The Death Collectors

"Death is not the end."

Writer: Stewart Sheargold
Format: Audio
Released: June 2008
Series: Main Range 109a

Featuring: Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

There is only death.

A virulent disease that killed millions. A missing scientist. An ancient race of salvagers who collect and preserve the dead. The quarantined planet Antikon connects them all.

When the Doctor arrives on a sky station above Antikon, a single accident has already set in motion a chain of events that will mean the death of every living thing.

And the only way he can stop it is to die. Again.

Verdict

The Death Collectors was a very good audio adventure to get me back into my listening of the Main Range from Big Finish. It was certainly an overdue return and it more than filled the time on my train journey! I haven’t held back in my criticism of three-part stories from this range, but this one was actually terrific! I’ll judge the format of the release as a whole tomorrow when I get around to the one-part story, but for now I like what I listened to. Any story that deals with the concept of death immediately has my interest as I find it so intriguing. Something new was done with it here which was great and trying to claim that it is just another form of science fascinated me. I found myself thinking about it and whilst I’m far from being any kind of scientist (well, I did get all A graded at GCSE), I was engaged with what the theme of the story was. I really enjoyed it. Throwing the Doctor into the mix when he’s already in his seventh incarnation was good and the Dar Traders were expectedly confided by his death signature. He wasn’t holding back in admitting that he’d already died six times which I thought was good. Their return was a welcomed addition to the story as I quite enjoyed them in The Darkening Eye, but they definitely seemed better suited to the Seventh Doctor. I thought it was a little strange that I noticed that but the whole story had an enigmatic feel and I think that is definitely best associated with the Doctor’s seventh incarnation. Sylvester McCoy was in decent form with an assured performance in this adventure, but I did feel that the lack of companion hurt things slightly. Danika filled in there through and she was actually a wonderful character. I really liked her from the start and instead of worrying whether the Doctor had the right codes to enter the facility, she wanted to help him out and then question him. It was a nice moment and the relationship she built with the Time Lord was excellent throughout. I cannot state enough how good I thought the cliffhanger to part two was with the pair. It was honestly right up there in terms of the very best in the whole of Doctor Who. Oxygen lacking. The Doctor out cold using his respiratory bypass system. All signs pointed to Danika and the Doctor being stuck and dying in space. Mors was on hand to help them in the nick of time though and I thought he was another good character. His research had consumed him, quite literally, and his desire to find out all about Decay and what had happened on Antikon was really good. I would have liked a little more time with Ridley once he was up and causing havoc, as that element of the story finishing seemed a tad quick for my liking. What I really liked though was just the whole death science. It was something to be tested and the Decay not actually being a virus was an unexpected development. Humanity not being able to comprehend it as it could only communicate in a state of death was brilliant, if not nearly impossible to understand. But I liked that as it was a thought provoking adventure. Overall, a great story!