The Monthly Adventures #063 - “Caerdroia" by Lloyd Rose

I think pretty much everybody agrees that the Divergence Arc was wasted. Not only was the base concept of “a universe without time” thrown away in favour of “nobody knows what the word for time is” but every entry bar Scherzo seemed to have nothing in the way of experimentation like the series once promised, a whole, new universe relegated to some, if tolerable, by-the-numbers episodes with really only a couple exceptions: Scherzo in every way, The Natural History of Fear in formula and now, Caerdroia in setting. A pick and mix of various companions’ home mythologies, what is that sets the creatively prolific Caerdroia above its fellow entries of the Divergence Saga?

Finally on the track of the TARDIS, the Doctor forces the group’s omniscient warden - The Kro’ka - to tell them the location of his lost time ship. It’s answer? The mythical world of Caerdroia.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

This type of story is exactly what the Divergence Saga needed. Tonally and narratively unique with a brilliant cast and a plethora of fantastic ideas all working together in a new and unseen way, this is the closest we get to what was promised after Scherzo. It’s a real shame Lloyd Rose hasn’t written more because she’s fantastic here. There is such an interesting voice to this story that manages to feel both realistic and endlessly witty, most reflected in the absolutely fantastic whip-smart dialogue that blazes along the story at a hundred miles an hour, nailing every character. I don’t think I’ve commented on it yet but I love the dynamic between Charley and C’rizz, I think Fisher and Westmaas’ chemistry is often understated and Rose breathes life into them like no other.

As for our other characters, we have McGann giving the performance of a lifetime as three different versions of the Doctor, split apart into separate facets of his identity: the logical, the ruthless and the whimsical. Not only is it a nice exploration of the character highlighted by Rose writing each to suitably feel like the Doctor whilst still being different, but McGann goes from one of his worst performances to one of his absolute best. He was clearly having so much fun with this and masterfully acted out each version of himself in a way where I was never confused as to who was speaking despite them all being voiced by the same person, an astounding feat I’m still struggling to wrap my head around. I had a smile from ear to ear the whole time he was speaking and mostly because I’m sure he did too.

As for plot, it spends a good amount of time exploring the location of Caerdroia and a good thing too because this is a magnificent world we’ve been dropped into. An amalgam of elements drawn from our travellers’ heads sitting atop a winding labyrinth, exploring the quirks and oddities of this realm, like a town hall with a million departments for every little inconvenience, to a cuckoo clock with no hands that plunges into the earth, it’s joyous listening to everything Rose has got to give us. As for conflict, our main antagonist this time around is the Kro’ka, who’s been lurking in the background of the Divergence Arc up until now, finally coming to the forefront as a wonderfully hateable bagman for our mysterious puppet masters, going from smug godlike being to snivelling and petty in a wonderful turning of the tables.

However, for as much fun as this audio is, it’s not without its flaws. For one, the second half is a lot worse than the first for me. We leave behind the exploration for instead, a pretty straight forward plot that leaves the characters running in circles until it eventually meanders towards the end. The pacing, notably, is a lot worse here, Part Three being strangely short and consisting of mostly talking whilst Part Four is nearly double its length. Characters get introduced and dropped, meaningless realisations are made and the final confrontation - of the cold, calculating side of the Doctor confronting the Kro'ka - wasn’t all that exciting. Especially when it ends with the Doctor very easily finding the TARDIS after searching for it the last six episodes, this final moment done in a way that really did not justify all the build up. It’s not terrible, but it's enough to put a damper on the story.

Despite struggling towards the end, Caerdroia is an amazing audio that I never hear enough about. With an electric script and a cast giving some of their best performances, this is a riot that absolutely lives up to everything the Divergence Arc should’ve been. And now, with one unnecessarily long audio to go, we are moments away from finishing the Divergence and moving onto admittedly bigger and better things.

9/10

Pros:

+ Absolute creative wildfire

+ Easily one of McGann’s best performances

+ Incredible and witty dialogue

+ A stand out setting

+ The Kro’ka in an antagonistic role works wonderfully

Cons:

- Loses pacing in the second half

- Somewhat anticlimactic