Paradise Lost

✅8/10 = VERY GOOD!

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

THIS IS HOW YOU DO ALIEN ANTS!

I have a love-hate relationship with Doctor Who stories featuring big, ant-like insects. So I’m slightly worried about Darren Jones’ BBC Original, Paradise Lost, which sees Eleven and Clara meet such creatures.

Paradise Lost proves to be an atmospheric sci-fi story of the sort that would be too ambitious for TV. The text is rich but moves at a good pace, which keeps you invested in the characters and the action. The Fossians and the Drak-Arzin are quite intriguing alien races, even if the ongoing conflict between them is a very eron-out plot point in Doctor Who.

Jones utilises the audio story medium to full effect in creating the vividly atmospheric world of Foss, which the story is set in. The sound effects and music highlight this eerie, alien landscape. Foss turns out to be a living being (think Ego the Living Planet from Marvel Comics), and it's about to wither away. This somehow feels like a story that could have been made both during the Baker/Hinchliffe era and the Series 7B era.

This story is immensely enjoyable and immersive thanks to Jacob Dudman’s narration, which brings Eleven to life effortlessly. Both the Doctor and Clara work very well here. Anura makes for a likeable ally.

The story spins the same themes and the same mystery throughout most of its runtime, not rowing a lot in the process. This means that the final stretch is dragging somewhat.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS: 

• I should deduce a point or two for the Zarbi mention, but I’m not going to be that cruel.