Countdown to Moff Tiem: Reviews of The Last Voyage and Dead Air
While we wait for Moff Tiem and the ascendancy of the Cult of Matt, I've been wallowing in Audio Bookville. (And trying to recover from DST *haaaaaaaate*) After the disappointing
The Day of The Troll it was almost a joy to listen to Dan Abnett's The Last Voyage.
First of all, the characters were a bit more sympathetic and proactive than in The Day of The Troll. Sugar McCaulley (don't hold me to the spelling since it's nearly impossible to get accurate character info on the Audio-only Books) is spirited and smart while still being appropriately terrified. The secondary characters seem straight from central casting: Snarky Kid, Blustery Fellow, Weasely Accomplice, Evil Undercover Agent, Befuddled Elderly Woman, but they all follow their script and make the story, one more of psychological terror rather than physical terror, work. What really makes this story stand out are the incidental details that add depth to the story. The follow-me, a service robot that is linked to Sugar throughout the story, provides a bit of comic relief while never intruding on the story and Sugar's interactions with a passenger's dog act as a great device in fleshing out her character. Something that The Day of The Troll never bothered with.
It's a solid story that is only marred by Tennant's inexplicable decision to give Sugar a sort of Southern accent. Have we learned nothing from Minuet in Hell?
Next up was Tennant's final go at the commissioned Audio's, Dead Air.
This is a creepy little story using a sort of Blair Witch Project technique: the story is told by The Doctor has having already happened, recorded on tape and sent to the bottom on of the ocean only to be recovered years later and presented by BBC Audio Books as a unique glimpse into the time of Pirate Radio. (It's important to remember that fact when you hit the conclusion of this tale.)
It's clever, and the story is clever. Landing on board a Pirate Radio ship in 1966 The Doctor immediately runs into Layla, a laconic DJ who takes the Doctor in stride, to the point of buttering her toast with the sonic screwdriver and not batting a kohl-rimmed eye when he announces he's on board to catch The Hush, a leftover weapon from the Time War, before it destroys the world. The duo try to stay ahead of the entity as it devours the crew, one by one, eerily capturing their voices onto the vinyl they spin. It is a creepy tale...
...that completely falls apart at the end.
The Doctor's big plan is to capture The Hush on tape, sink the ship and the tap and be on his merry way. The Hush, being a bit smarter than the Doctor apparently, shrugs and says it doesn't matter, some day the tape will be found and it will be free. A bit of "no, it won't!", "yes, it will!" goes on until the Doctor says well if someone DOES find it he's left a warning on the tape not to listen so they won't. *eyeroll*. Then The Hush asks what will happen if it IS found AND someone plays it. The Doctor "hmmmms" and says that he guesses it will be free to wreak havoc once more. But that won't happen, nu huh, not at ALL. Because sinking the tape with the ship is a fool proof plan to stop a Time Lord weapon. Oh, did I mention it was a Time Lord weapon?
So, up until the very stupid ending, in which you can practically hear the villain (using the Doctor's own voice which is ironic) rolling it's eyes at the Doctor's stupidity, it was a good story.
While I enjoyed both of these Audios (except for the instances noted), there is always the nagging sense that these are re-treads. I know the franchise is old but I refuse to believe that all the stories have been told. The Last Voyage had a "Voyage of the Damned" feel and Sugar had a very Astrid vibe. Dead Air pulled in elements of "Idiot's Lantern" and "Silence in the Library". These aren't necessarily bad things because tropes can be effective and even comforting but I'm starting to despair at the lack of originality in the commissioned Audio line.
Next up: The Forever Trap read by La Donna!
The Day of The Troll it was almost a joy to listen to Dan Abnett's The Last Voyage.
First of all, the characters were a bit more sympathetic and proactive than in The Day of The Troll. Sugar McCaulley (don't hold me to the spelling since it's nearly impossible to get accurate character info on the Audio-only Books) is spirited and smart while still being appropriately terrified. The secondary characters seem straight from central casting: Snarky Kid, Blustery Fellow, Weasely Accomplice, Evil Undercover Agent, Befuddled Elderly Woman, but they all follow their script and make the story, one more of psychological terror rather than physical terror, work. What really makes this story stand out are the incidental details that add depth to the story. The follow-me, a service robot that is linked to Sugar throughout the story, provides a bit of comic relief while never intruding on the story and Sugar's interactions with a passenger's dog act as a great device in fleshing out her character. Something that The Day of The Troll never bothered with.
It's a solid story that is only marred by Tennant's inexplicable decision to give Sugar a sort of Southern accent. Have we learned nothing from Minuet in Hell?
Next up was Tennant's final go at the commissioned Audio's, Dead Air.
This is a creepy little story using a sort of Blair Witch Project technique: the story is told by The Doctor has having already happened, recorded on tape and sent to the bottom on of the ocean only to be recovered years later and presented by BBC Audio Books as a unique glimpse into the time of Pirate Radio. (It's important to remember that fact when you hit the conclusion of this tale.)
It's clever, and the story is clever. Landing on board a Pirate Radio ship in 1966 The Doctor immediately runs into Layla, a laconic DJ who takes the Doctor in stride, to the point of buttering her toast with the sonic screwdriver and not batting a kohl-rimmed eye when he announces he's on board to catch The Hush, a leftover weapon from the Time War, before it destroys the world. The duo try to stay ahead of the entity as it devours the crew, one by one, eerily capturing their voices onto the vinyl they spin. It is a creepy tale...
...that completely falls apart at the end.
The Doctor's big plan is to capture The Hush on tape, sink the ship and the tap and be on his merry way. The Hush, being a bit smarter than the Doctor apparently, shrugs and says it doesn't matter, some day the tape will be found and it will be free. A bit of "no, it won't!", "yes, it will!" goes on until the Doctor says well if someone DOES find it he's left a warning on the tape not to listen so they won't. *eyeroll*. Then The Hush asks what will happen if it IS found AND someone plays it. The Doctor "hmmmms" and says that he guesses it will be free to wreak havoc once more. But that won't happen, nu huh, not at ALL. Because sinking the tape with the ship is a fool proof plan to stop a Time Lord weapon. Oh, did I mention it was a Time Lord weapon?
So, up until the very stupid ending, in which you can practically hear the villain (using the Doctor's own voice which is ironic) rolling it's eyes at the Doctor's stupidity, it was a good story.
While I enjoyed both of these Audios (except for the instances noted), there is always the nagging sense that these are re-treads. I know the franchise is old but I refuse to believe that all the stories have been told. The Last Voyage had a "Voyage of the Damned" feel and Sugar had a very Astrid vibe. Dead Air pulled in elements of "Idiot's Lantern" and "Silence in the Library". These aren't necessarily bad things because tropes can be effective and even comforting but I'm starting to despair at the lack of originality in the commissioned Audio line.
Next up: The Forever Trap read by La Donna!