Being a massive Dr. Who and H.P. Lovecraft fan, I was super excited to learn that the good Doctor time travels to 1937 Rhode Island to finally meet LoBeing a massive Dr. Who and H.P. Lovecraft fan, I was super excited to learn that the good Doctor time travels to 1937 Rhode Island to finally meet Lovecraft himself in this latest 6th Doctor audio. Tiny bit sad that it's Colin rather than Tom Baker, but you can't have everything I guess. Fans will know that Classic Who has flirted with Lovecraftian ideas for years - The Nestene consciousness - very Elder God like and episodes like Fury of the Deep and the Power of Kroll.... Getting the Doctor to finally interact with Lovecraftian monsters and indeed go into Lovecraft's head is pretty much a dream come true.
Sadly though The Lovecraft invasion is an insult to Lovecraft/who fans. For a start it clearly hates Lovecraft. He is depicted as a racist, bigot and thoroughly unlikeable man and the rant the Doctor gives at the end is the final nail in the coffin, he calls him a worse monster than his creations and is practically happy that he's going to die of cancer in two months. Talk about alienating your audience.
The story wasn't great either. An alien mind parasite attaches itself to Lovecraft's brain causing anything in his head to become real. It wants to summon Cthulhu to become a more powerful being to conquer the universe. MEH. This tries to cover practically everything Lovecraft wrote so the Doctor and companions meet all manner of Lovecraftian monsters, characters and locations and honestly, this would have been far better just to focus on one thing rather than throwing in references thick and fast.
It tries to be post-modern, Randolf Carter, encountered in the dream realm learns that he is in fact a construct of Lovecraft and we also get lectures on disassociating an author from their work. The other thing this does is something I loathe about the BBC (and modern Who) at the moment and that is ram political correctness down your throat. So as well as the clearly preachy anti Lovecraft rants we have Calypso Jonze: a mixed race, pansexual, trans, non-binary bounty hunter who hates Lovecraft with a passion.
If you are going to do a Lovecraft story then do a Lovecraft story and acknowledge that it's going to be sought by Lovecraft fans. This is an anti-Lovecraft tirade who's PC bias far out-shadows its narrative content.
I will grudgingly acknowledge that it is well done in terms of voice cast and production values. My attention did not waver once in its two hour run time. The voices are great and the characters are easy to identify and interesting. Colin Baker is on top form, I'm not his biggest fan, but I thought he actually did an excellent job in this one. It's just a shame that I found the content so offensive, and the story such a huge disappointment. ...more
**spoiler alert** While I'm not a Colin Baker fan, I do love the Silurians so I thought I'd give this 4 part audio drama a go, and as 6th Doctor stori**spoiler alert** While I'm not a Colin Baker fan, I do love the Silurians so I thought I'd give this 4 part audio drama a go, and as 6th Doctor stories go, I rather enjoyed this one.
The Doctor and his companion history lecturer Evelyn Smythe (audio exclusive) travel to the Galapagos Islands where they meet a young Charles Darwin. The Galapagos Islands are also the exile of Tulok, a Silurian mad scientist who had been banished (Doctor Moreau style) for illegal experimentation. With a grudge against the Silurians (currently in hibernation) and fear of mankind he will stop at nothing to inherit the Earth...
The fusion of Darwin and Silurians works really well, especially throwing in a dash of Moreau - we have themes of the horrors of genetic engineering, evolution and the origin of man (I rather like the idea that man is the product of Silurian illegal experiments with apes - which explains the lack of a missing link) - The line where Tulok proclaims himself God is great. This adds to the Silurian mythos making them eat humans which I felt was a bit unnecessary but hey. The Godzilla esque Myrka makes an appearance and is far more effective than the pantomime horse it is in Warriors of the Deep.
The Doctor isn't very dynamic in this story (compared to how energetic he is in other Silurian episodes such as The Sea Devils) but the plot and supporting cast more than make up for his lack, and I have to say I quite like Evelyn as a companion. Greta, however, the Spanish scream queen of the episode got on my nerves a bit and the Silurians do sound a little too close to Daleks, but otherwise I thought this drama was pretty good. My attention didn't wander once.
I love Who stories that fuse history and science-fiction and thought that this story did it rather well....more
**spoiler alert** So although Colin Baker is my least favourite Doctor incarnation I love Paul Magrs, and horror based plots featuring insects so I th**spoiler alert** So although Colin Baker is my least favourite Doctor incarnation I love Paul Magrs, and horror based plots featuring insects so I thought I'd give this one a go.
Hmmmm - The story starts well. The Doctor ends up in a cabaret bar in the 1930's and I love the reveal that its actually in space and a nexus of wormholes. I also like the use of the worms in tequila and the menacing alien worms.
We meet a second Time Lord (Lady) Iris Wildtyme a drunk eccentric in love with the Doctor. Sadly I found her utterly annoying from the outset - Katy Manning does a superb performance but I just hated the character. To me the only other Timelord is The Master (and I have a huge soft spot for Torchwood's Time Agent Captain John Hart) but otherwise leave Timelording to the Doctor. I also hate romance plots involving the Doctor - One of the things that always made Who stand out in the genre was the lack of romantic melodrama (so yes you can guess I'm not a fan of either Amy Pond or River Song either) - But her affection for the Doctor annoyed me as well as her unnecessarily comical drunkenness.
The payoff of the plot also did nothing for me I think there's too much here. Bianca being a dark future self of Iris, the different factions of worms, the fact that the bar is made from a TARDIS - meh. I wanted something darker and more freaky and the majority of this is far too silly for my taste, for a Paul Magrs this is... disappointing.
Saying that it is entertaining and the cast do a wonderful job and kept my attention throughout. Hasn't really changed my opinion on Colin Baker being the least interesting Doctor mind and this is far from my favourite Who audio. ...more
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