What do you think?
Rate this book
The First Doctor Adventures #2.3
Doctor Who: Fugitive of the Daleks
Years after ending her travels with the Doctor, Vicki finds herself back in the TARDIS. The Doctor desperately needs her help, and she’s only too happy to oblige. But in the process, the two of them fall into a series of perilous encounters, with the dreaded Daleks never far behind them. What is the mysterious presence inside the TARDIS? And precisely what damage do the Daleks and their agents intend to cause to the flow of Earth’s history? The Doctor and Vicki must call upon all their guile and bravery to discover the truth and save the day.
- GenresDoctor Who
Audio CD
First published January 23, 2024
19 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Morris
215 books70 followersJonathan Morris is one of the most prolific and popular writers of Doctor Who books, including the highly-regarded novels 'Festival of Death' and 'Touched by an Angel' and the recent guide to monsters, 'The Monster Vault'. He has also written numerous comic strips, most of which were collected in 'The Child of Time', and audios for BBC Audio and Big Finish, including the highly-regarded comedies 'Max Warp' and 'The Auntie Matter', as well as the adaptation of Russell T Davies’ 'Damaged Goods'.
Recently he has started his own audio production company, Average Romp. Releases include a full-cast adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Chimes', an original play, 'When Michael Met Benny', and three episodes of a SF sitcom, 'Dick Dixon in the 21st Century'.
For details visit www.averageromp.com
He also originated his own series, Vienna and script-edited the Nigel Planer series 'Jeremiah Bourne in Time'. He’s also written documentaries and for TV sketch shows.
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Recently he has started his own audio production company, Average Romp. Releases include a full-cast adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Chimes', an original play, 'When Michael Met Benny', and three episodes of a SF sitcom, 'Dick Dixon in the 21st Century'.
For details visit www.averageromp.com
He also originated his own series, Vienna and script-edited the Nigel Planer series 'Jeremiah Bourne in Time'. He’s also written documentaries and for TV sketch shows.
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 5, 2025
Big Finish does the 1960s Dalek story, the Chase, but better!
It is very hard to talk about this without spoilers. All the references throughout the story are included for the benefit of the story. It also gives Vicki a far more satisfying ending than the Myth Makers ever did. Maureen O’Brien gets lots of material to work with in this story. The 6 parts certainly flew by.
It is very hard to talk about this without spoilers. All the references throughout the story are included for the benefit of the story. It also gives Vicki a far more satisfying ending than the Myth Makers ever did. Maureen O’Brien gets lots of material to work with in this story. The 6 parts certainly flew by.
March 7, 2025
Four hours of real Doctor Who. The first one. We get to see Vicky and Polly. It's an interesting tale as we've got Vicky returning to the Tardis (as an old companion) while she was living in Carthage (after being a grandmother). It's a good tale of cat and mouse and robots so perfect they may elude everyone and everything. I enjoy the tale. It flows and keeps the status quo. Althought the final explanation and resolution is a bit on the boring side... Overall good. 60/100
February 3, 2024
✅83% = Great!
VICKI RETURNS FOR A NEW ADVENTURE!
Fugitive of the Daleks builds a strong and interesting atmosphere early on, letting us experience the story through the eyes of an older Vicki. We then get a lovely catch-up between her and the Doctor; they've lost none of their lovely chemistry, even if Vicki is older and wiser now. Part 1 then wonderfully reveals the true nature of the spaceship setting in an exciting sequence, setting up the rest of the story.
From there on, the story slowly builds upon its atmosphere and reveals the wider plan of the Daleks while allowing Vicki and the Doctor to catch up on their lives. The adventure turns into something like a Keys of Marinus or The Chase type of story, where different episodes are set at different points in time and space. Part 2, for instance, sees the Doctor and Vicki land in a prehistoric culture, which allows the guest actors to have fun while grunting around (it feels very 60s in tone), and Part 3 takes them to the US in 1876 in the midst of a war between American settlers and the Sioux tribes. This structure helps keep the story fresh at all times, even if it remains pretty light on the main story arc.
The latter half goes even further down The Chase route as the Doctor is replaced by a robotic copy, and Part 4 reveals he is in fact the same robot left behind by the Dalekd in The Chase. It's a pretty silly, but also pretty clever, twist, especially since there are small hints planted throughout the story preceding the reveal.
I love how this story brings back an older Vicki, or Cressida, as she is known, allowing Maureen O'Brien to use her natural voice and the story to explore how she's grown and developed over the decades. She is dragged into a new adventure by a dying Doctor and sent away to a faraway place in the future to find medical equipment to help the Doctor. After this, she joins him for the rest of the adventure, questioning some of his decisions and helping him grow as a character.
After Dodo is introduced, the story turns its attention to solving the mystery that ended the previous story, The Incherton Incident, which saw the Doctor disappear and leave Dodo all alone. Dodo finally meets the Daleks and works together with Vicki to escape them, while the Robot-Doctor tries to stop them on his (its?) end.
O'Brien brings great maturity to her portrayal of Vicki while still showing some of the characters familiar sides. Stephen Noonan, meanwhile, still doesn't quite sound like the First Doctor to me, despite all the mannerisms. Though I have to say that in the final stretch of the story, he truly steps up and delivers his best performance as the Doctor yet, both as the evil robot-Doctor and as the genuine article.
Lauren Cornelius doesn't show up until the Part 4 cliffhanger, once Vicki goes looking for the real Doctor. She gets Jackie Lane's energy, but I'm still unsure about her take on Dodo overall.
His American accent might be very stereotypical, but Mark Elstobb offers a fun performance as General Custer in Part 3.
There are fun references to past adventures and other things to place the story on the timeline and give it that 60s vibe. Then again, some of the comedic writing, while definitely fun, feels off for this era. And at six parts, it can be a bit slow at times, even if the change of setting every episode prevents it from feeling too stale; though, this also means that we go through the same cycle of landing somewhere new, figuring out where and when we are, and then trying to stay ahead of the Daleks every time.
The sound design allows this story to grow into unusually large proportions, and the tense soundtrack is magnificent as well.
The last part wraps up the story neatly and emotionally while still letting a bigger mystery brew in the background. The final twist also explains why the Abbot of Amboise in The Massacre looks like the Doctor (it's another clever little tongue-in-cheek explanation).
For some reason, Nick Briggs reads out the credits as a Dalek.
VICKI RETURNS FOR A NEW ADVENTURE!
Fugitive of the Daleks builds a strong and interesting atmosphere early on, letting us experience the story through the eyes of an older Vicki. We then get a lovely catch-up between her and the Doctor; they've lost none of their lovely chemistry, even if Vicki is older and wiser now. Part 1 then wonderfully reveals the true nature of the spaceship setting in an exciting sequence, setting up the rest of the story.
From there on, the story slowly builds upon its atmosphere and reveals the wider plan of the Daleks while allowing Vicki and the Doctor to catch up on their lives. The adventure turns into something like a Keys of Marinus or The Chase type of story, where different episodes are set at different points in time and space. Part 2, for instance, sees the Doctor and Vicki land in a prehistoric culture, which allows the guest actors to have fun while grunting around (it feels very 60s in tone), and Part 3 takes them to the US in 1876 in the midst of a war between American settlers and the Sioux tribes. This structure helps keep the story fresh at all times, even if it remains pretty light on the main story arc.
The latter half goes even further down The Chase route as the Doctor is replaced by a robotic copy, and Part 4 reveals he is in fact the same robot left behind by the Dalekd in The Chase. It's a pretty silly, but also pretty clever, twist, especially since there are small hints planted throughout the story preceding the reveal.
I love how this story brings back an older Vicki, or Cressida, as she is known, allowing Maureen O'Brien to use her natural voice and the story to explore how she's grown and developed over the decades. She is dragged into a new adventure by a dying Doctor and sent away to a faraway place in the future to find medical equipment to help the Doctor. After this, she joins him for the rest of the adventure, questioning some of his decisions and helping him grow as a character.
After Dodo is introduced, the story turns its attention to solving the mystery that ended the previous story, The Incherton Incident, which saw the Doctor disappear and leave Dodo all alone. Dodo finally meets the Daleks and works together with Vicki to escape them, while the Robot-Doctor tries to stop them on his (its?) end.
O'Brien brings great maturity to her portrayal of Vicki while still showing some of the characters familiar sides. Stephen Noonan, meanwhile, still doesn't quite sound like the First Doctor to me, despite all the mannerisms. Though I have to say that in the final stretch of the story, he truly steps up and delivers his best performance as the Doctor yet, both as the evil robot-Doctor and as the genuine article.
Lauren Cornelius doesn't show up until the Part 4 cliffhanger, once Vicki goes looking for the real Doctor. She gets Jackie Lane's energy, but I'm still unsure about her take on Dodo overall.
His American accent might be very stereotypical, but Mark Elstobb offers a fun performance as General Custer in Part 3.
There are fun references to past adventures and other things to place the story on the timeline and give it that 60s vibe. Then again, some of the comedic writing, while definitely fun, feels off for this era. And at six parts, it can be a bit slow at times, even if the change of setting every episode prevents it from feeling too stale; though, this also means that we go through the same cycle of landing somewhere new, figuring out where and when we are, and then trying to stay ahead of the Daleks every time.
The sound design allows this story to grow into unusually large proportions, and the tense soundtrack is magnificent as well.
The last part wraps up the story neatly and emotionally while still letting a bigger mystery brew in the background. The final twist also explains why the Abbot of Amboise in The Massacre looks like the Doctor (it's another clever little tongue-in-cheek explanation).
For some reason, Nick Briggs reads out the credits as a Dalek.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2024
The 1st Doctor Adventures is a range I've been enjoying, its both been faithful and experimental towards it attitude of 60's who and has done something quite remarkable with it. Stephen Noonan and Lauren Cornelius have both been an absolute delight as well. Fugitive of The Daleks is a story I was both excited and a little weary about when it was announced. But now it's finally here what did I think of it? Did it live up to expectations or was it underwhelming?
Vicki has lived a full life, but her husband is now gone and her children have moved on with their own families. She wishes for something different, so when The Tardis shows up it seems even after all these years her adventures aren't yet over. The Doctor is ill and he desperately needs Vicki's help, but when The Daleks arrive on their tail they must traverse all of time and space to escape their pursuers. But something is off with The Doctor, he seems like his old self but his odd attitude and surprising memory loss leave a lot to Vicki's curiosity.
Jonathan Morris has written a very fun story that acts as both a sequel to The Chase and The Daleks Masterplan in a sense. It's an engaging 6-part adventure filled with plenty of action, humor, and a great deal of heartwarming scenes. There's a neat little mystery here that has a satisfying conclusion. It can get a little fan wanky but it never feels forced. Seeing an older Vicki played by Maureen O'Brien was such a delight as well.
I will say however it's not a perfect release, I do think it has been overhyped quite a bit because the story itself isn't anything too unique. It is very similar to The Chase but it does manage to add its own little spin on the story to make it different enough from Terry Nation's script, and honestly as someone who's not too keen on that story, I liked this.
I don't think this story will matter in the long run however due to how it concludes. But having listened to a little of what Briggs said behind the scenes, it's understandable why they still decided to put this story together nonetheless.
Overall: A very fun story but nothing amazing. 8/10
Vicki has lived a full life, but her husband is now gone and her children have moved on with their own families. She wishes for something different, so when The Tardis shows up it seems even after all these years her adventures aren't yet over. The Doctor is ill and he desperately needs Vicki's help, but when The Daleks arrive on their tail they must traverse all of time and space to escape their pursuers. But something is off with The Doctor, he seems like his old self but his odd attitude and surprising memory loss leave a lot to Vicki's curiosity.
Jonathan Morris has written a very fun story that acts as both a sequel to The Chase and The Daleks Masterplan in a sense. It's an engaging 6-part adventure filled with plenty of action, humor, and a great deal of heartwarming scenes. There's a neat little mystery here that has a satisfying conclusion. It can get a little fan wanky but it never feels forced. Seeing an older Vicki played by Maureen O'Brien was such a delight as well.
I will say however it's not a perfect release, I do think it has been overhyped quite a bit because the story itself isn't anything too unique. It is very similar to The Chase but it does manage to add its own little spin on the story to make it different enough from Terry Nation's script, and honestly as someone who's not too keen on that story, I liked this.
I don't think this story will matter in the long run however due to how it concludes. But having listened to a little of what Briggs said behind the scenes, it's understandable why they still decided to put this story together nonetheless.
Overall: A very fun story but nothing amazing. 8/10
February 26, 2024
Fugitive of the Daleks - To begin with, this one is a fascinating concept. We’ve got Vicki, several decades after she left the TARDIS during the events of the Trojan War (see Doctor Who: The Myth Makers) and she’s now a grandmother. But now The Doctor has returned and this grandmother Vicki has left her home and headed off for more adventures in Time and Space. And THEN the Daleks show up and we’re thrust back into an homage of the classic Doctor series: The Chase (see Doctor Who: Daleks: The Chase). And we’ve only gotten through the first two of six episodes!
As we move into the middle chapters of this 6-episode arc, the action keeps moving into new places and expanding the story in unexpected ways. In many ways this one is starting to feel more like another favorite story of mine from the original series: Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus: 1st Doctor Novelisation, where each individual episode of the serial is almost a unique episode and story in itself. And we have even more nods to Doctor Who: Daleks: The Chase. This is shaping up to be a really wonderful and fun story.
The final two episodes? Well, they’re lots of fun. But there’s also a LOT of exposition because there’s a lot of explaining to do as a result of the convoluted chronicle. Still, it’s only a slight distraction from what a fun ride this whole roller coaster has been. More stories like this for The First Doctor Adventures please!
As we move into the middle chapters of this 6-episode arc, the action keeps moving into new places and expanding the story in unexpected ways. In many ways this one is starting to feel more like another favorite story of mine from the original series: Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus: 1st Doctor Novelisation, where each individual episode of the serial is almost a unique episode and story in itself. And we have even more nods to Doctor Who: Daleks: The Chase. This is shaping up to be a really wonderful and fun story.
The final two episodes? Well, they’re lots of fun. But there’s also a LOT of exposition because there’s a lot of explaining to do as a result of the convoluted chronicle. Still, it’s only a slight distraction from what a fun ride this whole roller coaster has been. More stories like this for The First Doctor Adventures please!
April 30, 2024
A story that gives closure on the Vikki front. She really feels like she’s had a full life.
Had mixed feelings when the Doctor Vikki had been interacting with turned out to be a robot all along. I guess that could account for Stephen Noonan not sounding exactly like the First Doctor. I kinda wonder if my mind played tricks on me thinking Stephen Noonan as the actual Doctor sounds closer.
I can’t believe I didn’t see the ending coming until right before it happened, given I’d been having Doctor doppelgängers on the brain recently. I recently came up with the idea that maybe the Fugitive Doctor or another pre-Hartnell incarnation encountered the Abbot of Ambrose and then subconsciously reused that face. But here, we’re presented with this idea that The Doctor conveniently loses his memory after dropping off this robot look-alike to the place where he becomes the Abbot of Ambrose seen in The Massacre. I kinda feel trolled and am not sure this needed explaining in this way. There’s also connecting to The Three Doctors.
In any case, it was a very enjoyable ride seeing Vikki and Dodo react to what goes on in this particular story.
Had mixed feelings when the Doctor Vikki had been interacting with turned out to be a robot all along. I guess that could account for Stephen Noonan not sounding exactly like the First Doctor. I kinda wonder if my mind played tricks on me thinking Stephen Noonan as the actual Doctor sounds closer.
I can’t believe I didn’t see the ending coming until right before it happened, given I’d been having Doctor doppelgängers on the brain recently. I recently came up with the idea that maybe the Fugitive Doctor or another pre-Hartnell incarnation encountered the Abbot of Ambrose and then subconsciously reused that face. But here, we’re presented with this idea that The Doctor conveniently loses his memory after dropping off this robot look-alike to the place where he becomes the Abbot of Ambrose seen in The Massacre. I kinda feel trolled and am not sure this needed explaining in this way. There’s also connecting to The Three Doctors.
In any case, it was a very enjoyable ride seeing Vikki and Dodo react to what goes on in this particular story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2024
i found this really enjoyable :)
such an original premise - and it felt really well paced. i did lose the last half an hour - perhaps bc i was driving in the rain/dark and lost focus. but, on the whole, this six part adventure really pleasantly surprised me.
it gave me “the chase” with a twist.
i’m still warming to noonan’s hartnell and cornelius as dodo. i didn’t enjoy the outlaws/the miniaturist as much as i expected to - so i was sceptical going in.
maureen o’brien was the standout for this set, though. without a doubt. her performance was really special and i’m rly happy bf has fleshed out her character. tbh, morris is one of my fave who writers - writing solid after solid audio plays. he nails classic who.
my favourite part was the end… and the link to the massacre of st bartholemew’s eve. made me giggle and think WOW - i love the doctor who universe and its non-existent canon making bold, cool-ass moves.
4/5
such an original premise - and it felt really well paced. i did lose the last half an hour - perhaps bc i was driving in the rain/dark and lost focus. but, on the whole, this six part adventure really pleasantly surprised me.
it gave me “the chase” with a twist.
i’m still warming to noonan’s hartnell and cornelius as dodo. i didn’t enjoy the outlaws/the miniaturist as much as i expected to - so i was sceptical going in.
maureen o’brien was the standout for this set, though. without a doubt. her performance was really special and i’m rly happy bf has fleshed out her character. tbh, morris is one of my fave who writers - writing solid after solid audio plays. he nails classic who.
my favourite part was the end… and the link to the massacre of st bartholemew’s eve. made me giggle and think WOW - i love the doctor who universe and its non-existent canon making bold, cool-ass moves.
4/5
January 25, 2024
Absolutely brilliant script, found it very reminiscent of 60's Who. Jonathan Morris as a writer always delivers great work, but this really captured Vikki perfectly, as a much older wiser woman who can stand up for herself without any hesitation.
Plot Twists, Humour, Emotion. Perfect Doctor Who!
Plot Twists, Humour, Emotion. Perfect Doctor Who!
January 31, 2024
This does not square with Tales from the TARDIS and just barely squares with The War Machines. Besides that, The Doctor and Dodo are barely in it, and it mostly consists of a redo of The Chase with Vicki and the android Doctor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2024
Excellent story. Nice to hear Maureen O Brien again.
February 5, 2024
Tremendous!
February 14, 2024
This series is honestly so good.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews