The Monthly Adventures #021 - "Dust Breeding" by Mike Tucker

Considering Mike Tucker’s last story was so dull it made me want to put down my phone and stop listening to The Monthly Adventures there and then, the only way to go seemed to be up. However, I didn’t anticipate just how “up” it would go. I’ve listened to Dust Breeding before - a couple times actually - and each time I found it good, but not stellar. However, for some reason, it just clicked this time around and I found myself massively enjoying it, despite my previous reservations. A bleak horror story with a terrifying threat, and a familiar face.

The planet Duchamp 331, a desolate dustbowl comprised of a few refuelling stations and a forgotten art gallery - a place nobody would want to visit. But the Doctor and Ace, on a mission to collect Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”, discover a terrifying plot that could end the universe, and it’s all connected to the faceless benefactor of a passing luxury cruiser.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Considering how tired The Genocide Machine was, my expectations were significantly low going into Dust Breeding, despite having already listened to it not too long ago. But lo and behold, I was pleasantly surprised. The first thing that struck me was the sound design: it is utterly haunting. The screams of maddened Daleks amplified by an eternal gale of living dust is a mad idea that is realised beyond belief, Duchamp 331 is now one of the scariest settings I’ve seen in a Doctor Who story and it’s a real shame most of the runtime is spent in a ramshackle art gallery and a luxury cruise liner orbiting the planet. At least the first half of Dust Breeding excelled at building an atmosphere, between the planet’s screams and the corpses reanimating, we had a fantastic horror story on our hands, and one that really got under my skin. The idea of the warp core and the living dust was brilliant and I was slightly disappointed when the story changed gears to be about the Master. However, that reveal is unrivalled and one of the best cliffhangers I’ve heard in a while, not to mention Geoffrey Beavers’ performance was magnificent - I haven’t had a wealth of experience with the Decayed Master but what I have heard, the character is sold entirely because of Beavers being a powerhouse performer. Another significant player we have is Bev, returning from The Genocide Machine. She was probably my favourite part of that buzzkill, so I’m just happy to see her in a better story - she’s just as good here and gets even more to do than before, so I’m rather happy about that. Still think she sounds too similar to Sophie Aldred though, I keep mixing them up.

Really, my main complaint with Dust Breeding is it went in a direction I found disappointing. I enjoyed pretty much all of it but the stuff on Duchamp 331 was so much more interesting and unique than the stuff on the cruise liner that it harms the story when our focus shifts to away from the planet. The dust, the horror, the atmosphere is all too good to look away from, Guthrie was a really interesting character but we barely spent any time with him and that final moment could’ve hit so much harder if he was one of the main cast. And, as much as I love the idea of the Warp Core and the living dust, Tucker had to go and give it a voice. I can’t stand Johnson Willis’ acting here, it’s so unnecessarily hammy and ends up being incredibly annoying. All threat the Warp Core had was ripped away by that performance.

A great horror story with Geoffrey Beavers’ killing it as the Master is steered away from an atmospheric creepshow into a slightly bland action story. Multiple fantastic antagonists and a near perfect first half make Dust Breeding undeniably great in my opinion, but I wish it had stuck with its original direction.

8/10

Pros:

+ Incredibly atmospherically rich, swamped in bleak horror

+ Fantastically creepy setting with a great idea behind it

+ Brilliant sound design that help the atmosphere massively

+ The reveal of the Master and Beaver’s performance are excellent

+ Bev returns and is once again a highlight of the story

Cons:

- The material set on Duchamp 331 is miles more interesting than the rest of the narrative

- Guthrie was a wasted character

- Damien and the Warp Core got very annoying after a while