The Monthly Adventures #005 - "The Fearmonger" by Jonathan Blum

Out of all the different Doctors seen in the Monthly Adventures, I’d call Seven my favourite. His stories always seem to be interesting, his run with Hex and Ace is some of my favourite Doctor Who material ever and consistently he is given new and interesting scripts, not to mention that he’s the most thematically complex of the Doctors featured in the Main Range. And yet, I always managed to skip his first proper outing: an explosive political thriller with some stellar performances and a genius antagonist that I’d call the first truly great story of The Monthly Adventures

It’s the early 21st century and Britain is in crisis. A new, radical right leaning party is stirring up hate in the streets, and the local radio shows are loving it. With an attempted assassination fueling the media, an abstract creature of thought is pushing buttons, making the pot boil over. But the Doctor can stop it of course, that is unless he’s taken in by the fear too.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

My main worry going into The Fearmonger, despite the glowing reviews, was that the last time McCoy had acted, in the absolute mess that was The Sirens of Time, he had the acting talents of a houseplant. I am very happy to say that my theory of somebody slipping sleeping pills into his coffee that day has been proven correct as he is magnificent here, along with the rest of the cast. Sophie Aldred begins her long audio career of flexing her acting talents by playing expertly off McCoy. In fact, it’s here where we get introduced to Big Finish’s take on Ace in general, who has, for a long time, been my favourite companion in the show’s history. A brilliant, mature well seasoned traveller who acts as the Doctor’s intellectual equal, one of the most well developed and interesting companions the show’s ever had. And what a story to introduce her. A fast paced, whip smart political shakedown that begins fast - in media res - and then doesn’t stop moving for almost two hours, keeping up a fast pace but not rushing its narrative, a feat that I’ve found to be somewhat rare in the Doctor Who. Blum also manages to avoid the common decline in pace towards the end of a story by introducing multiple incredible last act twists that keep the whole thing fresh and new. The Fearmonger itself is also just a fantastic enemy for such a biting script that acts as great symbolism for the hate fueled state of politics the script depicts; an incredibly smart way to integrate commentary into an already blindingly fun audio play.

On the political side of things, whilst I love the symbolism and mirroring of news still relevant today, I think a lot of the situations seen and political language brought up lacks the subtlety it deserves, with too many on the nose statements by politicians or talk show hosts present. I also think we could’ve done with more focus on Sherilyn Harper, as she’s our stand in for the real world politicians the audio’s referring to. She’s a big part of the story, no doubt, but I wish she had been the primary focus for the runtime as I feel more symbolism and comments could’ve been done surrounding her.

A good political story can really land for me and The Fearmonger is no exception. Brilliant, fast and biting, it could do with a bit more subtlety in places to really boost its message but it’s definitely the best audio thus far into the Monthly Adventures.

8/10

Pros:

+ Great performances all around, especially from McCoy and Aldred

+ Ace is utterly brilliant here and it’s the first showcase of the amazing things Big Finish will do with her character

+ The Fearmonger is a brilliantly symbolic and inventive antagonist

+ Fantastic part 4 twist that changes up the pace of the story

+ Moves fast and doesn’t stop, very fun to listen to

Cons:

- Harper was underexplored as a secondary antagonist and we didn’t get to see enough of her rise and fall

- The politics lack a little subtlety, although it’s tolerable