The Shadow of the Scourge

"And now, here I am. Just when you've got victory in your grasp. Wondering about in front of you without a care in the universe. Obviously I have something up my sleeve. Obviously you're unaware of the trap I've lured you into. I'm what monsters like you are afraid of. So tell me, are you getting scared yet?"

Writer: Paul Cornell
Format: Audio
Released: October 2000
Series: Main Range 13

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Bernice

Synopsis

The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and... the summoning of the Scourge.

The Seventh Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that has come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host, and a threat from another universe that is ready for every trick the Doctors' got up his sleeve.

This time, has the Doctor gone too far?

Verdict

The Shadow of the Scourge was a very good audio adventure and definitely one that I enjoyed. This was significant from a personal point of view as it was my first every Bernice Summerfield story and before listening I was unsure how she'd be portrayed. I knew quite a bit about the companion from reading about her but I've never read a Virgin New Adventure novel so I didn't know any traits of her. But I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked her and in this was far superior to Ace! I would've liked a little introduction as to who she was, I mean it was her audio debut and not everybody would've known who she was, but it allowed the story to kick into action right away I guess. The plot was very good, despite being a little difficult to follow at small moments, and things were always changing. The Scourge were good villains and the power they had, forcing humans to do as they said just by the power of their voice was excellent. I loved the comparison of how humans, dealing with 4 dimensions, could do as they wished to a world of one dimensional circles. The Scourge dealt in 8 dimensions, so what power did they hold over the humans and Earth? They were coming from a superior universe and could walk the entity of this one in a single move. It was scary how big their power was and that was really good. However, I didn't like their Zarbi-like appearance/description. I've never been a fan of insects in Doctor Who and that can be seen with my low(ish) ratings of The Web Planet and The Ark in Space. The cliffhangers in this audio were fantastic and each one really did work against the TARDIS trio. The relationship between Bernice and Ace was actually very good but in regards to the latter, this audio is a perfect example of why I dislike Ace's character. I was never a fan during her TV run and her aggressive and boyish style just doesn't work for me. The ridiculousness of her encouraging Michael Penbroke to punch her ears, making her deaf, was poor. Yes, it was great in giving her immunity from the Scourge's control, but if your ear drums were burst/broke or what have you, you wouldn't be alright to fight aliens in such a short space of time (literally seconds) now would you? The best part of the audio was by far the moments set inside the Doctor's mind. The description from Bernice, played fantastically by Lisa Bowerman, was outstanding and humorous. But so Doctor. I was particularly intrigued by Bernice's liking of the Eighth Doctor's appearance. With another hint regarding Bernice's liking to this audio's Doctor's future incarnation, it seems a new adventure with that Doctor is on the way. The climax of this story was fantastic and the speeches by both the Doctor and Bernice, in defeating the Scourge by will and convincing those taken over by the aliens to remember what is to be human, to feel hope and love was sensational. The quote I've used at the start of the entry is one I adored. Sylvester McCoy put in a great performance here and showed the emotion of battling for control over your own mind and body marvellously. Overall, a good audio but Ace wasn't great and I disliked how the Scourge took over the human bodies. But the climax and invasion of the Doctor's mind, and most of the plot in general, more than made up for that.

Rating: 8/10