A Dalek Awakens (escape game)
A Dalek Awakens was the second Doctor Who-themed "escape room" game developed by Escape Hunt.[1] It was later revealed to be the first story released as part of the Time Lord Victorious event. It operated in Reading, Birmingham, Norwich, Basingstoke, Cheltenham[2] and London Oxford Street[3].
Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor needs you: A rogue Dalek, a spaceship on the verge of destruction and an impossible choice…
Step on board a doomed spaceship, where a rogue Dalek has tapped into the power system, in an attempt to recharge its weapons. Should the Doctor's most feared enemy be successful, it will exterminate all in its path.
You, the Doctor's friends, must prevent this catastrophe. Shutting down the ship's power core will ensure the Dalek cannot activate its weapons. However, the ship's life support systems rely on the same energy source, meaning that shutting down the power would result in the death of all 10,000 passengers.
You have just 60 minutes to find a way out of this impossible situation. You must defeat the Dalek to allow the spaceship to continue safely on its journey. Take too long and your destination will be extermination!
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Basic overview[[edit] | [edit source]]
2-6 crew members board the ship, where they are faced with a Dalek, seemingly damaged and rebuilding. They are contacted by the Doctor (in the original production run, the Thirteenth Doctor; in a later production run, the Fifteenth Doctor), who instructs them of their mission: to make the ship's life support systems independent from the power core, and stop the Dalek fully waking up.
After staying stationary to avoid the Dalek's motion-activated vision, the crew set about re-engaging the ship's systems such as oxygen generators, navigation, water producers and artificial gravity. These are achieved by attaching power cores, cross-breeding plants, mixing compatible biological samples, charging a magnetic core and navigating the craft through space.
Ultimately, once the teleportation systems are online, the Doctor uses them to send a fez at first, mistakenly, and then her sonic screwdriver. Using this seems to stun the Dalek, until it engages the final phase of its plan. However, by inserting their identity cards into the correct slots in the ship's defence mechanisms, the crew members defeat the Dalek once and for all.
Full rundown[[edit] | [edit source]]
Your group are greeted by an individual, who immediately recognises you all as being the Doctor's friends that they were told to expect. The individual discusses with your group the assignment of roles for being overboard the ship, and hands you all keycards appropriate to your given role. Following this, they also hand over a fez, admitting that "we're not entirely sure why" you'd need it - but the Doctor has given them it to hand over as an important item. Continuing their briefing, they explain that they are about to take you through a door into the ship, and that the ship contains 10,000 lifeforms alongside a Dalek. Insisting that you'll be fine, and that they have confidence in your abilities, they then take you through the door.
Entering the dimly-lit ship, the individual quietly tells your group that the Dalek seems to still be inactive and that the Doctor will be in touch after they leave you there, as well as warning you all about the short amount of time - only an hour - that you will have to deal with the situation. They then leave via the door, after wishing you luck, and it slides shut.
The Dalek shifts slightly, sluggishly uttering "Exterminate" before falling silent again. Over the ship's communication system, the Doctor gets in touch - delighted that you've made it onto the ship at last, and explaining that the Dalek is waking up. Detailing the need for your group to get the Dalek back to sleep again before it exterminates everyone onboard, she also explains that The Future is capable of terraforming inhospitable planets into ones that can support human life. The Doctor's plan is for you to use that terraforming technology on The Future itself, but to do so, you need to disconnect the five key life support systems from the ship's power core and make them self-sufficient before it will be safe to surge power through the core to kill the Dalek.
The Dalek then recognises that the Doctor is speaking, and warns your group that - as humans - you are inferior and will be unable to defeat the Daleks. Another more robotic voice comes in over the intercom, and tells your group to move to action stations: scanning your handprints on scanners located around the room. Taking action stations, the Doctor then warns your group to stay still as the Dalek scans the room for lifeforms. Due to its diminished functionality, it is unable to recognise lifeforms without relying on their movement.
After a few brief moments, the Dalek stops scanning and the Doctor tells you that you all must set about the task at hand. The robotic voice returns - introducing itself as Helix, the ship's AI - and explains that the Doctor has reprogrammed it so that it can help assist you in their absence. It goes on to clarify that the Dalek has begun draining power from the ship's power core, and briefly resummarises your mission to isolate the life support systems and surge the core.
More to be added.
Puzzle details[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Circuitboard completion
- details to be added.
- more to be added.
- Plankton Feeding puzzle (for water system)
- Operates via a series of vials and asking questions to the Plankton
- Zygon Salt and Sontaran Moss
- Operates via a series of vials and asking questions to the Plankton
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
Thirteenth Doctor edition (March 2020 - November 2024)[[edit] | [edit source]]
Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
It is unknown who voices the AI system of the ship - Helix (A Dalek Awakens).
Additionally, the story has also - at least in later performances/runs - always featured a given 'Games Master' at the team's chosen Escape Hunt location and time slot portraying an explicitly in-character individual.
Fifteenth Doctor edition (November 2024 ongoing)[[edit] | [edit source]]
Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
It is unknown who voices the AI system of the ship - Helix (A Dalek Awakens).
Additionally, the story has also - with the exception of some performances at Reading - always featured a given 'Games Master' at the team's chosen Escape Hunt location and time slot portraying an in-character individual.
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- One of the plant samples used for cross-breeding is suggested to be a relative of the Rakweed.
- Samples in the water generation puzzle reference races such as the Sontarans, Zygons, Silurians and Silents.
- A codeword given at a certain point in the game is BADWOLF.
- The samples in the plankton puzzle include: Silurian Moss, Zygon Salt, Silent Moss, Zygon Pellets, Martian Salt, Adipose Tissue, Silent Salt, Sontaran Moss, Sontaran Gravel, Colano Sand, Martian Gravel, Martian Fibres.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Though originally intended to feature at Basingstoke from its opening in October 2020 [4], having been advertised for the location since March of that year[5]; it would not debut there until 18 February 2022.[6]
more to be added
Related media[[edit] | [edit source]]
See: Dalek Escape for BBC Children in Need!
A 3-hour-long live broadcast of an episode of Adam Ball's show on BBC Radio Oxford was essentially dedicated to Doctor Who. Entitled Dalek Escape for BBC Children in Need!, this live broadcast on 15 November 2024 served to promote both Children in Need and A Dalek Awakens. The main part of the broadcast formed a narrative of the hosts of the show (and Pudsey Bear) being trapped on a Dalek spaceship, and the entire show was broadcast live from within the escape room as it exists within the Oxford branch of Escape Hunt.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The print and play escape room The Hollow Planet serves as a prequel to The Dalek Awakens.
- The audio drama Genetics of the Daleks explains how the Dalek arrived on the Starship Future after the events of Time Lord Victorious.
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ https://escapehunt.com/doctorwho/
- ↑ https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/articles/aanews/new-escape-room-opens-in-cheltenham-escape-hunt-uk-
- ↑ DWM 590
- ↑ https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=1323-14691827-27A73C2V77EQABJ85T4A3JTLPP
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=116237443303323&set=a.113293793597688
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/escapehuntbasingstoke/videos/673701003653821
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