Infelizmente “The Drowned World” acaba sendo um pouco ofuscado pelo grande sucesso do brilhante “Home Truths”, é nítido uma queda de qualidade de um para o outro mesmo não sendo tão bruta. Temos uma continuação direta onde (obviamente) o mesmo formato da história anterior é repetido, com a Sara Kingdom contando mais uma de suas histórias para Robert na Casa de Ely - Assim como o áudio que abre a trilogia, novamente, seu grande destaque está nos blocos dedicados a se aprofundar nos sentimos e nas lembranças da Companion, aqui começamos a moldar uma nova visão da Sara tirando aquela mancha, aquele seu rótulo de “A mulher que matou o seu próprio irmão” e adquirindo um status de uma pessoa arrependida, cheia de dores e traumas pelo ocorrido e que conseguiu reconhecer que sua mente foi corrompida pela SSS (Space Security Service) onde seguia, honrava cegamente as ordens que era lhe dada mesmo elas sendo as mais absurdas possíveis. Fora isso a história é preenchida com dois plots, o primeiro é a Sara contando mais uma história ao Robert que até tem seus momentos marcantes mais no geral, é algo que achei um pouco desinteressante e monótono - E o segundo plot, é o Robert tentando convencer os Anciões que Sara não está morta para que eles não destruam a Casa onde ela “”vive””. No geral “The Drowned World” ainda consegue ser um ótimo áudio, novamente se aprofundando muito na Companion do 1° Doutor entregando uma imersão muito aconchegante, sério...eu me senti muito confortável com os barulhos de água (deu até um sono, digo...sono no bom sentido).
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Solidifies Sara Kingdom as one of thee Classic Who divas, she is an absolute badass. I mean, c'mon now. Carrying on from "Home Truths", Jean Marsh continues to devour the nonexistent scenery, leaving zero crumbs, zero plate, zero anything. If this were solely comprised of her sections, it'd be a five out of five.

However.

It would not be an understatement to say that Robert almost entirely ruins the experience for me. Every bit involving him, every break in Sara's narrative, I find incredibly boring and out of place. The cliffhanger to the first episode, for example, was incredibly rushed, jarring. Went by so fast I was genuinely confused. Would've been a good, even great idea on it's own (given actual time to develop), but was molded with the narrative in a way that hindered all it's collective parts. I can look past it, but only barely.

Another amazing Sara story and loving this thing between Robert and Sara I love how bleak these stories can be too it’s not as good as home truths very middle story in a trilogy vibe

The second part of the Sara Kingdom trilogy. They struck actual gold last time. But can they do it again?

We have an interesting start. The detective from last time, Robert, is back in the house, and he wants to prove to the world that the house should remain. So, to prove the house has a conscience, he records it while it tells another story. Another adventure.

The party lands in a dank cave. As they get out of the ship, it falls into a lake and sinks to the bottom. After some exploring, it turns they’ve landed on an asteroid that was being used in mining operations. The mine collapsed, however, leaving the mining crew stuck. Awaiting their rescued.

While the situation may seem dire, the crew is not actually scared in the slightest. They have all the faith in the world that it will turn out all right. Which, while unique, can be a little distracting at times.

The party hopes to speed up rescue efforts by getting the Tardis back, but while they’re fishing for it, they get attacked by a mysterious monster made of living water tentacles.

After this the main story becomes a bit of a mess. It’s now a generic runaround with the water tentacles. Big monster, run away. You know the drill.

Eventually, Sara relates to the feelings of the water tentacle, and it retreats. Like the last story, this leads to some modern-day reflection. Although this time it feels way more disconnected and generic.

Instead, the real interesting stuff happens in the house. Robert interviews House Sara and leaves when she’s about halfway done. It turns out the tapes were empty. House Sara wiped them. Robert, furious with this, wishes for the personality of the house to go, and leaves. Just before he does, House Sara grants him one last wish. His wife is pregnant with his child. As he always wanted.

Many, many years later, Robert returns, and wishes the house to be alive again. House Sara returns. This time, Robert is not alone, as he has his daughter with him, who is suffering from a plague. Tensions are high, and, since the daughter requested it, Sara finishes the water story.

When she’s done, she grants Roberts wish and heals his daughter, however, in return he must live in the house for the rest of his life. He accepts this request. Leaving us with a bittersweet ultimatum.

Clearly the stuff on the house side is a bit more of a highlight in this one. Meanwhile, the water story takes more of a back seat. It is worth noting that, even though the focus has shifted more to one side, the sound design is still top notch. Shifts between stories are incredibly atmospheric. Very well done.

Character wise this story also shines. Sara is the obvious highlight, but we now also have some real insight in Robert. A man who wants the best, but doesn’t always know how to get it. It’s great stuff.

But sadly, the water tale is just incredibly generic. It has an interesting setting of its own, but the events are meager and cliché. We turned from the exploration of a mysterious house to a random monster of the week. But even then, the house sections manage to carry it. They’re all absolute, edge of your seat moments worth experiencing. Which leads to the story being both a 6 and a 10. Long live averages.