The Monthly Adventures #058 - “The Harvest" by Dan Abnett

The Monthly Adventures are famous for a lot of things; they’re famous for introducing some of the best stories, for redeeming some of Who’s most hated characters and for debuting a number of all time great writers for the show. But I think the thing they’re most famous for may be their companions. From fan favourite history tutor Evelyn Smythe to foundational edwardian adventuress Charley Pollard, there is no shortage of incredible companions introduced by the Main Range. But I think that, for me, they’ve never done better than one Thomas Hector Schofield. Maybe it’s just my bias towards Seven and Ace as a TARDIS team, but Hex has grown to be one my absolute favourite companions with a consistently stellar performance from Philip Olivier and an endlessly endearing personality boosting him up my ranks. Now, an all time great companion should have an all time great introduction, so how does Hex’s debut fare?

Something strange is going on in St. Gart’s Hospital. People disappear and whole floors are closed to the public. When a friend of staff nurse Hex dies on the operating table, he decides to look further into the mysteries surrounding his work, and discovers the terrible and deadly world of the Doctor.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

First things first, Hex is amazing. Olivier is effortlessly charismatic and likeable, instantly making sweet staff nurse Hex one of the most endearing characters Big Finish has come up with. Not only that, but his chemistry with Sophie Aldred immediately makes itself known and they pretty much become an unflappable duo in their very first scene together. Hex is easily my favourite part of this story but that’s not to say the rest isn’t some good quality Doctor Who. For one, I loved the hospital setting and all the shady backroom experiments happening there. Plus, the subtle introduction of high tech sci-fi appliances was a nice way to establish the near-future time period. The story itself is incredibly fast and fun, moving at a million miles an hour but never feeling rushed. It’s a pretty gritty story that has the cadence of a light action flick, with explosions and chase sequences, all incredibly dynamically put together by excellent sound design. This feels a lot like a spy movie in how it’s set up, with tons of espionage and sneaking around deserted government facilities, all tinged with some light political commentary. It’s not the greatest story ever told but it’s very Doctor Who and is certainly a good time. As for our cast, besides our main trio, there are very few named characters but I did really like Mark’s presence as a much needed comic relief who still felt incredibly genuine in his portrayal; like, this is the epitome of a work buddy you go for 5 O’clock drinks with. Also, although I usually gloss over a story’s score, this is easily one of David Darlington’s best; Darlington is a very omnipresent force in these early stories, with a very distinctive, computerised musical style that I think really works here. The themes of technology and sacrifices for science are reflected in the very techno bleeps and bloops of the soundtrack, which also greatly improve a good number of the action sequences.

However, I don’t believe The Harvest to be a particularly memorable story. Sure, it introduces Hex but beyond there isn’t much that’s particularly unique or stand-out. For one, I keep going back and forth on the inclusion of the Cybermen. As for the twist revealing their involvement, I have no opinion because I think at this point everybody (including me) goes into The Harvest knowing they’re the main antagonists; other than Hex, it’s what this story is known for. I love the idea of linking medical horror with the Cybermen because in the end, that’s just what they are - originally thought up by a doctor fearing advances in biomechanical surgery - but this is not a particularly great execution of the idea. All conversions are done off screen and never do we really see the Cybermen before their turn into mindless drones. I find this a lot less impactful than it could’ve been and in the end, World Enough and Time has done the concept a thousand times better since. As for our other antagonists, neither feel particularly special. There’s some novelty in the spineless Dr. Farrer who’s willing to cut up surgery patients but not living people for his experiments but he kind of takes the back bench towards the end and hasn’t much impact on the plot. As for callous security officer Garnier, he just feels to me like a dull and generic tough guy without much depth who is easily and predictably overcome by rampaging cybermen in a somewhat rushed third act. In fact, that whole section is a let down from what came before, the pace falling apart slightly and once again downplaying its impact by having none of the action front and centre. Plus, the day is saved with a convenient kill switch that Dr. Farrer implemented for some reason.

Overall, The Harvest was a thoroughly fine affair with the significant advantage of introducing one of Big Finish’s best characters. It’s another addition to the ever growing pile of disappointing cyberman stories that just so happens to have a sleek and action-packed air to it. The chemistry between our three leads is immediately apparent but, though it is certainly not boring, the story could use some work here and there.

7/10

Pros:

+ Fantastic introduction to Hex

+ Really interesting and unique setting

+ Great, brisk and action-packed pace

+ Mark was some much needed comic relief

+ One of David Darlington’s best scores

Cons:

- The secondary antagonists were nothing special

- The cybermen felt underused

- The third act was underwhelming

Eighth Doctor Adventures #9 - “Longest Day” by Michael Collier

My main gripe with the EDAs so far has been the character of Samantha Jones. She’s characterised as a fiery teen from London with a passion for athletics, a strong will and a spunky attitude - in other words, a sporty Ace. She is, in every sense of the word, dull. She is an amalgamation of other companions shoved into a blender and poured into a human-shaped mould. I find her extremely boring and, as of now, one of my least favourite companions. However, Longest Day, written by series editor Stephen Cole under a pseudonym, marks the point where the EDAs start to have a little more cohesion. Sure, Alien Bodies introduced the characters and themes that would tie the entire range together, but it’s Longest Day where things actually become a little more serialised and a little more connected, kicking off our first “arc”, as it were, where Sam and the Doctor become separated and the novels finally decide Sam should be an actual character.

Hirath is a planet that is ripping itself apart, ravaged by unusual temporal anomalies and used by half a dozen corrupt regimes as a prison planet. When the Doctor and Sam find themselves split up on the planet’s surface, they each ally with fellow prisoners, as an extraterrestrial menace encroaches on the planetoid.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I think the first thing I need to talk about and get out of the way is Sam. Alien Bodies made her feel a little more interesting, Option Lock gave her some nice interactions with the Doctor and some good dialogue that actually gave her some personality, but it’s Longest Day where she actually begins to grow a little as a character. Cole actually manages to do something really interesting, where the story begins with her as usual - kind of fun but overly superficial - but then we get to see her change into an actually interesting character as the book progresses. I may have just described every character arc in existence but with Sam already established as a dull space filler, it was like magic to read. And how does Cole manage this amazing feat? Trauma. A whole lot of trauma. Seriously, Sam goes through some shit in this book and by the end is tired, embittered and much more interesting. Watching her desperately struggle to cope without the Doctor, attempting to pull together an alien group that ostracises her as people continue to die around her, really makes you invested in her endeavour and certainly sets up some great action in the next few books. As for the story, it can be comfortably split into two parts: Sam and a prison gang getting terrorised by mercenaries and the Doctor and a stranded alien travelling across the time ravaged surface. The former of these two plotlines is by far the superior one and was genuinely a devastating read. Basically, Sam gets in with a prison colony where a revolutionary called Felbaac is hiding out. Eventually, the corporate goons looking for him arrive and hold the encampment hostage, deciding to torture the group by making Sam choose between killing two of the prisoners she’d befriended or letting the entire group get shot down. Eventually, she resolves to hitting herself over the head with a gun butt until she collapses and is unable to choose, at which point an incredibly well constructed shoot out occurs and the corporate goons are killed. And this is only a couple chapters of an incredibly tense and interestingly written plot. It always amazes me that my first introduction to Cole were his children's books and then he writes stuff like a woman trying to kill herself by repeatedly pistol whipping her own head. It is a dark and dire story where no character is on Sam’s side and the isolation and stress she feels, as she is put in increasingly worse places, really helps build out not only her but the real meat of this book.

As for the Doctor’s plot, he’s simply wandering through some great worldbuilding with an alien woman called Anstaar. It’s not as tense or interesting as Sam’s stuff and it contains a number of my complaints with the story but it is a chance to see more of the world of Hirath, which is great. Ravaged by storms of time, we wander past the same man frozen in thousands of seconds, clones of him like living animation frames stretching miles, or plants that live and die and live again within a moment. When I read the blurb for Longest Day, I was immediately struck by how great the idea behind it was and how interesting Hirath sounded; thankfully, I was not disappointed and Cole wrote some really great visuals into his novel, even if it doesn’t exactly contribute to a cohesive story. Another cool detail is that the Time Trees from Genocide show up, which, along with some details from Option Lock - such as Sam’s hair - following through into this novel, adds some really great continuity to the EDAs. Eventually, these two plots converge in a genuinely pretty great climax. Cole uses a technique not too dissimilar to what Richards did in the previous book, flicking between short, punchy paragraphs to create fast action and it genuinely makes the last 20 pages very quick and fun. Not to mention, Sam’s breakdown at the apparent death of the Doctor was really well done and finally cemented her as an actual character for me, after the first five or so books worked to deprive her of any significant personality.

That said, Longest Day is no masterpiece and I think whilst the book tries a lot of things, not very many of them land. My biggest complaint is that the scale of this book is off, and if that doesn’t make much sense then don’t worry because I’m not sure how else to explain it. The whole thing feels slight; it has massive events happening on a galactic scale but the story is taken from the wrong angle, as it were. What feels like should be a tale taking place over days, weeks or months takes place in the space of an afternoon, plot points come and go by the chapter, we are only seen effects of this supposed alien empire rather than ever get a glimpse into it. This is what I mean when I say the scale is wrong, the board only has a few squares, the game only takes minutes, this has a scope that is completely absent and it makes the whole thing less impactful and less cohesive, falling in a strangely lukewarm temporal middle ground. I’m not sure if I’m explaining this well but it makes sense to me and what I’m trying to say is the book doesn’t land as well as it should’ve.

Another thing that contributed to this feeling of fleeting possibility is how the characters are just found and dumped so unceremoniously. The story begins with the Doctor forcibly allied with childish drunk Vasid, who may have just gotten Sam killed (the Doctor, oddly, has little reaction to this and continues working with Vasid, skipping what could’ve been a great bit of conflict). Skip a few chapters later, and Vasid is dead. Later in the book, we meet the rebel colony, and are only introduced to a few of them before the mercenaries come. Now, these mercenaries are great antagonists, cruel and callous killers with some serious alt-right affiliations. Not only this, but they create the most dread inducing and tense few chapters of this whole book. However, they last about fifty pages before they’re all gunned down and completely forgotten about. The Doctor and Anstaar meet a man with metal legs - something he really wants you to know about - but then he only serves a little plot convenience and is killed. Sam spends the whole book with a character called Tanhith, who, after seeming to be the only reasonable member of Felbaac’s inner circle, is revealed, in the final act to be as bloodthirsty as every other character despite having built up Sam’s trust; interesting to see how Sam reacts and- oh, he’s dead. Killed offscreen. It really mishandles its cast and makes the best characters get awkwardly shrugged off when the story needs them. And what’s worse is sometimes they’re replaced with worse characters. Those mercenaries I mentioned aren’t the actual antagonists; no, that title goes to the Kusks, a bloodthirsty alien race who want to take back the technology causing Hirath’s strange temporal fluctuations. I didn’t find them interesting or well enough distinguished to be actively threatened by, especially since we just saw characters who were 10x more despicable and scary. It’s simply disappointing after seeing what could’ve been. I think that actually might be this story’s biggest weakness: it’s disappointing. The pace, the focus, the pay off, a lot of it doesn’t work and I think the actual storyline is pretty underwhelming. Not bad, I don’t think, just unfortunately generic compared to the ideas it posited.

Overall, Longest Day was not nearly as bad as I’ve heard. It had some really, really good ideas and did absolute wonders for Sam, who I find I’m actually beginning to like. Not everything paid off, that’s for sure, and the plot could’ve used some work but there were a few moments that felt like genuine, classic sci-fi with some incredible tension and great ideas. I liked Longest Day and I’m excited to see what the Finding Sam arc has in store, even if it wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever read.

6/10

Pros:

+ Sam finally gets some good characterisation in the form of repeated trauma

+ The prison rebellion subplot was easily the best part of the book

+ The world of Hirath was distinctly alien and well characterised

+ The numerous weird and trippy time effects made for some cool visuals

+ The tie-ins to previous books add some much needed cohesion

+ Great ending with some really nice pacing

Cons:

- The scale of the story feels off balance

- The side characters came and went as they pleased

- In the beginning, the Doctor seems strangely apathetic towards Sam’s possible death

- The Kusks felt like underdeveloped evil aliens

- The plot feels underdeveloped

Gallifrey; Chapter IX - “Imperiatrix" by Stewart Sheargold

Sorry. That’s all I really have to say, I know Imperiatrix is a really popular episode but I’m beginning to think Gallifrey just isn’t for me. And that’s really sad, because I really want to like it; I love political thrillers; I adore series where the main focus is building developing an ensemble cast, but I just don’t think Gallifrey delivers, at least for me, on any of these fronts. I had to take a day to think about what I was going to say for Imperiatrix because, although I knew coming out of it I was underwhelmed, I didn’t exactly know why and found it hard to put it into words. A little over twenty four hours later and, you know what, still no idea but I’m going to try my best to say why I think that what should’ve been a nail biting climax fell short for me.

Gallifrey balances on a knife’s edge. A cut throat election is disrupted by deadly terrorist attacks and Romana’s inner circle continues to dissolve. With only one option left open to her, will Romana take her title of Imperiatrix?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I’m not sure what I wanted out of Gallifrey, but I don’t think it was this. The ingredients for a great story are there but very few of them actually seem to work. A character-driven political thriller that dives into the mythology and world of Gallifrey’s Capitol is an accurate brief for the series, but one where nearly every point is underdelivered upon. I find the characters likeable but a lot of them feel superficial and lacking in real, defined characterisation. I think the politics are one of Gallifrey’s weakest efforts, lacking any actual nuance or message. And in the end, I think Imperiatrix is just a distillation of so many of my problems with the entire range. However, I would hesitate to call this bad. It’s an incredibly competent story that (especially if you’re going by the first half) is just fine, but there’s a lot I believe it does wrong. If we’re looking at positives though, I’d definitely say the initial half hour or so is some fun if basic shenanigans. The atmosphere leading up to the elections - what with recent news in context - felt suitably tense and Darkel set herself up fantastically as the conniving opponent, callously blaming her opposition for the problems she’s caused. There was also some great stuff with Leela, who, after discovering Andred’s death, decides that’s the final straw and she’s going to leave Gallifrey. This could’ve been done a little better than it was (Leela basically goes from hating Andred to being hell bent on getting vengeance for him between lines and no the “creed of the hunter” or whatever is not an excuse) but her sombreful acceptance of her place on Gallifrey being gone was probably my favourite part of this entire audio. Or, I would say that, if it wasn’t for one scene. Despite Imperiatrix being an unsubtle mess at times, there is one moment where I can see it well and truly delivers on everything Gallifrey has been trying to do. Following an initial terrorist attack, Leela’s K9 goes searching for another bomb, eventually finding one planted in a docking bay through which a crowd of alien students are trying to evacuate. He’s unable to disarm the bomb and Commander Hallan resorts to locking thirty students (and K9) inside to die, against Romana’s wishes. Romana and Leela’s reactions and the quiet, remorseful wander through a pile of smouldering ash afterwards is by far the most emotionally devastating moment in this episode and possibly the whole of Gallifrey Not only that, but it’s the only time where the episode seems to rise from its muddy state of “oh, this character’s kind of evil but we’re not going to say anything about it” to outright condemn Hallan’s disregard of life. I’ll say what I want about the rest of this story but that one scene is stunning. As for the rest, I think it’s mostly fine. It’s flawed, sure, but it’s a very competent script and it manages to successfully wrap up Series 2 in a cohesive way, tying up most plot threads nicely. Imperiatrix, as a story, isn’t a trainwreck, but it’s certainly not far from a wobble.

And that’s just the thing, Imperiatrix wobbles, a lot. If I had to highlight one thing wrong with this story, one singular thing I need to complain about, it’s the politics. So, we’re setting our story during an election where one side is an increasingly desperate liberal politician who’s fast losing friends and the other is a devious conwoman who’s masquerading racist views as trying to protect Gallifrey from invasion. Tons of room for an interesting exploration of a turbulent political landscape, right? What can happen to even the “good-side” when pushed into a corner, mirroring real world pivots to facism? Well, no, instead there’s a crazy terrorist blowing up people randomly and we’ve got to stop him! It’s an utter bungling of what could’ve been a fascinating exploration into how the far-right can manipulate narratives to suit themselves and how the left can betray their own ideals when pushed to it but instead it’s a return to Series One spy capers in a setting that really doesn’t want them. The politics here say absolutely nothing, they are simply a backdrop to a kooky sci-fi story. This results in mind numbing repetition of the same two points that completely miss opportunities for intelligent discussion. Romana only ever says “Gallifrey needs to move forwards” and never really says what that means, Darkel is never called out or put down for being a fear-mongering racist who’s the real cause behind Gallifrey’s unrest and not once are the victims of the terrorist attacks seen as anything other than “well, that’s a blow to my campaign”. Actually, I tell a lie, there are a few moments reflecting on it but you’d think the story would do something more with the fact that innocent students are dying because of the current political climate and not just have it be an irritation to our main character. But since the story has nothing to say, neither do the characters. The politics here are superficial, they’re treated as plot points rather than actual moments of triumph or failure for characters. A military commander commits what could be considered a war crime and gets a slap on the wrists before the story moves on; Romana formulates a coup and the only reaction is Darkel going “hey, you can’t do that!” and Romana going, “actually, yes I can”. Nobody for one moment calls Romana out on anything, despite the fact she’s dissolving a planet’s government and turning it into a dictatorship to save her position. It’s a series of missed opportunities in the shape of a story, no character acts believably, every moment feels underplayed, there is no nuance to the election, it’s a pantomime that could’ve been a brilliant thriller. And what doesn’t help is that the dialogue can be painfully overwrought and far too close to a Marvel villain monologue for my liking at times. Especially with Antimom’s final speech where he painfully outlines his entire plan like a disney antagonist trying to get the children watching to understand what he was doing the whole time. It’s egregiously on the nose and horribly breaks the immersion(or whatever immersion there was, anyway).

Imperiatrix felt suitably disappointing for Gallfirey. A loud and shouty space opera with nothing to say and no real commitment to any character. I was told Narvin had some stuff to do here, but really he just goes “Grrr, I hate everyone” and then blows up, kind of allying with Romana at the end but not really. As a story, by itself, it’s fine but when you look at the bigger picture it just seems like a trip and a fall, failing to do anything interesting with its extended runtime. Even a second appearance from Mary Tamm can’t excite me for Series Three at this point.

6/10

Pros:

+ First half built some fantastic tension

+ Really loved what the story did with Leela (mostly)

+ The second attack was the most emotionally affecting scene in Gallifrey so far

+ Nicely wraps up Series 2

Cons:

- Massively underwrites its politics

- Very superficial in how it displays atrocities and corruption

- Misses opportunity after opportunity to tell a deeper story

- Romana’s role seems massively glossed over

- Dialogue sometimes became unbearably camp

Gallifrey; Chapter VIII  - “Insurgency" by Steve Lyons

Gallifrey up to this point hasn’t lived up to the expectations set for me. I think it’s quaint, I think it has a lot of charm but I also think it’s drowning in formula and very often directionless. Especially when it comes to something like Lies, which I felt was an hour of banal exposition only tolerable because of its great cast, I simply do not understand the undying love for something that relies so heavily on everything but its plot. Maybe it’s just because I put the story over most other elements in a piece of media and Gallifrey’s simply more focused on characters I’m yet to properly connect with but I find the common approach for these stories fine but definitely not the masterpieces I’ve seen them be called. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to Insurgency because, whilst it remains primarily character-driven and without a traditionally defined plot, I think it’s the first real instance of this approach being executed well.

President Romana’s new reforms to the Gallifreyan Academy have not been short of controversy, but with internal relations breaking down, disagreement could turn to violence. With the threat of insurrection on the horizon, how will Romana and her confidants convince their students who is friend and who is foe?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

My main goal for this review is to work out why exactly Insurgency felt so much more concise and captivating than the previous stories have been for me. Because, at the end of the day, Insurgency is the same as the rest. There’s really no actual story here, it’s just a week in the life of our characters as race relations break down at Romana’s new, diverse academy. It focuses purely on our main characters, mostly following Leela, as is the norm. It also puts itself together as a series of long, drawn out conversations, hoping to make the dialogue good enough to carry the plot, just as previous episodes did. And yet, here it all comes together because, I believe, it actually leans into this style and makes use of it. Hell, in the past I’ve not been adverse to heavily character-driven scripts, Broken, afterall, is mostly just conversations in a pub but is still one of my favourite Doctor Who stories ever. Whereas in Lies, the main goal was to set up the series arc and in Pandora, half of the episode was a traditional but ultimately underbaked sci-fi runaround, Insurgency spends the entire runtime building subtle tension and using its strengths to full effect. For one, this might be Leela’s best story yet; Spirit was fantastic but it was more about the relationship between Leela and Romana, Insurgency just lets Leela be the absolute best for an hour straight and her job teaching in the academy makes for some really fun scenes. I find this to be the first episode of Gallifrey to outwardly show Leela as intelligent -  despite the prejudiced views against her - and utilise the characters smarts in a way that didn’t just make her seem like a fish out of water cavewoman. She’s the island in a stormy ocean, a reasonable person who sees the universe as one and who doesn’t have time for pointless differentiation, her ability to mediate and handle tough situations putting her far above some of the snobbish, unreasonable Time Lords of the academy. Especially in her scenes with Andred, another part of this season I haven’t really touched on, which are done with some real tact and care. As for our cast, we get a diverse friend group of different species getting caught up in the disintegration of relations in the academy and every single one of them is impressively fleshed out. From the frustrated and quick to revolt human Taylor to the cowardly but ultimately benevolent Time Lord Neeloc, they are all convincingly friends and easily sympathetic, which makes it all the sadder when they’re forced apart. I think the main other thing I loved about Insurgency is how it really made use of its premise and setting. For a series called Gallifrey, we don’t really get to see much Gallifrey and spend most episodes running around interchangeable corridors. However, Insurgency’s setting of the grand and prestigious Academy really adds some great world building and the little interactions and troubles the characters run into greatly help to set the political stage the series finale will take place in. Plus, this is really the first episode that has felt like a political thriller. We’ve had tales of espionage and mystery and grand old gods terrorising the living in suitably Doctor Who-ey ways but this is just a portrayal of how conniving politicians can use tragedy to weave a tale of hatred and fear mongering that successfully sweep up good natured people into a maelstrom of prejudice and spite. Seeing how the academy goes from a little tense but defusable to a powder keg of race riots and racist assaults is horrifically believable and incredibly saddening, especially when characters we know forsake their friends and become nasty, snivelling xenophobes ready to bite at the first sign of difference. The build up to civil war, Darkel’s bid for power and the unravelling peace of the new Academy feel terrifyingly natural and I really have to congratulate Steve Lyons for his incredible use of tension throughout Insurgency.

Despite the fact I think Insurgency is easily the best execution of Gallifrey’s traditional formula so far, it still manages to still trip up in quite a few spots. For one, Romana’s whole subplot felt incredibly detached from everything else that was going on and particularly boring. This is using endless droves of dialogue in the wrong way, making them all infinite streams of lore that never cease to bore me. I like the very natural breakdown of Romana’s reasoning and judgement as her predicament becomes more and more dire, pushing her more and more in the direction of Imperiatrix, but that fits into the same downfall the rest of the story posits too and I think having this subplot completely separate from Leela’s story in the academy was a mistake. Plus, everything that wasn’t to do with the Academy and the insurrection felt a lot duller to me. With the Wynter plotline over, everything surrounding the Pandora stuff just felt like interruptions in a really compelling story; the search for Rassilon’s key, Taylor’s underwhelming fate in the vaults, Andred’s apparent death by the hands of Romana (no idea what that was all about) just felt uninteresting compared to the realism and grit of the rest of the script. And eventually it all comes together in a somewhat loose ending that leaves me cold. The thing about Series Two is that it doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere, there’s no series wide tension; I genuinely find it hard to imagine that the finale is the next episode. Insurgency kind of just stops when it’s had enough, there’s no real resolution or climax, it just ends eventually, really feeling like a random day in the life. Perhaps it’s just to leave room for Imperiatrix but I truly don’t feel like this is leading into a finale that’ll particularly excite me.

All in all, I really liked Insurgency. It felt like the first story where I didn’t need a traditional plot for it to click with me, I could just enjoy it based on the characters and world. Whilst I still think that perhaps Gallifrey’s approach to scriptwriting may simply not entirely be my thing, I’m beginning to get more into it as it stops trying to weave in half-baked narrative through it’s characters, just letting the development and world carry itself without trying to juggle too many elements and coming out with a number of tiny, lukewarm bits of narrative. Whilst I would certainly enjoy some shake up of formula down the line, I’d be very grateful if the rest of Gallifrey followed in the footsteps of Insurgency.

8/10

Pros:

+ Nails the “Gallifrey formula” in a really satisfying way

+ Makes fantastic use of Leela

+ The main group of students were nicely fleshed out

+ Added a great deal more worldbuilding to Gallifrey

+ The degradation of peace was believable and horrifying

Cons:

- Romana’s subplot felt detached

- A lot of the non-political stuff fell flat

- The ending was oddly loose

Gallifrey; Chapter VII  - “Pandora" by Justin Richards

So, halfway into Series 2 of Gallifrey, what am I thinking? Well, whilst the season itself might be a little more cohesive and less directionless than its predecessor, I’m finding it a little hard to tell these stories apart. This more feels like one, big story split into five parts because some episodes will just spend their runtime wandering around the Capitol, exploring plot threads here and there, having some nice interactions too, but never really settling down to do one thing, there isn’t really a surmisable plot to most of these stories. Pandora falls, once again, into this camp, half the story being nearly unrelated to the second half, focusing on the characters rather than the plot. And whilst I think it did it well, I can’t help but wonder if I’d prefer a more episodic approach.

Returning from the fateful trip to Davidia, Romana and Leela try to discover more about the identity of the Broken Man, all whilst an enemy from within the Capitol tries to shape things to their own agenda.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Pandora follows directly on from Spirit, beginning immediately after Romana and Leela make it back to Gallifrey. This is what I’m saying about this whole series feeling like one big episode arbitrarily split up, everything kind of flows into one another. However, despite this flow, the first half of this story deviates a little so it can spend some time expanding on our main cast. The way it manages to set up different alignments within the High Council is pretty great, giving us tons more insight into how each member thinks of each other. Brax’s ambitions are revealed, Narvin shows his first signs of the redemption everybody keeps talking about when he remains loyal to Roman over Darkel, who shows her true colours as a devious backstabber that serves as this story’s (and a number of following episodes’) main antagonist, a role at which she handles marvellously. Not only is the character utterly dreadful in her slimy, self-righteous portrayal but performed magnificently by Lynda Bellingham, who gives the Inquisitor a sharp, venomous edge that really cements her as a proper threat, especially when she manipulates poor, gullible Wynter. This is the point in which we move into our second half, which all revolves around the mystery of the Broken Man and the reveal that he is, in fact, Wynter after a fateful possession by Pandora. The way the mystery is built up and unexpectedly dropped on the listener like a wrecking ball is incredibly effective. I’ve already explained why I find the concept of Wynter’s death so horrifying but actually seeing it happen in real time makes it all the more devastating. Especially when we get a little found footage (or, I guess, found audio) sequence where we listen to Wynter’s fate through K9 in a scene that genuinely gave me chills the first time around. Sure, it kind of ruins the ambiguity I was so fond of but it’s masterfully done and probably my highlight of this audio.

However, my big problem with Pandora is that it just doesn’t feel like much. There’s nothing I can really define it as, it’s sort of an episode of tying up loose threads and building on pre-established characters. Sure, we get the conclusion to the Broken Man mystery but past that, this just feels like another day on Gallifrey and perhaps that’s enough for people but when episodes of a show all start blending together into one things get a little foggy for me. Plus, the whole conclusion of Brax having a telepathic battle with Pandora truly falls short, mostly because it happened off screen. His final declaration against Darkel was pretty good, sure, but the whole final fifteen minutes felt like such a rushed conclusion when I think this plot should’ve taken up the whole audio rather than the back half, letting the character stuff happen between scenes rather than entirely separate from them.

The best way I can describe Pandora is just another episode of Gallifrey. It was good, yes, but the thing is I just don’t have much love for something so inbetweeny. I need some impact, I need some great ideas, I need some stand out moments. I need the episodes to have a little more purpose because right now everything feels a little muddled. This may just be my sentiment but I think the thing Gallifrey really needs right now is a little more definition, even if it’s still got a heck of a lot of quality

7/10

Pros:

+ Effective mystery with some nice tension

+ Good building of power dynamics within the Capitol

+ Darkel reveals herself as a cunning and duplicitous antagonist

+ The scene revealing the identity of the Broken Man was genuinely chilling

Cons:

- Somewhat lacking in concrete plot

- The conclusion was incredibly lacklustre

Gallifrey; Chapter VI  - “Spirit" by Stephen Cole

Ok, so, Lies left me cold, but I’ve been promised that Series Two is where Gallifrey comes into its own and I’m determined for that to be the case. And, judging by Spirit, I think I’m going to get just what I wanted. Spirit was excellent and by far the best audio from this range I’ve listened to so far and, in fact, the best thing I’ve seen from Stephen Cole. A two-hander from Ward and Jameson already sounds like it promises to be a good time but I didn’t anticipate just how much of a step up in quality we’d get because, compared to Lies, this is like night and day.

Deciding to take a rest from presidential duties, Romana drags Leela with her to a retreat world, where they aim to enjoy the tranquillity of nature in peace. However, personal grievances and the arrival of a mysterious, injured man threaten to ruin the trip.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

At the end of the day, Spirit is just Louise Jameson and Lalla Ward showing that they can really act. The first half hour or so of this audio isn’t even the real plot, it’s just Ward and Jameson going on a hike and talking and it’s probably the best part of the whole thing. These two can just play off each other so brilliantly and the way Cole uses the two to explore Leela’s fish out of water nature is brilliant. Their arguments over ideology followed up by banter only the best of friends could have is basically the thesis statement of their relationship and is executed gloriously here. As for the actual story, it does the usual Gallifrey thing of having an inexplicable temporal mystery for Romana to solve but does go about it in a much more interesting way (not getting solved with a boatload of useless exposition). Halfway through the story, a horrifically burnt man stumbles from an impossible TARDIS, unable to speak or be identified. This sort of medical mystery, with unknowable John Does or inexplicable injuries always tend to fascinate me (think Dyatlov Pass Incident or the death of Gloria Ramirez) so this immediately had my attention. There’s something so strange and unnerving about this unknowable something that harmed this man and could harm you. It’s that uneasy, macabre tone that persists throughout the rest of the audio. Shortly after the man’s discovery, Romana and Leela enter sensory deprivation tanks, only to wake up to find the story’s suddenly turned into Freaky Friday, with them having swapped personalities. They wander through a destroyed, alternate version of the hotel, finding the broken man and getting hunted by bat-like creatures. This whole section should be a weird diversion, but it miraculously works, and that’s coming from somebody who really doesn’t like body swap stories. And it works purely because of Jameson and Ward’s incredible performances, who emulate each other so well I legitimately could not stop mixing the two up in this section. Plus, the whole thing is bathed in this lonely melancholia that is so palpable from the weird, alternate version of the world like something out of Silent Hill to the excellent sound design of a snow ravaged paradise. In all, Spirit was just a nice breath of fresh air, with an interesting setting outside of the capital and an excellent atmosphere, in part helped by David Darlington’s excellent score.

Although it certainly was an escape from the stifling repetitiveness of what Gallifrey had become for me, Spirit did have its flaws. For one, I think the story lacked cohesiveness between its acts. I don’t really feel like the hiking stuff and the dream world stuff really mix that well and some things kind of happen out of contrivance, like Romana deciding to still do sensory deprivation even after a major security breach. Also, although I thought that the dialogue, for the most part, was good, it could get really clunky at times. Not often but there is one particular moment after Romana and Leela escape the dreamworld and reconcile over some of the hokiest dialogue I have ever seen; it felt like something out of a Dhar Mann video and it completely fumbled what could’ve been a very touching moment. There’s also this subplot surrounding the hotel’s manager trying to seduce Romana’s escort that felt massively out of place and didn’t really go anywhere. I guess it represents Leela’s alternative should she want to escape Gallifrey, considering the reveal it was the manager trying to break her 10 year work contract, but I feel it really wasn’t needed. Then again, it did mean we got to see Leela deck a man in the face so perhaps it was necessary.

Spirit felt like what Lies wanted to be. Rather than being aimless exposition without a plot, we got some fantastic character growth and a brilliant little mystery to boot, even if it was a small-scale, arc heavy story. Stephen Cole isn’t a writer I’m usually this fond of - this is definitely one of his better stories - but I can confidently say he’s written the first of these audios where the characters have really clicked for me. I would’ve loved this if it had just been Romana and Leela hiking, and I think that says something about its quality.

9/10

Pros:

+ A really great showcase of the chemistry between Jameson and Ward

+ Really compelling and surreal mystery

+ Adopts this incredible, macabre atmosphere in the second half

+ Unique and interesting setting

+ Great score

Cons:

- Inconsistent in tone and story

- Some of the dialogue fell flat

- The subplot with Hallan felt incredibly unnecessary

Gallifrey; Chapter V  - “Lies" by Gary Russell

Gallifrey Series One was not everything I had hoped it to be. Overall, I think it was a consistently fine affair that I was promised acted as an extended pilot, a sentiment I definitely agreed on after finishing it. The stories all followed too similar a formula and too similar a style. The themes, whilst there, were surface level and the characters all had their moments but really it felt like the build up to something bigger, something better. Good, but not impressive. I expected Lies to be the entrance to a new era for Gallifrey, the new wave, and that was, ironically, a lie.

Weeks following the time disruption in Berlin, President Romana is trying to keep a furious high council at bay after she implements numerous, controversial changes. Meanwhile, as Leela sulks through the subterranean Gallifreyan vaults, an old and cunning presence grows ever stronger.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The thing that really bothered me about Lies is that it wasn’t bad, it really wasn’t, but it also felt like Gallifrey eating itself; a scripted ouroboros of sorts where the formula that teetered on the edge of being unbearable for the whole first season finally grips the whole story in its cold, dead hands. But then again, Lies isn’t boring, or infuriating or disheartening, it’s just so unimpressive. The plot is barely even there, as simple as you can get for a political thriller (with a slight sci-fi twist). All it really tries to do is set up Series Two, giving Andred a new plot line and introducing villainous intelligence Pandora as an overarching antagonist, as well as setting up some tensions within Romana’s inner circle. It’s enough to keep the interest, at least. I also think the performances helped hugely; we get extended sequences with Louise Jameson and Lalla Ward playing off a surprise Mary Tamm, which was predictably delightful and fun. Add in John Leeson as an increasingly more loveable K9 and this story’s real strength is just having these four argue it out in a dark, dank tunnel. However, at the end of the day, Lies is set up, plain and simple. Disappointingly brief and uneventful set up as it may be, it has a purpose and serves it well. This series seems promising, if they can step up the pace, the stakes and the ideas then we have some nice conflict on our hands that I think could lend to some really stellar character work. Hopefully a little stronger than last season across the board, but frankly anything’s better than more of this.

And that’s not to say Lies is bad - as I’ve already mentioned - but it’s formula to the max. Even the worst of Series One had some good ideas; Square One had a really cool time travel mechanic, The Inquiry had a unique set piece. Lies just feels like all the dull bits combined, all the exposition and the confusion and the poorly woven political trickery. It has no particularly great moments, no particularly strong bits of character work. I actually think it does some rather dull things with its cast. Romana and Leela apparently haven’t talked for weeks following the incident with Andred but they reunite and simply get on with what they have to do, no “where have you been?”s or “what the hell have you been doing?”s. Hell, there’s not even a “how are you?”. What could be some really interesting examination of the interplay between the two just turns into a plot convenience. But then again, what plot? This is a lot of exposition used to set up some arcs at the end of the day, extended conversations about the same thing. How, even when stripped of most ingenuity, Gallifrey still manages to have half its script be exhaustive exposition is beyond me. And, as is tradition, it doesn’t make much sense.

Lies is promising, I will say that. It gives glimpses of some tense and complex plot down the road, those plots just aren’t here. I don’t really think it deserves the score I’ve given it, but I’m taking into account the type of story this is: a whole load of nothing. Will I care about this in a month; a week; to the end of today? Maybe not. I should congratulate Gary Russell for making a plotless synopsis for future stories interesting, but really I’m just lukewarm and hoping for some turn around in pace later down the line.

5/10

Pros:

+ Simple but captivating plot

+ Jameson, Ward and Tamm all play brilliantly off each other

+ The set up for the season seems promising

Cons:

- In all aspects unimpressive

- Skips over the gaps in Romana and Leela’s relationship

- Relies heavily on more convoluted exposition

The Monthly Adventures #057 - “Arrangements for War" by Paul Sutton

Doctor Who can be many things; it can be funny; it can be clever; it can be fun. It can pastiche cheap 1950s monster movies and crime capers and pulpy horror novels, but very rarely can it emulate something such as prestige TV. Arrangements from War is a madly brilliant little story from the gap between seasons of the Divergent Arc that feels straight out of a new, unseen HBO show, with all the scope, bloodshed and character drama to warrant a run on prime time TV. A world at war leads to a script unlike anything we’ve gotten before and, unfortunately, probably unlike anything we’ll ever have again.

Determined to take some time away from the Doctor, Evelyn convinces her travelling companion to land somewhere interesting and free of some great foe they need to defeat. The Doctor chooses Világ, a planet fresh out of war that will remain peaceful for weeks to come. But when the Doctor accidentally causes the collapse of a vital peace treaty, the whole world begins to slip into the throws of armageddon.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Can I begin with saying that this audio is bizarre to me? Doctor Who is a good show, it’s an amazing show, but its best episodes are always the conceptual, the brilliant, the clever, never a small-scale political love story. Arrangements for War is pulled straight from a different show and I couldn’t be happier. It is a ridiculously expansive script, portraying an entire world at war, without visuals, in the space of 120 minutes. Astonishing. In such little time, Sutton is able to create the entirely believable, interesting and well-constructed world of Világ and for that I can only praise him. On top of that, the story is a utterly fantastic whirlwind of political espionage and forbidden romance. The political backstabbing, plots, threats and shenanigans here are incredibly entertaining and despite being somebody who usually turns their nose up at classic romances, Sutton writes such likeable, realistic characters that I’m just absorbed by their dynamic, not even thanks to the brilliant performances. And I mean brilliant, Arrangements for War could very well have the greatest cast in a Doctor Who project. Ever. Not only do Colin Baker and Maggie Smith deliver what is undoubtedly their best performance, we have Gabriel Woolf as the caring and sympathetic Rossiter, who acts a fantastic romantic interest for our very own Dr. Smythe, but we also have the intoxicatingly endearing Krysta and Marcus, who sell the main dynamic with their chemistry alone, and the duplicitous, slimy Plenipotentiary Suskind, who acts as a brilliant two faced villain that’s far more complex than just your average, tyrannous, power-hungry politician. And the story is a masterpiece too; despite dealing with wars, invasions and espionage, it’s really a real low-key story about a young couple in love, and how it affects the Doctor and Evelyn. It is expertly told, spanning months but being cut down to a couple hours without feeling rushed; this could take up a whole miniseries but by skipping over the right moments and giving just enough exposition, Sutton manages to compellingly tell his story in a tenth of the time. Plus, this story uses sound expertly to tell a narrative, making the whole thing feel undeniably dynamic in how it builds soundscapes and distance; you can picture the scene and camera movements of what an episode would look like (though a story of this size would never make it onto screen). And of course, after the long dreaded invasion of Part 4, we get perhaps the most heartbreaking end to an episode of Doctor Who ever. Both Marcus and Krysta are shot down in the invasion, leaving the Doctor, having finally given into grief, to try and go back in time and save them. In the end, he is stopped by Evelyn, and they simply watch the couple, happy and unknowing as the travellers finally overcome the differences they’d been having in the story. Arrangements from War takes place directly after Project: Lazarus and, unlike any lesser story, does not sideline this conflict for the sake of the plot, instead having the Doctor and Evelyn’s argument central to the whole story and finally resolving in this scene, as the Doctor talks to Evelyn about grief and the two consider what the right thing to do when somebody you love dies is. It’s a stunningly beautiful, shocking and all together staggering ending that leaves me with no words every time I hear it. Paul Sutton is an incredible writer and here it shows unlike any other story.

However, I do have one major problem and that’s that I dislike Part 4 far more than the rest of the story. Detailing the Killoran invasion that the last hour and half had been building up to, it really doesn’t do justice to its set piece, despite the last three parts so effortlessly building a whole world. It’s over too soon and we see very little of it, making the supposedly blood thirsty Killorans somewhat of a non-entity (I know they’re in the Benny range, but I haven’t listened to that) and the invasion is ambiguously defeated. And if I was really nitpicking, I’d say the secondary antagonist - the bloodthirsty Commander Pokol - was leagues below the rest of the characters. Surprisingly one note and really a walking, talking plot convenience; his final appearance of suddenly returning from being supposedly dead, shooting Krysta and then immediately getting killed was an awkward way of achieving that conclusion, however poignant it ended up being. He’s a weird stain on an otherwise pretty perfect story.

And that’s just what Arrangement for War is: pretty perfect. It’s of unknown quality for even Big Finish, taking a direction unknown for Doctor Who, with little bug eyed monsters or tin dogs in sight. It’s a stunningly poignant love story under the guise of a political thriller that does some absolute wonders for what might be the best TARDIS team; Jubilee be damned, for specifically the characters of the Doctor and Evelyn, this is their best story. Arrangements for War is a uniquely brilliant time, and one that deserves to be far more talked about than it is.

10/10

Pros:

+ Insanely expansive, impressive audio

+ Incredible world building

+ All around brilliant performances

+ Wonderful political espionage

+ Earth-shattering ending

+ All time great cast of characters

+ Expertly paced and cut down

+ Fantastic sound design

+ The perfect exploration of one of Who’s best TARDIS teams

Cons:

- The final Killoran invasion is very underbaked

- Pokol was an odd secondary antagonist

The Monthly Adventures #056 - “The Axis of Insanity" by Simon Furman

Twice in a row now we’ve had widely disliked stories that I’ve failed to see the issues with. The Axis of Insanity is fun, like really, really fun. “Insanity” is totally the right word for this, it is a cacophony of sound and absent visuals that turn into a peerlessly unique and fun story which feels like it should’ve been written for the Divergence arc - which this story is slotted between seasons of. The writer - Simon Furman - seems to be a primarily comic book author and that shows massively in the scope of this story and some of its not-so-subtle influences from a certain caped crusader’s archnemesis. A fun descent into madness with some cracking performances, what is not to love?

There is a place where chaos and instability converge - The Axis. A great equaliser keeping rogue timelines at bay. But when the Doctor and crew find themselves there, they find it tainted by a great madness, with all of time about to fall in its wake.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I groaned when I read the synopsis for this story because instantly I thought it sounded so good. However, seeing as it was paired with an undesirable rating, I was prepared for some untapped nonsense keen to leave its ideas uncapitalised upon. So imagine my shock when I listened to it and it surpassed nearly all my expectations ten-fold. This is a mental story, it is a cacophony of sound and fury and dragons that I just couldn’t get enough of. Episodes that have a litany of great ideas instantly have my respect and The Axis of Insanity has one of those scripts that just won’t stop throwing new stuff at you, instantly putting it in my good books. From the bizarre, labyrinthine halls of the Axis to the dragons to the evil court jester, this is a world of surrealism and boundless creativity. The Axis itself makes for an incredible setting, a sort of Land of Fiction type affair with a bunch of overlapping realities all melded into a funhouse of universes that reminds me of something like Labyrinth, picturing this bizarre junction of possibility with all the upside-down staircases and twisting corridors of Jareth’s castle. And hell, maybe David Bowie was in the Axis too, you never know. And besides the setting, the other big thing we have to play around is our villain - the utterly mad Jarra To, who is totally not the Joker; no seriously, no parallels at all, absolutely no influence. Ok, enough with the bit, our antagonist is a camp wonder obviously inspired by the clown prince of crime, with elements of Hamill and Nicholson poking through in Hagon’s mesmerising performance. And whilst I wouldn’t dare say he matches with the greats, he gets bloody close for a Doctor Who monster of the week; his performance is utterly fantastic and by far my favourite part of this story, Hagon gives his all and it pays off. The Jester is a scary, insane and formidable foe who I can picture gloriously in my head through Hagon’s vocal efforts alone. Our other performances are pretty great too, especially from Davison; Five has always been one of my least favourite Doctors and in fact still is my least favourite Doctor from pre-2018 but in recent months I feel I’ve reappraised him. Davison turns out to be one of the most talented actors to take on the role and as I get more and more in tune with Five’s personality, which I had been foggy on beforehand, I enjoy his portrayal more and more. Especially here, battling with his Time Lord superiority and his wish to be friends with mere humans as he clearly quite painfully has to do his duty and sacrifice his life to stop Jarra To. Davison really puts his heart into this story and comes out the other end with one of his better depictions. Erimem also continues to grow on me, as she naturally becomes closer and closer with the Doctor and Peri. I really enjoy her and Peri’s friendship and stuff like her learning how to read English (though I don’t know how the chameleon circuit doesn’t just get around that) and managing to realise the Doctor isn’t the Doctor when he’s being impersonated by Jarra To, cementing her as part of the TARDIS team for good. As for other characters, we only really have one non-recurring protagonist and that’s the rather ineffectual Tog; he’s not bad and his performance is fine but he’s just not all that interesting.

One character I would like to highlight however is Peri and, whilst Nicola Bryant joins her fellow cast members with another great performance, Furman chooses to write her like an idiot for at least the first half of the story, having Peri constantly walk into the world’s most obvious traps constantly. I understand it was needed to set up stakes inside of the Axis but it feels done in such an uncharacteristic way. However, she soon recovers from this spell once we leave the Axis and get onto the third act. However, this itself becomes a problem as leaving the Axis means we stop exploring it, which I find really unfortunate. This is a very fast story and so we never really spend too long on one place, which really annoys me because it means we can never get a proper look at the Axis, briskly walking through classrooms of empty-eyed children and brightly lit Vegas casinos in the space of one scene, never stopping to explore its surroundings. Take The Mind Robber - a very similar story - for instance; that manages to both move at a highly reasonable pace and give a fantastic overview of its brilliant setting. If The Axis of Insanity simply took a little longer to bask in its worldbuilding, I think it would’ve made for a much more interesting listen. As for the main negatives people tend to bring up when criticising this story, I have to acknowledge that I think I can see why some people might dislike it. Whilst I had no problem with it, this story is a camp marvel and that is simply not to some people’s liking. And although I think it nails the tone for a majority of the story, I can admit there are moments where it goes too far. For instance, Jarra To’s true form, played rather passionately by Liza Ross, leans way to far into the eccentricities of the character and whilst the Jester form of Jarra To feels truly insane and macabre, Ross’ version just comes across as over the top and irritating, and it’s in her performance I glimpse the destructive flaws I failed to properly see. And if I did really have to nitpick, I’d have to say that Jarra To was defeated far too easily. It’s established that they have control over the fabric of reality, and yet is simply pushed off a cliff to their death. With some omnipotent villains, it’s established that they like to refrain from using their powers in battle as it would make the fight boring, however this is never established here so I’m just left wondering why this god of chaos allowed themselves to be even hurt.

However, The Axis of Insanity, I think, is a genuinely great hidden gem. Sure, it has its flaws, but they’re pretty much all minor nitpicks and whilst I can’t for the life of me grasp why this is so widely disliked, I understand why some people might not enjoy its ceaseless barrage of increasingly insane and singular ideas. However, for me, it’s a wildly creative, wonderfully acted and passionately made bit of Who that I can’t help but love.

8/10

Pros:

+ Utterly mad and filled with inspired ideas

+ The Axis is a fantastic setting

+ Davison gets an incredible performance

+ Erimem gets more time to shine

+ Jarra To makes for an all time great antagonist in my opinion

Cons:

- Admittedly could tone down the camp in sections

- Peri is underused

- If anything, doesn’t use its premise enough

- Jarra To, despite being an omnipotent being, is defeated somewhat easily

The Monthly Adventures #055 - “The Twilight Kingdom" by Will Shindler

In these reviews, I have talked about stories that deserve everything that is said about them. I have talked about stories that have received far too much praise and stories I liked despite the undeniable faults present in them. And I have also talked about stories like The Twilight Kingdom, where I simply do not understand the utter bane with which they are discussed. See some reviews about this audio and you’d think it was the dullest thing conceived by man, but then you listen to it and realise it’s just a Doctor Who story. It’s nothing out of the box, sure, but is it the absolute travesty people treat it as? I think not.

Taken in by a band of feared revolutionaries hiding in a remote cave system, the Doctor, Charley and C’rizz find themselves at odds with each other as tensions rise and a great horror is uncovered beneath the surface.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I’ll be honest, I really don’t see the near universal hate for this one. It is currently sitting comfortably at a 2.67/5 on TARDIS Guide and I truly believe that it shouldn’t be even close to this low a rating. It is fine. It is categorically, unequivocally, fine. Sure, it’s not reinventing the wheel but is it really a creatively bankrupt and agonisingly slow slog as so many people would define it? It is a very Doctor Who-ey story, in a way: a bunch of soldiers, a mystery, some mind control shenanigans, relations falling apart, some spooky things going bump in the night, I fail to see why this differs from the usual stream of passable scripts. And even then, I think there are a number of things to admire about The Twilight Kingdom. For one, it’s got some cracking imagery. The horrific things that go on in this audio: thousands of clones of a crazed general emerging from the ground, to a lake of blood that turns to acid to a man’s face absorbed into the wall of a cave, there are tons of fantastic ideas here. One major complaint I see thrown around is that the setting is “just a cave” but it’s another complaint I don’t get. What’s wrong with a cave? The most unnatural place on Earth besides the ocean are the dark, murky and narrow turns of a cave and I think it’s given rise to some great pieces of fiction (see here, The Descent). Throw in the fact that this cave is in reality the bowels of a giant, telepathic creature and I think you have something that doubles as a fun setting and great antagonist. Perhaps, however, I can find fault in some other aspects of the story, how about the characters? Do we have a particularly dull side cast? No, actually, I think we have an easily likeable and fun set of characters that all have good performances backing them up, especially friendly scientist Janto, whose ending self-sacrifice feels well earned. As for the story, whilst I feel it can certainly drag at points, I don’t think more than the average episode of Doctor Who. It’s basically the final part of Apocalypse Now turned into a two hour audio play, just with more living caves; an army general has gone insane and is leading a terrorist cell from the depths of an alien cavern. It's a pretty fun plot all things considered and I think it is executed fine, I honestly don’t understand the accusations of unoriginality lobbied at this script.

However, I’d be a fool to not mention that this audio isn’t exactly a masterpiece and is, in the end, host to a wealth of issues. One main thing I think Shindler failed at was his attempt to develop the relationship between Eight and his companions. The last three stories have made things tense between them, from the traumatising ordeal in Scherzo to the less than apt meeting in The Creed of the Kromon, they’re not exactly on the best of terms and so it is any wonder they get into a fight? Problem is, this isn’t dealt with well. Charley eventually loses patience with the Doctor but it just comes out of nowhere, with little build up making it feel sudden and unnatural. Not only that, but it’s then written off as Charley under the influence of the cave’s powers and in one scene she’s over it, which I think is an unfortunate mishandling of a neat idea. This happens a lot, Doctor Who seems allergic to having actual tension between its leads for more than a fleeting second. At this point, I desperately want to see a set of a few episodes or more when the Doctor and the companion utterly despise each other and see what stories we can get out of that. However, any arguments between our main cast are often resolved quickly in favour of the story, leading to half baked arguments and convenient sentimentality. The Twilight Kingdom in particular, however, manages to hit a favourite little pet peeve of mine whilst also whilst carrying out a pet peeve of mine: the mind control. Basically, the group of revolutionaries are being forced to stay because the Cave Creature is controlling them, and that’s also the cause of the rising tensions in our central group; this annoys me, because it always feels like such a half measure when a story has to do this. Any powerful antagonist who has to use mind control to get people to follow it is immediately made less threatening, because rather than being a great manipulator, it’s just a set up to a “you’re still in there!” moment. Would it not be more interesting, tense and devastating to see our characters actually get driven apart? And finally, I have to say that I don’t entirely not get why people dislike The Twilight Kingdom. It is generic, it is undeniably generic. This is about as stripped down as you can get for a Doctor Who story and whilst it does some fun things, it’s not one that’s going to be remembered.

Is The Twilight Kingdom bad? No, not really. It’s not experimental like a Divergence story should be (and it doesn’t make use of the no time concept again, though it acknowledges that passage of time is still very much a thing in this universe) but it’s a fun time that I don’t think dragged as much as people say. It is not the greatest story you’ll ever listen to but it is one I think deserves just a little more love.

7/10

Pros:

+ Some really great, horrific imagery

+ The setting is actually quite good (it is fine, why is it universally despised)

+ Likeable and believable side cast

+ An entirely serviceable script

Cons:

- Tries and fails to develop the companions

- Falls prey to the “it was all mind control!” trope

- In the end, incredibly generic