the events of Part 3. As Part 4 opens, Salus Kade (Noel Clarke) is missing presumed dead and the Daleks (Nicholas Briggs) have an audacious new scheme up their metallic sleeves for wiping out their enemies. This is quite a different story from the Susan Mendes assassination plot arc of the last two instalments. As in Part 1, we only hear briefly from Suz (Sarah Mowat) at the end of the episode, which in my opinion does not warrant the actress’s billing on the CD’s front cover (which is why I have omitted her from the product information at the top of this page).

The main narrative thread that links this instalment with the previous one is Kade’s emotional damage and his desire to exact revenge against both the Daleks and General Landen (Maureen O’Brien), for what they have done to him and his loved ones. Here his hallucinations grow worse and he ends up recklessly confronting the leaders of both sides of the conflict: Landen and the Dalek Emperor. He pulls no punches in terms of his hostility towards his commanding officer. Indeed, as the extra features at the end of this disc reveal, Clarke insisted that Kade’s actions be made more ruthless than writer/director Briggs had originally conceived.

Also in the interviews, Maureen O’Brien discusses the characterisation of Agnes Landen, a tough cookie who is nevertheless more than just a masculine character with a female name.

I fear that The Fearless isn’t my favourite Dalek Empire series to date (that would be the original one or Dalek Empire III), but the campaign has been well fought and worthwhile.

7

Richard McGinlay