Escape From New New York

"You will ascend and join us."

Writer: Roy Gill
Format: Audio
Released: March 2018
Series: Tales From New Earth 1.01

Featuring: Hame, Devon

Synopsis

Devon Pryce has lived all his life in the high rises of New New York. A child of the Elevator Guild, he now receives a new calling – from a cat.

Senator Hame is trying to rebuild society, to make it stronger for future generations, but there are those who would stand in her way.

There is a new danger on New Earth, and Devon's work is only just beginning

Verdict

Escape From New New York was a really good start to Tales From New Earth! I really didn't know what to expect from this audio and if I'm being totally honest, I don't think I would ever have purchased it as I was rather shocked when I found out the news that it was going to be a thing. However, when it was released as part of a deluxe edition of Doctor Who Magazine, I strove to find the access code to the free download and thankfully Big Finish pretty much gave it away so I was able to get it. I still think it's pretty ridiculous that DWM subscribers didn't get this, but alas we go on. New Earth is certainly a setting with a great deal of potential and it was nice to have things a little removed from Gridlock. It seems to be a theme of a number of stories I am blogging lately where the impact of the Doctor's reactions are being explored and I love that. Yes, he did incredible things in Ne Earth and Gridlock for New Earth and New New York but there were not easy consequences to deal with. There was a whole generation of new humans and the city itself required a lot of energy to keep alive. It was a thriving metropolis, but an expensive one and this is where the President was at fault. I thought the main characters of Senator (now) Hame and Devon were really good and I'm keen for their relationship to develop to the point we heard at the start of the audio. I think I'm going to quite like them. I liked the little references to the Doctor and the Face of Boe and I'm very excited for the Tenth Doctor to pop up in at least one story (given that he's featured on the artwork!). But the first meeting of the main characters was really intriguing as Devon was bordering racism when it came to how he saw Catkind. People going missing from New New York was an interesting plot and the use of the word 'ascended' was excellent. I really enjoyed the character of the Duke of Brooklyn and I thought his investigative qualities were quite brilliant. I am not sure why I was quite surprised that I enjoyed this story as much as I did but it was just a really simple plot which made for a fantastic start. It wasn't flashy by any means. It just told a good story and you can't really ask for more than that. Simplicity is sometimes the best route to go down. Finding out that the President's numerous private elevators were actually being used to power the metropolis of New New York by converting its occupants into Lux was shocking I must say. It seemed a little weird that in essence the story was about deadly elevators, but that can go back a little to New Earth which is a nice touch. The sacrifice of Thorn to save the city and rid it of the Luman infestation was commendable and I'm interested to see how Devon will react with losing someone who was obviously a little more than just a friend. For a first outing, I was very impressed with how quickly I was engrossed in the story and characters and I think a familiar and good setting that is far from the norm was very helpful in that regard. Overall, a really great start to the series!

Rating: 8/10