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Big Finish: Monthly Range #65
Doctor Who: The Juggernauts
Within a small mining colony on the dark and distant planet of Lethe, events are occurring the results of which could dramatically affect things on a universal scale. For within the dingy corridors of the artificial biosphere, the lone survivor of a devastating crash has expertly wormed his way into the lives of the colony¹s personnel.
A scientist known as Davros.
Separated from one another across space and time, the Doctor and Mel find themselves in very different predicaments: Mel has been employed on Lethe, while the Doctor has been imprisoned aboard an alien spacecraft. Both situations are inexorably linked, however,and at the apex of the two sits Davros and the terrifying possibility of a new threat even more powerful than the Daleks!
Rescuing Mel and stopping Davros should be the Doctor¹s primary goals, but could it be that this time, Mel does not wish to be rescued? And might Davros actually be working on something for the benefit of the civilised galaxies.
A scientist known as Davros.
Separated from one another across space and time, the Doctor and Mel find themselves in very different predicaments: Mel has been employed on Lethe, while the Doctor has been imprisoned aboard an alien spacecraft. Both situations are inexorably linked, however,and at the apex of the two sits Davros and the terrifying possibility of a new threat even more powerful than the Daleks!
Rescuing Mel and stopping Davros should be the Doctor¹s primary goals, but could it be that this time, Mel does not wish to be rescued? And might Davros actually be working on something for the benefit of the civilised galaxies.
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First published January 14, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 3, 2019
I think it's the first time I've ever enjoyed Mel Bush as a character, and in this story, she gets to really show how much of a technological genius she is. She shows she's smart and resourceful time and time again, something the TV show shied away from.
Though Davros is basically doing the same thing he was doing in the previous main range story, he's on form and playing with the usual. The Jugganaughts shows Davros madness and answers some questions to how Davros survived the explosion. Besides that, we've got Davros messing with Mechanoids for some reason and the daleks not quite acting like themselves. The Doctor doesn't really get much to do in this story. He's just there for the most part and he's working for the daleks in an almost believable way, but it just comes across as out of character.
Though Davros is basically doing the same thing he was doing in the previous main range story, he's on form and playing with the usual. The Jugganaughts shows Davros madness and answers some questions to how Davros survived the explosion. Besides that, we've got Davros messing with Mechanoids for some reason and the daleks not quite acting like themselves. The Doctor doesn't really get much to do in this story. He's just there for the most part and he's working for the daleks in an almost believable way, but it just comes across as out of character.
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April 8, 2009I was deeply unimpressed with the previous Six/Davros encounter. But I have to say this really grabbed me; it's very much a story of Mel and Davros, with the Doctor in a less prominent role, and both Langford and Molloy really shine. I especially loved the development of Dr Vaso as a kinder, gentler Davros; and the origin story of the Mechanoids, who were among the few redeeming features of The Chase.
May 28, 2023
なかなかに切ない話だった。
物資輸送船が攻撃されてメルを先に避エスケープポッドで脱出させたドクター。ターディスを探している最中にダーレクに捕まりダブロスがダーレクを滅ぼせるものを作っているのを阻止して欲しいと頼まれる。最初は拒んだドクターもメルがダブロスの元にいると知り協力することに。
研究チームで正確のいいプロデューサーとして慕われているダブロス。メルもやりがいを感じはじめチームのメンバーの1人と恋仲になりそうなというところでドクターとダーレクがきてしまう。
結局作っているものロボマンだったわけで人を殺してパーツを組み込んでいるのでダブロスの本質は全然変わってないんだけどでも人から慕われる存在になりたいのも本音みたいでなかなか複雑だった。
メルが心を寄せかけていた相手はダーレクをとめるために自己犠牲を払い命を落とす。メルせつない。でもダブロスを本気で殺そうとした自分を責めるメルに6は優しかったと思う。
ダブロスが2人が逃げる時間をかせいでくれたのでこれもなんだか驚き。
物資輸送船が攻撃されてメルを先に避エスケープポッドで脱出させたドクター。ターディスを探している最中にダーレクに捕まりダブロスがダーレクを滅ぼせるものを作っているのを阻止して欲しいと頼まれる。最初は拒んだドクターもメルがダブロスの元にいると知り協力することに。
研究チームで正確のいいプロデューサーとして慕われているダブロス。メルもやりがいを感じはじめチームのメンバーの1人と恋仲になりそうなというところでドクターとダーレクがきてしまう。
結局作っているものロボマンだったわけで人を殺してパーツを組み込んでいるのでダブロスの本質は全然変わってないんだけどでも人から慕われる存在になりたいのも本音みたいでなかなか複雑だった。
メルが心を寄せかけていた相手はダーレクをとめるために自己犠牲を払い命を落とす。メルせつない。でもダブロスを本気で殺そうとした自分を責めるメルに6は優しかったと思う。
ダブロスが2人が逃げる時間をかせいでくれたのでこれもなんだか驚き。
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2015
To escape the destruction of a medical vessel the Sixth Doctor sends his red-headed companion Melanie Bush out in an escape pod, promising to seek her out once he rescues his TARDIS from the exploding ship. However, on finding his ship he is trapped in a Dalek time scoop. Mel, however, lands on the planet Lethe where her skills as a computer technician are keenly sought, and she joins a team led by the wheelchair-using Dr. Vaso and works to create the Juggernauts: "the ultimate service robots". She becomes quite attached to the team (catching the eye of the juvenile but intelligent Geoff) and particularly the elderly Vaso, with whom she strikes up a rapport.
The Doctor however, discovers himself employed by the Daleks to spy on the situation on Lethe. He agrees; for they threaten Mel's life. What is the secret of the Juggernauts? Why are the Daleks interested in Lethe? What are the strange things residing in the darkness of the lower echelons of the colony?
The Doctor however, discovers himself employed by the Daleks to spy on the situation on Lethe. He agrees; for they threaten Mel's life. What is the secret of the Juggernauts? Why are the Daleks interested in Lethe? What are the strange things residing in the darkness of the lower echelons of the colony?
October 29, 2014
The Doctor and Mel get seperated. She ends up working for a scientist in a wheelchair making juggernauts that are based on mechaniods. This is a continuity heavy story with Davros seemingly turning over a new leaf, and escaping the Daleks. A really good story with some unexpected twists and turns. A very good listen.
March 14, 2026
MIt is quite hard to express admiration for The Juggernauts because despite not being quite literally so, it does feel like Scott Alan Woodward has taken any random Davros story and just changed a few small details. There is some good here, such as I thought Bonnie Langford was great in this one, but on the whole the story’s generality really left it lacking anything to really impress. The Doctor is required by the Daleks (been there done that), the Doctor finds Davros up to some evil nonsense (been there done that, Daleks shooting and an easy win for the Doctor; at the cost of an incidental characters life. Been there, done that. The story does have the surprising presence of Mechanoids and honestly that was quite fun, with them making their silly little noises and being talked about as if they’re unstoppable killing machines when they’re really, really not. That one was one part of the comedic relief to the story and it worked quite well as their appearances are kept quite sparse so them arriving does come with some meaning. The Daleks have very little to do with the early part of the plot apart from tasking the Doctor with stopping Davros, but it is just beyond obvious they were going to be back near the end of the story for a shoot out and some generic yelling. Of course it’s nice to see them but the lack of any originality to their plot or even dialogue really doesn’t mark this one out as an all time classic, more just ‘another Dalek story’. The Doctor is as good as ever here and as has happened in many stories before, it’s Colin Baker’s performance that holds the story together. He has some great comedic moments, a lot of great dramatic scenes, and even exposition is delivered with such charm from an actor performing as loveably as this.
Terry Molloy gives a good performance but the difference is that the Doctor’s dialogue is quite nice whereas Davros’ is just a dead ringer for all the usual rubbish he is on about. It’s just textbook ‘blah blah domination blah blah daleks blah blah genetic purity’. The runtime seems mostly allocated to people having semi-relevant conversations to the current narrative and that is one that that really does start to wear you down in the latter half of this. For example there is a characters whose whole plot relevance at the start really is just for the hilarity of his terrible flirting with Mel, but by the end of episode two his dialogue has just changed to generic sci-fi dialogue. By the end pretty much everyone is just on about their ideas to stop Daleks and to stop Davros and I really did just put my brain on standby as the intelligence of the story evaporated. The presence of the Mechanoids doesn’t make this story iconic or different, and while it tries to distract or alter what is a real unremarkable Dalek plot; it ends up drawing more attention to that by being so infrequent. There are some great moments between the Doctor and Mel, and I really loved that she is written as a strong character without being grating. I was frankly just thankful there was a character who was written very different to usual and who was actually quite interesting. This story is one I don’t have a long list of criticisms for, it’s just not worth remembering and really inspires a frustration to get it over with. It’s not because of distinct faults with the performances or narrative, it’s because it all blends together in one mediocre malaise.
Terry Molloy gives a good performance but the difference is that the Doctor’s dialogue is quite nice whereas Davros’ is just a dead ringer for all the usual rubbish he is on about. It’s just textbook ‘blah blah domination blah blah daleks blah blah genetic purity’. The runtime seems mostly allocated to people having semi-relevant conversations to the current narrative and that is one that that really does start to wear you down in the latter half of this. For example there is a characters whose whole plot relevance at the start really is just for the hilarity of his terrible flirting with Mel, but by the end of episode two his dialogue has just changed to generic sci-fi dialogue. By the end pretty much everyone is just on about their ideas to stop Daleks and to stop Davros and I really did just put my brain on standby as the intelligence of the story evaporated. The presence of the Mechanoids doesn’t make this story iconic or different, and while it tries to distract or alter what is a real unremarkable Dalek plot; it ends up drawing more attention to that by being so infrequent. There are some great moments between the Doctor and Mel, and I really loved that she is written as a strong character without being grating. I was frankly just thankful there was a character who was written very different to usual and who was actually quite interesting. This story is one I don’t have a long list of criticisms for, it’s just not worth remembering and really inspires a frustration to get it over with. It’s not because of distinct faults with the performances or narrative, it’s because it all blends together in one mediocre malaise.
December 14, 2018
A lot of people seem to enjoy this a lot more than me. And while I admit that Bonnie Langford is quite good, I ust don't see Terry Molly's Davros as the revelation that others do. Between this story, "Davros" and the super irritating "Terra Firma", I've come to dread the character's appearance anymore.
I'm in the minority, I suppose.
Oh, and yeah, The Mechanoids were there.
I'm in the minority, I suppose.
Oh, and yeah, The Mechanoids were there.
December 29, 2018
4,5*
Really enjoyed this story! I quite enjoy Daleks stories that are more about the backstory than the actual Dalek threat - and this one didn't disappoint.
New characters to meet and love, new colony to explore and plenty of action had me well entertained all the way through!
Really enjoyed this story! I quite enjoy Daleks stories that are more about the backstory than the actual Dalek threat - and this one didn't disappoint.
New characters to meet and love, new colony to explore and plenty of action had me well entertained all the way through!
June 1, 2020
An interesting enough tale as the story of Davros and his Daleks factions continue.
Episode 3 however! Worst editing from any Big Finish episode I've every heard. I can only assume someone released an early version of the tale.
Episode 3 however! Worst editing from any Big Finish episode I've every heard. I can only assume someone released an early version of the tale.
October 11, 2024
This was good. All a bit samey with Davros claiming to be a changed man yet again and pitted against the Daleks yet again. But I guess it gets hard to track who had and hasn't met the Daleks yet and this was a first encounter for Mel Bush. And i enjoyed the listen very much.
January 9, 2018
Absolutely amazing!
January 4, 2024
Great use of Davros, and Mel for that matter.
July 12, 2024
I actually liked Mel in this one, but aside from that I was just kind of bored with it.
April 21, 2025
This is one of my favourite BF stories ever. Six, Mel and Davros are all great and this is really the height of Mel's time as a companion, giving her an opportunity to be way smarter and cunning than the televised series ever allowed her to be. Really strong and somewhat emotional story. I could listen to this one on repeat forever and never get bored of it.
January 2, 2012
Seeing Mel's face on the cover gave me pause - Bonnie Langford's character is one of the most derided in Doctor Who's long history - but I was pleasantly surprised to find her charming, engaging, well-rounded and very likeable! Not only that but the fine script serves her a few darker moments, too. Terry Molloy shines once again as Davros and while the Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor plays quite the background role to both of the above characters his performance is uniformly excellent also. I really liked the juggernauts, too. They're genuinely very creepy and it was surprising to hear Daleks screaming panicky "WITHDRAW!"s during encounters with them! A great little adventure.
April 8, 2020
I decided to re-listen to this one after really enjoying Terror Firma again, and it was brilliant!
A very 80's Dalek story with some awesome action between two factions of Daleks, Davros being as devious as ever and his interactions with The Sixth Doctor are just as brilliant as ever! Mel was also fantastic in this showing a more skillful side to her character that we never really saw on the show, which is a shame.
It was interesting seeing the return of The Mechanoids but in a rather different way than we've ever seen them before. Overall an incredible story with fantastic moments of drama and great performances from the cast! 9/10
A very 80's Dalek story with some awesome action between two factions of Daleks, Davros being as devious as ever and his interactions with The Sixth Doctor are just as brilliant as ever! Mel was also fantastic in this showing a more skillful side to her character that we never really saw on the show, which is a shame.
It was interesting seeing the return of The Mechanoids but in a rather different way than we've ever seen them before. Overall an incredible story with fantastic moments of drama and great performances from the cast! 9/10
June 24, 2013
I really enjoyed this one. I'm not normally a big fan of Mel but she was competent and skilled and not at all screechy in this one and I liked her much better. It was nice to see the companion getting on with her life away from the Doctor instead of just waiting around for him to rescue her. While it didn't seem to have the same scale and personal tragedy as the other Davros story it was a good story with adorable killer robots.
November 12, 2013
Mel was never really given much of a chance to develop her character on TV. In this story, she is shown to be a competent companion to the Doctor. Her computer skills are actually put to use. This Dalek story is not too convoluted. It is pretty straightforward. Davros and the Daleks are plotting against each other as per usual. One twist is that the Doctor is allied with the Daleks.
January 21, 2016
The Doctor and Mel get separated for 3 months. When they get back together it turns out Mel has been working for Davros trying to prefect machines that can kill Daleks. Can Davros be defeated. What will the mechnoids do to the colony?
May 10, 2024
Davros and the Daleks earn this story an extra star. Otherwise run of the mill story.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews