Empire of the Racnoss

"This war is not fought in my name."

Writer: Scott Handcock
Format: Audio
Released: July 2017
Series: Classic Doctors, New Monsters 2.02

Featuring: Fifth Doctor

Synopsis

When a distress call rips the TARDIS from the Vortex, dragging it back through time, it arrives in the midst of a conflict between Gallifrey and an acient foe.

The Doctor, as ever, wants to help, but in returning a wounded combatant home, he becomes further and further entangled in a web of deceit and recrimination. A web spun by an eight-legged Empress and her minions...

The Empire of the Racnoss is at war, and wherever he stands, the Doctor is on the wrong side.

Verdict

Empire of the Racnoss was a very good audio adventure and a great way to continue the second series of Classic Doctors, New Monsters! The Racnoss, more specifically the Empress of Racnoss, is a brilliant character to bring back for this boxset and I thought she worked very well alongside the Fifth Doctor. Peter Davison gave an excellent performance and I liked his reaction when he realised that the distress call he received was from the Racnoss. The idea of doing a story in the midst of the war between the Time Lords and the Racnoss was terrific and I thought the delivery was very good indeed. The story wasn't really that similar at all to The Runaway Bride and I liked that. With these new series monsters, I think it's important to place them in different scenarios to what we have seen on television already. I wasn't sure that the Empress would appear at all once the story had begun but she did show up a little way through the audio. Herrax and Alayna were great characters and I liked their shock when they found out that the Doctor had actually saved the Consort. The idea of a Racnoss fitting inside the TARDIS during the time of the Fifth Doctor seems quite improbable, even with the marvel that is the time and space machine. He did have some help later on from Alayna when it came to materialising around the Racnoss children but I wasn't overly convinced by the TARDIS's ability to house a Racnoss. The dispute between the Empress and Emperor of the Racnoss was very intriguing and I loved how the Doctor had found himself caught up in the midst of a Racnoss civil war. That taking place during the interference of the Time Lords as well only added to complications. Hearing from Herrax what Gallifrey had envisioned for the future if the Racnoss weren't stopped was very enlightening and it really sold what kind of a threat they were. The use of the fast return switch was a nice inclusion but one thing I am concerned about is where this story would fit in the Fifth Doctor's timeline. He rarely, if ever, travels alone and that made me all the more interested in the story's conclusion with Alayna seemingly joining him as companion. There was some ambiguity which was good but I was very interested. The demise of the Emperor of the Racnoss was quite a shock but the Doctor taking the children back to the dawn of time was a nice touch and familiar setting when it comes to the Racnoss. Overall, this was a very entertaining and interesting story and I think there is definitely more that could be explored in the war between the Racnoss and the Time Lord. A great audio!

Rating: 8/10