Domain of the Voord

"Last time we met you were trying to kill me. Ring a bell?"

Writer: Andrew Smith

Format: Audio

Released: September 2014

Series: The Early Adventures 1.01

Featuring: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara

Synopsis 

The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara land on the planet Hydra, where Admiral Jonas Kaan leads a vast flotilla of ships trying to elude the vicious race that has invaded and occupied their world. But his ships are being picked off one by one, vessels and crews dragged underwater by an unseen foe. 

The time travellers find themselves pitched into battle against the Voord, the ruthless enemy they last encountered on the planet Marinus. As they take the fight to the very heart of the territory now controlled by the Voord the stakes get higher. First they lose the TARDIS... then they lose that which they hold most dear. And that's only the start of their troubles.

In the capital, Predora City, they will learn the truth of what it means to be a Voord. And that truth is horrifying. 

Verdict

Domain of the Voord was a fantastic audio adventure to kick off the brand new range of Early Adventures from Big Finish. I've been anticipating this story for in excess of a year now after the announcement was made in 2013 and my excitement wasn't just because it's a new range but because we were going to be getting a sequel to The Keys of Marinus, an all time favourite of mine even if it isn't popular amongst the general consensus. But to me it's desperately underrated and I just love it! The title was intriguing and it was clear we'd get to learn a lot more about the Voord, and we did so and it was fantastic. It's always nice to do a story featuring the very first TV TARDIS crew and just like Farewell, Great Macedon, we got a feature length and full cast story. The Companion Chronicles are all well and good but full cast stories are always favourable for me. William Russell and Carole Ann Ford reprised their roles as Ian and Susan admirably and told the story through narration when bedded with elegance. Based on the dialogue between the TARDIS foursome, and some of the reactions to the story's events, I like to place this story in season 2. The setting of Hydra was very good and the way it was described was stunning. It seemed a lovely planet and the fact that there was just one land mass and ocean spanning the entire world was very unique! The way the Doctor and Barbara's disappearances, which sadly has to be accounted for with the late actors unable to appear, was shown was very good hear. The sinking of the ship taking the Doctor and Barbara to their seemed deaths, along with the TARDIS, was outstanding! It left an intriguing dynamic with just Ian and Susan left by themselves with them accepting the deaths of the Doctor and Barbara. Just what would they do? They'd a Voord invasion to deal with whilst coping with the trauma. With my adoration of Keys, at first I wasn't all that impressed with the representation of the Voord. They really didn't sound like they did in the classic TV serial and that didn't change throughout the audio to my annoyance but I learned to live with it and after discovering that this story was set just after a century of the TV story I got it into my head that they'd developed significantly after the Marinus failures. The way the Doctor and co took pride in their defeating of the Voord was something I loved and it reminded me somewhat of how the First Doctor acted towards the Daleks in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. I absolutely loved the cliffhanger of part 2 with Ian calling the shots and demanding the materialisation of the TARDIS off of Hydra, leaving any hope of the Doctor and Barbara surviving behind. The sound of the TARDIS leaving was a huge shock as we knew it was nigh on impossible that the TARDIS would be able to return. Tarlak, the brother of Yartek, was a brilliant leadership villain from the Voord. He wasn't quite as sinister as Yartek I found but I still liked his ruthlessness. The depiction of the Voord capsules was wonderfully reminiscing of what was seen back in 1964 and the new information about the origins of the Voord was frightening. The revelations of the 'true blood line' and nature of the mask was outstanding and really gave some superb insight into what the Voord really are all about. The way the Doctor and Barbara were found safe and alive and reunited with Ian and Susan was excellent. And that led to the Doctor taking charge once again and leading the fight to the Voord and saving the planet. The way he caused a mishap between the telepathic link was a great and logical resolution. The guest cast brought some brilliant characters who had some interesting relationships with Ian and Susan. Amyra and Kaan stood out as highlights. Overall, a wonderful start to this brand new range and it's amazing to have a sequel to a story I absolutely love. An outstanding adventure to mark my 250th blog entry!

Rating: 9/10