The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.4 - “Immortal Beloved” by Jonathan Clements

I love a good world. I love the alien species, tense politics and intricate way of life. I love the quirks and the idiosyncrasies and the stories and the history. However, I don’t love it when a story forsakes its plot in place of the world and so I find it important to balance your worldbuilding with narrative. And similarly, if you have a really interesting world, it would be a shame to choose to not and explore it. Immortal Beloved is an example of the latter, and a really unique story for me, because it hooks with a really great idea and then decides to focus on something entirely different.

Landing in the centre of a deadly lovers’ quarrel, the Doctor and Lucie become embroiled in the politics and troubles of a planet ruled by body snatching immortals donning the identities of Greek deities.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The first thing you realise when you read the synopsis of Immortal Beloved is its central idea. A group of politicians have discovered the secret to immortality and with it rule a city as gods, taking after Greek mythology and naming modern day advances - such as helicopters - things more common to the past - like “chariots”. This is a really fun idea and, more importantly, creates a really interesting world. We could see the politics of such a nation and the lies they feed the populace. We could see how a world has adapted to living in the shadow of an ancient mythology and the things its rulers do to maintain it. Maybe we could see how the kingdom reacts when they find out the truth is all lies? Maybe we don’t reveal exactly who Zeus and Hera actually are until the end? Well that would all be pretty interesting, but instead we’re stuck in a palace the entire time, completely cut off from seeing how this world operates and so turning a great idea small. Also, the script ends up being more focused on the cloning process that keeps Zeus and Hera alive rather than its central idea, which is weird because these two concepts don’t even feel related.

It’s a real shame that the world got overlooked in the writing of this story because it is by far and away the best part of it. Looking at what we’re left with, I can honestly say I only really see one other thing that makes Immortal Beloved stand out and that is Ian McNiece’s performance as main antagonist Zeus. He is brilliant here and his aged, selfish, indulgent mannerisms make him by far the most fun and interesting character in this cast, which is important because nobody else really matches up to him.

I don’t love the cast of Immortal Beloved; besides Zeus, all feel somewhat underdeveloped and I find that ties into my issues with this story’s pacing. This story doesn’t leave much of an impression on me and by the time it ended, it felt like the story had barely gotten started: not much had happened, Zeus and Hera had been killed off unceremoniously, it felt like we were robbed of a lot of interesting plot beats and the characters pretty much felt like where they’d started, none engaging enough to properly make me invested. This is just one of those stories I find worthy of a single shrug, it was inconsequential to me and left me with no strong feelings whatsoever, which is always the worst type of story because I never know what to say about it.

Immortal Beloved hooked me with a fun idea and a plot that promised a lot of interesting things, only for it to say “hang your anticipation, we’re doing clones”. Whilst definitely not a bad story, it’s most certainly a script that will leave you feeling unfulfilled and skipping over it won’t change your listening experience for the worst, which only makes me wonder what the point is.

5/10

Pros:

+ Loved the concept of the world

+ Ian McNiece puts in a stellar performance

Cons:

- Doesn’t explore its concept enough

- Poorly paced

- None of the characters felt particularly deep

I quite enjoyed this audio.  I was a little skeptical as it starts out feeling like a hammy version of Romeo and Juliet, but it turns out to be a pretty fun story all about these clones living as Greek Gods, keeping themselves Immortal by constantly raising and eventually inhabiting new, younger bodies.  It's strange, certainly, and an unconventional story, but that's kind of perfect for Doctor Who.

I like how Zeus tries to couple with Lucie but it feels very much like he wasn't going to ever force her.  It was so weird, awkward, and poorly thought out by this powerful being that I couldn't help but laugh at our main villain, and yet it didn't feel like that diminished the stakes or my investment in Immortal Beloved.  There's something about this story that just came across as a very cozy and classic adventure, even if the premise feels a little unique and creative.  It's an interesting one that I think is a little underrated.  I would definitely recommend this audio.

The whole "modern tech in ancient times" angle felt a little underdeveloped, and the who body swap thing was creepy.

recommend skipping this one

Its relief to transport Lucie and The Doctor to a more regal, stately setting which sits in sharp contrast to the first two stories. It is the strongest installment of the series so far - a proper sci-fi concept developed into a twisty, clever plot. The reincarnation machine concept gives the actors a fun and dynamic way of playing multiple characters. It leaves room for a few surprises and plenty of subterfuge. Its certainly the first installment that had me gasp with surprise!