Skip to main content

Dark Tides                                                



The Ninth Doctors Adventures 4.7                                                                            



It maybe the future where the Doctor and Rose have travelled but its also a era of decline, a dark age. The Knights of Atlas seek a treasure aboard a lost ship, now reachable from the Dark tides.


This is a welcome change from the Powell estate audios. The future, space, spaceships - a bit of space opera. Though with the Knights, and Rose being called ‘fair maiden’ there’s a hint of an historical, though it doesn’t last that long. It does feel that the Doctor is back where he belongs. 


The lost ship isn’t as deserted at it first appears, something, or rather someone is on board. A ghost? A hologram? Or some kind of alien? Whatever she is, Dr Vivian Rest is alive. Played by Doon Mackichan; I’ve enjoyed her work since the nineties with Alan Partridge, and its tempting to say she steals the show, but I wouldn’t quite go that far. She is well cast, and is on par with Michelle Gomez’s Missy. Just a delight to listen to and leaves you wanting more. 


There are some stand out moments, a space walk, nicely illustrated by the sound effect. Of course there are deaths and some a little chilling. The story doesn’t forget its setting, the fact that they are in dark times. As its mentioned that even though the lost ship is old they no longer have same level of tech. The Dark tides region of space is a interesting concept, the idea not as explored as much as I’d of liked maybe.


I remember Steven Moffat saying that what used to be part one of the classic series is now the pre titles sequence, and he was right. Here it seems that its just the Doctor turning up and saying hello. But its a minor quibble.


Its a pretty enjoyable adventure, not quite a masterpiece but still good. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Last Days of the Powell Estate The Ninth Doctor Adventures 4.2 The Doctor and Rose find themselves in the future, 2036 , to be exact. Though, when Rose discovers that the run down, derelict building they’ve arrived at is what left of the Powell estate , she starts to worry about her mother… It feels like quite a wait since the last episode. I’m not one for binge listening, but with Chris and Billie back together, you just want more. They meet a guy doing a video about strange places who tells the Doctor and Rose about an entity dubbed ‘ Mr Fingers ’. People feel a hand on their shoulder but when they turn round no ones there, feel it twice and you’re gone. The idea would make quite a nice horror film. It has the ingredients, the empty building, the sense of something unreal, people disappearing. The fact that once there felt the hand, if they turn around next time, they’re a goner.  The entity exists both in Roses time and the future, so we get Jackie and her friend in 2006...
Post a Comment
Read more
The Skeleton Quay                        Jago and Litefoot 6.1                                 Jago and Litefoot arrive back in their own time and are immediately accosted. The Queen needs their services. Ghosts are seen at a village lost to the sea. So if you didn’t know or had forgot, J&L spent the last series in the 1960’s. Here they are back where they belong, but we don’t get to catch up with Ellie , Sgt Quick etc. As they're off straight away. So the village of Shingle cove was washed away by the sea during a storm, but something would seem to be amiss as J&L start to see ghosts and visions of how the village was, and someone is out to stop them. Its does fall into that trope of small town by the sea, 73 yards does it, the Stuff of Legend also. Not that its necessarily a bad thing, but it sets the tone for the episode. The sea, cli...
Post a Comment
Read more
 The Three Companions I had intended to listen to Sirens of Time Redux after Once and Future Coda, however as it still hadn’t been released I went for the next audio on my list The Companion Chronicles: The Three Companions. This originally came out as 10 minutes parts, tacked onto the Monthly range, in 20009/10. The three companions being Polly, the Brigadier and Thomas Brewster, and consists of three, 40 minute episodes. Polly writes to the Brig, wanting to find out about the Doctor, having read an article by Mrs Jo Jones that mentions him, and tells a story of when she knew the Doctor. The thing that got me into the Companion Chronicles was the Mahogany Murder’s, I had tried them before and hadn’t taken to the the narration style. With the Mahogany Murder’s, it was Jago and Litefoot meeting and each recounting their recent events. This takes a similar approach. Though they are writing/emailing to each other there are interjections, comments from the other, which is a little odd,...
Post a Comment
Read more