🙏🏼(6.4) = OKAY!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

Part 1 deftly establishes the mood, with a Silurian facing retribution for his unsuccessful scientific experiments and a human captain administering a similar punishment to one of his crew members. Meanwhile, the TARDIS transports Six and Evelyn to the Galapagos Islands during Charles Darwin's expeditions. This is a pseudohistorical narrative that serves as the Big Finish introduction to the Silurians.

Since this is a reintroduction to the Silurians, we meet another isolated society that has awakened from deep sleep, unaware of the other colonies. This serves as both a sequel and prequel to The Silurians (1970), and it also spins some of the same themes.

It's fun to hear about an adventure centred around Darwin's work at Galapagos and his formation of the theory of evolution, which is a pivotal part of scientific history. Morris also explores the setting and era fairly well, and the actors do a fantastic job of bringing it all to life.

The opening installment is quite a slow start to the story. It then concludes with a very classic cliffhanger.

Bloodtide doesn't grow very exciting, and aside from its unique setting, surprisingly stringent atmosphere, and characters, there's little here that sticks.

Colin Baker is in top form, and Maggie Stables is so warm, eager, and wonderful. Jane Goddard (best known for her many turns voicing Alpha Centauri) is back from Dust Breeding, voicing Greta Rodrigues. Miles Richardson, a frequent collaborator with Big Finish, appears in one of his earliest roles as Darwin in this story. I appreciate his frequent appearances, the integration of his philosophical and scientific debates into the dialogue, and Evelyn's indirect assistance in formulating his renowned theories.

The portrayal of the Silurian characters is excellent, and I appreciate the Doctor's interactions with them. I also appreciate how the story gives them a pivotal role in mankind's evolution.

Part 4 reinvigorates the plot somewhat and amps up the tension for the final stretch.