So how does it do? Well, the story is to an extent hamstrung by being the first in the Dalek Empire series- or should that be the first in the first (or proto-) Dalek Empire series?- so although the only real evidence of this is a handful of interpolated conversations between the Supreme Dalek on Kar-Charrat and the Emperor on Skaro, it does leave the plot itself somewhat slight. The Daleks are after the knowledge in the Library and the wetworks facility...because it would be nice to have, really. They create a duplicate Ace with a copy of the DNA tag which lets her into the Library, she lets the Daleks in and the Daleks ultimately destroy both themselves and the Library. The only real mystery or surprise comes when we find that the titular Genocide Machine is nothing to do with the Daleks- that the wetworks facility itself is a kind of slave labour camp for the native life form of Kar-Charrat , presided over by Bruce Montague’s Chief Librarian Elgin. As for the Daleks themselves, the impression Mike Tucker gives is of the later 1960s stories- there are vast Dalek armies massing off screen and an Emperor on Skaro, and although these Daleks have the duplicating technology from the 1980s, we’re distinctly Davros-free. However, it’s equally true that the story doesn’t seize the full potential of audio when it comes to the Daleks, except for one highly-effective scene early on when a conversation between Bev Tarrant and Rappell is suddenly heard as through speakers, against the background of the Dalek control room sound effect. We have a small Dalek force and, indeed, a small cast- Bruce Montague being the only "name" apart from the regulars- which must put ‘The Genocide Machine’ in the unusual position of being a small-scale Dalek story. The only problem with this is that, with a background in visual effects, I rather suspect that Mike Tucker is better than the average individual at visualising situations and locations, and it occasionally shows in the writing, which leaves us to imagine a ziggurat based on little more than repeated use of the word and sound effects which evoke a strangely lifeless rainforest with the same generic "rain" sound effect you could use for an adventure set on an Easter Monday in Rhyl.

It’s unfortunate, though, that any attempt at a McCoy Dalek story is inevitably going to invite comparisons with ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’, and ‘The Genocide Machine’ can only come out a pale second on any scale. One story is atmospheric, multi-layered, expansive and heartfelt, while the other struggles to fill out its time with a limited cast and, barring the revelation about the true nature of the wetworks facility and a half-formed sense of this being the Who story which attempts to "do" the rainforest issue, never quite has the same passion at its heart and feels more like a TV21 comic strip by comparison. That’s not to say that it doesn’t have its moments- the performances are generally sound, although it took me a while to get used to the duplicate Ace having one voice to speak to the Daleks and one to humans, and for some strange reason Sophie Aldred seems to have an odd way of pronouncing the world "Dalek" by stressing both syllables equally. I suppose the best way to look at it is, like the TV21 strips and some of the other 1960s spin-offs, a trip to the Daleks’ more garish side, where vast armies lie poised offstage ready to sweep across the galaxy and mysterious ancient monuments conceal strange secrets. And people are called Tarrant, although I suspect Terry Nation would have approved wholeheartedly and wouldn’t have seen the joke.