The Stones of Venice

"What do you know, Doctor? Ever since you turned up, there's been nothing but disaster."

Writer: Paul Magrs
Format: Audio
Released: March 2001
Series: Main Range 18

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Charley

Synopsis

The Doctor and Charley decide to take a well-deserved break from the monotony of being chased, shot and generally suffering anti-social behaviour at the hands of others.

And so they end up in Venice, well into Charley's future, as the great city prepares to sink beneath the water for the last time...

Which would be a momentous, if rather dispiriting, event to witness in itself. However, the machinations of a love-sick aristocrat, a proud art historian and a rabid High Priest of a really quite dodgy cult combine to make Venice's swan song a night to remember.

And then there's the rebellion by the web-footed amphibious underclass, the mystery of a disappearing corpse and the truth behind a curse going back further than curses usually do.

The Doctor and Charley are forced to wonder just what they have got themselves involved with this time...

Verdict

Another very strong Eighth Doctor and Charley audio adventure! The Stones of Venice took a little while to get going, albeit after an unrelated fast-paced pre-credit scene. Once it got going the story was excellently done and certainly enjoyable. The futuristic Venice setting was great and the depictions of the Underclass were very good. The character of Pietro was fantastic throughout and I also really liked Orsino. The love story, of sorts, behind Orsina and the thought-decesead Estella was very intriguing especially as it seemed responsible for the imminent sinking of the Venetian city itself. Churchwell was terrific also and I liked the relationship he had with the Doctor during the story. Paul McGann has done an amazing job reprising his brief role as the Eighth Doctor on audio and its so good to get classic adventures set prior to The Movie! Charley was outstanding in this adventure and although I don't actually get to see India Fisher portraying her, sound is more than enough and she's slowly climbing my list of favourite companions. I loved her pretending to be Estella against her own will, though she was very convincing! The cliffhangers were all pretty good which is a bonus to any story. The climax, or rather revelation of the plot-threads, was great and the way that Ms Lavish actually turned out to be Estella was definitely not expected, though the Doctor wasn't surprised! Charley, in her short time inside the TARDIS so far, already is getting annoyed at the common danger of death or imprisonment. Well, that's not what she signed up for! A great audio, that could've been a bit improved with a little less conversation, but still fantastic nonetheless. Long live the Eighth Doctor audios!

Rating: 8/10