I enjoy it, I will say it’s an improvement over the last one for me (sorry sword of orion fans), but yeah this one is excellent. Would I say it’s a favorite? Not sure, but if we are talking about the first run of 8 and Charley, it might very well be.
The Setting is really nice and the Performances, as well as the banter between our leads, is pretty entertaining to listen to.
As others already pointed it out in great detail, the dialogue is just fun. While it may end up not being the most original story, it still offers a lot of great moments and is overall a superb outing for this very likeable Tardis Team.

This one has a much more interesting plot than “Sword of Orion”, but while it keeps you engaged, it is a mess. Duke Orsino married a woman called Estella, but then lost her in a game of cards (huh), she got pissed and “killed” herself, cursing him and Venice to be destroyed in 100 years time. Why 100 years? No clue. Moving on. Now it’s doomsday and we have 1) people just there for the party (who apparently are OK with dying), 2) the Gondoliers, an oppressed amphibian race (who are eagerly awaiting the sinking of the city, because then it’s all theirs), and 3) the Cultists who worship Estella and think she’ll come back to life and lift the curse. Charley gets mixed up with the Gondoliers, the Doctor with the Cultists. Pietro the Gondolier has an incredibly stupid and pointless plan: he makes Charley tell the Duke she’s Estella to distract him from going after the remains of the real Estella, lest he somehow resurrects her and stops Venice from sinking. But the Duke was not even going to do that in the first place, so it all comes to nothing. Then in the end we find, surprising absolutely no-one, that the mysterious old lady the Doctor and Charley met when they first arrived was Estella all along. And she’s an alien. She and the Duke sacrifice themselves to save the city with her magic alien will-amplifying jewels (?). The Cultists are sad, the Doctor has one throwaway line about how he hopes they treat the Gondoliers better now (they absolutely will not), and that’s the end.    

All the side characters were soooooo hammy and overdone. It was exhausting, and I didn't care for them. The Doctor has some great moments, and some things about his character come to the fore. He really is trying to just show Charley a good time, and is guilty that he’s been putting her in so many life threatening situations. He’s so scatterbrained he only noticed she had left to talk to Pietro, like, an hour afterwards. He gets lost in thought, deaf to all around him, constantly. People are shooting at him, he’s planning a trip to Venice. That exchange with the curator that goes “I’m good friends with the Duke” “Are you really” “No”. He’s snarky all the time, but in such a soft tone that people don’t even understand. Stealing the jewels, lying about knowing where the portrait is, keeping the information that the coffin is empty from everyone, talking about Liza Minnelli… Good stuff, good stuff. Charley’s character is beginning to crystallize. Mostly, she wants to have fun and see new things! She wants to meet people, not go see some paintings. She complains about how the TARDIS looks too old and Gothic and has too much wood paneling (SLANDER - maybe that’s part of the reason the TARDIS dislikes her). She’s still impressed by the Doctor and has full faith in him, but she mocks and snarks at him every chance she gets. She’s sympathetic to the struggles of the Gondoliers, but with an air of superiority, I guess I could say. A rich girl who is a nice person and does care, but doesn’t fully grasp the implications and nuances of social/racial struggles. This is not a criticism; it’s great to see, and gives her room to mature. 

The Doctor and Charley’s back and forth is delightful. They both tend to talk fancy, making for some very polite-sounding teasing. They clearly care a lot about each other already and are having a good time. There’s some foreshadowing here about her and the Doctor's relationship, or at least I think there is. “She loved him, of course she stepped into the flame”, “it was all about love in the end”, Charley thinking dying together is the peak of romance, the kind of ominous tone and music when the Doctor says he’s not going to abandon her, his best friend... hmmmmmmmm.

25.05.2022

Ugh. You can guess the main twist in the first 15 minutes of the play. The revolution subplot is brought up to be dismissed on a technicality. The day is saved by love (that wasn't there until the plot required it to be). A safe skip. 1/5

MR 018: The Stones of Venice

Uh... it's a Doctor Who story and stuff happens I guess. Really, these first few Eighth Doctor stories aren't that interesting.

The city of Venice is sinking into the ground in the future. But there's a whole legend around the Duke, who is 100 years old, having been cursed by his lover to die when the city sinks. Because he "lost her in a card game," which is a giant lol wut to me. This is your lover, not a car. And he gives no reason for it either which is bizarre. Surely that's not legal unless the 23rd century has legal slavery. This entire premise is bizarre.

A cult has formed to worship the lover and has her tomb deep underground. But her tomb is empty because she was never dead. She is an alien of some kind who used her jewels to amplify her hatred of the Duke and curse the city to die. But to save the city something has to die in return so she forgives the Duke and they die together.

Which is so weird. Why would she forgive him for "losing her in a game of cards," which I reiterate, makes no sense. And why would she choose to die with him, throwing herself on the funeral pyre style.

The Doctor talks about how humans make up legends and stories. But this REALLY IS a legend and story come to life. She did curse the Duke and the city to live for another hundred years and then die. There really is no reason for the cult to not worship her when she can destroy the entire city. There's also some paintings that she brought with her from space.

And an underclass of fish people who drive the gondolas. They're both supported and condemned by the story. Revolution of the underclass who force Charley into trying to fool the Duke that he is his long lost lover.

Yeah, the writing just feels all over the place here. That's the main problem. It's very unfocused and it ends up feeling like a mess of underbaked ideas.

The Monthly Adventures #018 - "The Stones of Venice" by Paul Magrs

Of all the writers in the Whoniverse (I wish there was a better term for that), the one I’ve been looking forward to getting into the most is Paul Magrs. A mad hat, entirely unique and possibly insane writer that has written both the most mental and the most revered stories in Doctor Who, created the beloved (and frankly, perplexing) character of Iris Wildthyme and has made a very loud name for himself in both prose and audio. The Stones of Venice seems to be a more regular story for him, devoid of Wildthymes and Mad Dogs and instead, a somewhat beautiful future-historical hybrid set in a sinking city.

Desperate for a break from all the running, shooting and ducking, the Doctor and Charley land in Venice, on the eve of its demise. But what truth lies behind a curse placed on the city? And what do the revolutionary plots of fishmen and a cult mean for Venice?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The Stones of Venice is unlike pretty much any story I’ve listened to before. A gorgeously realised fairy tale set in 23rd Century Venice, which is beautifully portrayed through some utterly stellar sound design, that presents itself as this mediaeval/futuristic hybrid, with fishmen driving gondolas and aliens putting curses on the city. It's a mashup of genres that I haven’t really seen in Doctor Who before and I adore the whole fairytale vibe it’s going for, which I find reminiscent of something like Series 5, which coincidentally had an episode with fish people in Venice, though it did something a little different with the concept. No, this is a glorious end of days thrillride with the Doctor getting involved in the machinations of a cult worshipping the spirit of the woman who cursed the city and Charley impersonating said woman in order to allow the race of fish people to put a stop to the curse. I love plots where it’s a bunch of different threads that all collide at the end and The Stones of Venice does this wonderfully, both Charley and the Doctor get a good amount of airtime and I enjoy both narratives. This is probably because tagging along with these two is a really enjoyable side cast, everybody here feels like a well-developed character and I, dare I say it, liked a few of them.

If I had to level one complaint at this story, it would be that the middle dragged quite a bit. All the praise I give to this audio is aimed at parts 1 and 4, 2 and 3 are simply not much to write home about. The story really drags in the middle and it can get quite forgettable, but the setting and characters are good enough to keep my interest up until the final part. However, the twist of Mrs Lavish being Estella was somewhat predictable, not the best third act reveal I’ve seen in The Monthly Adventures by a long shot.

The Stones of Venice surprised me, as I liked it a lot more than I expected to. Definitely more fairy tale than science fiction but I don’t think that does it a disservice, the story and characters are interesting and it boasts one of the most unique settings I’ve seen in an audio. It’s just a little forgettable, that’s all.

7/10

Pros:

+ Wonderfully realised future Venice

+ Incredibly constructed and intricate soundscape

+ Complex and interesting narrative that builds to an effective climax

+ Interesting and varied side cast

Cons:

- The middle slows too much and drags its feet

- The final twist was predictable