The Survivors (audio story)

Still, the Galactic Union are blissfully unaware of the Dalek threat. And in the Border Worlds, the Daleks appear to be helping to cure the deadly NFS plague which has claimed millions of lives.

Only the Graxis Wardens know the truth about the Daleks. And they have been all but wiped out.

The Daleks are beginning to show their true colours, but now it may be too late to stop them.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Georgi Selestru and Siy Tarkov fail to convince Bulis Mietok, the chairman of the Galactic Union Security Committee, of the threat posed by the Daleks. The Security Committee doubt Tarkov's testimony. They feel that his grasp on reality has been been diminished by the NFS plague. Although he still displays severe symptoms, Tarkov is one of the few victims of the NFS plague to survive the initial period of infection.

Mivas was born on Tantalus and came to live on Scalanis VIII after the Healing Zone was built. Galanar believes that it may have been built by the Daleks, though Mivas neither confirms nor denies this.

Tarkov's daughter Amur has been taking care of her father since he arrived back at his home. At the time that Tarkov set out for Velyshaa, his wife Elicia was pregnant with Amur. However, Elicia did not tell him that she was pregnant as she did not want to discourage him from embarking on his journey. Elicia was killed in an accident at some point after his departure.

Kaymee Arnod initially appears to be suffering from concussion as a result of being caught in the explosion of the Graxis Major complex. Upon examination, Culver determines that she is displaying the early symptoms of the NFS plague.

The Daleks have commenced the geoforming of Graxis Major. The Dalek Supreme has ordered that the construction of Healing Zones in the Graxis system is to begin within three solar days.

Provost Carneill witnessed the extermination of the other Graxis Wardens. He captures Saxton and Telligan in the docking bay where their spacecraft, Ranger 1, is berthed. Saxton determines that Carneill did not inform the Daleks that he had located Saxton, Culver, Kaymee, Telligan, Roozell and Chauley to prevent them from being killed in the geoforming process. Unwilling to stomach another murder, he decides to let them escape. Due to Kaymee's condition, Saxton elects to leave Kaymee with him so she will at least have a chance of survival. Kaymee's father Seth Arnod is a traffic controller on Tantalus. She asks Saxton to find her father and tell him goodbye.

Amur manages to convince Selestru to send herself and Tarkov on a covert mission into the Border Worlds as the Border Worlds Confederation Cabinet are bound to allow them to cross the frontier as a woman and her dying father would not arouse any suspicion. Their plan is to have Tarkov admitted into a hospital in the hope that he will be able to learn further information about the Daleks' plan. Selestru is initially reluctant as they are amateurs and he has already lost contact with Galanar.

On Scalanis VIII, Mivas informs the Daleks that she is concerned about the latest recruit Dr. Dennis Grentram, Galanar's alter ego, as he mentioned the Daleks by name. In Ward V-7, Galanar is told by Japrice that the previously terminal NFS plague patients are making a full recovery as a result of the Variant 7 which is being fed into their bodies through IV tubes. If they are still improving by the end of his shift, mass inoculations are to begin. His cover is almost blown when he fails to recognise the signs of improvement from the medical charts, given that he is not actually a doctor. As he is aware of their existence, the Daleks regard him as a Category Nine security risk.

Bulis Mietok reveals to Selestru that the woman claiming to be Tarkov's daughter is an imposter. According to the official records, Tarkov's wife Elicia died in a shuttle accident in orbit of Galactic Union HQ Planet Three fifteen years earlier, as did her seven-year-old daughter Amur. Having accessed the communications system of the medical ship, "Amur" uses them to send a message. When she is found doing so by a crew member, she kills him with mercy.

Galanar is capable of matter transmission and invisibility. The Dalek Supreme tells the Daleks on Scalanis VIII that she is familiar with such creatures. He is only to remain invisible for a limited period of time as doing so drains his energy considerably.

Saxton manages to track down Kaymee's father Seth on Tantalus and tells him that Kaymee has become infected with the NFS plague. He downloaded data on Dalek movements from the Tantalus traffic control and gives it to Saxton so that she and her fellow Wardens will be able to evade the Daleks for some time.

While Tarkov and "Amur" are travelling to the Border Worlds, the medical ship is attacked by a Dalek flying saucer, who destroy the vessel's solar sails and demands that they surrender to the Daleks.

After being captured by the Daleks, Galanar is tortured and put in contact with the Dalek Supreme in the Seriphia Galaxy, who informs him that he and his kind were created by the Daleks. She was previously unaware that any of them had managed to survive the Great Catastrophe.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Galanar - David Tennant
Georgi Selestru - William Gaunt
Frey Saxton - Ishia Bennison
Siy Tarkov - Steven Elder
Susan Mendes / The Dalek Supreme - Sarah Mowat
Kaymee Arnod - Laura Rees
Amur Tarkov - Claudia Elmhirst
Japrice - Octavia Walters
Dan Culver - Peter Forbes
Provost Carneill - Oliver Hume
Mivas - Dot Smith
Telligan - Greg Donaldson
Seth Arnod - Sean Jackson
Bulis Mietok - Ian Brooker
Chauley - Philip Wolff
Crewman Antani - David Sax
The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover Art - Clayton Hickman
Writer, Music, Sound Design & Director - Nicholas Briggs
Executive Producer - Jacqueline Rayner
Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
Script Editor - John Ainsworth
Daleks created by Terry Nation

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Dalek Supreme communicates with the Daleks on Scalanias VIII in the form of a hyperbeam transmission emanating from the Seriphia Galaxy.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian Brooker (Bulis Mietok) previously played Drudger in Dalek Empire I and Dalek Empire II: Dalek War.
David Sax (Crewman Antani) is a pseudonym of Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks).
This story was originally released on CD and download. It is now available as a download only.
This story was recorded at The Moat Studios.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Selestru plays the intercepted message from the Scalanias system in which the Daleks offer assistance in developing Variant-7. (AUDIO: The Exterminators)
The real Amur died 15 years earlier at the age of seven. This indicates that Tarkov began his journey to Velyshaa approximately 23 years earlier. (AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One)
Tarkov tells the woman posing as his daughter Amur that he heard the transmission emanating from the Seriphia Galaxy stating that the Daleks were preparing to invade Mutter's Spiral once again. (AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Four)

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Official The Survivors page at bigfinish.com
The Survivors at the Doctor Who Reference Guide