The Song of Megaptera

"Here be Space Whales."

Writer: Pat Mills

Format: Audio

Released: May 2010

Series: Lost Stories 1.07

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

Deep space in the distant future, and Captain Greeg and his crew are hunting mile-long Space Whales on a vast harvesting ship. By pure accident, they also capture the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Peri must use all their wits to survive. But what is the creature running loose in the ship's bowels? And can the Doctor save Megaptera before its song is extinguished forever?

Verdict

The Song of Megaptera was a very good Lost Stories audio! The name of this one has always fascinated me and I think it's because when I first saw the title I misread as Menoptera and thought it had links with The Web Planet. Alas, the only story it might have links with would be The Beast Below! After listening, I was quite intrigued to discover that the initial story was actually to be featuring the Fourth Doctor and later reworked into a Fifth Doctor serial introducing Turlough, but it was of course replaced by the sensational Mawdryn Undead. Regardless of the form and TARDIS team, I am delighted that we are able to get the story in some shape here. It works really well and I love the pairing of the Sixth Doctor and Peri. They work so well together and it's also testament to Colin Baker's performance that his take on the Doctor here is more closely resemblant of his televised days than what we would later get on audio with his softer side. That's really impressive. Their arrival on the Orca was excellent and I thought it was admirable that Peri wanted to do all they could to save the space whales from being hunted and captured. The Doctor taking on the persona of a WILF investigator was magnificent and he certainly had a great deal of fun in that role. The humour that came with his comments about saving flies and even contemplating bacteria was excellent. I liked how the Doctor had in fact utilised the flies to infect the ship with a virus that temporarily stopped whale capture. In the meantime, Peri's scenes after she had been infected were marvellous and the comedy that came with her being delirious was brilliant! I loved how she referred to the Doctor as an imposter because she momentarily forgot about his regeneration and she also contemplated wanting a pet Dalek in the TARDIS! She thought they might be cute under that armour exterior. Loopy is definitely what Peri was. I thought it was a good twist by having the TARDIS responsible for why Megaptera was unable to escape by diving through time. The Doctor and Peri were there to save the Space Whale, but the presence of their ship was interfering with the time element of the creature and had actually resulted in both things being stuck! The materialisation at the end of part two was intriguing and I couldn't help but think of what the sets for inside the Space Whale might have been like back in the 1980s. I'm not sure how they would have looked, but I'd love to have seen it! The Caller was a good addition as the story developed and I enjoyed the creepiness of the voice. It brought a very good atmosphere. The inclusion of Sontaran weaponry in the audio was an unexpected bonus and it was just nice for continuity to know that they had been in this sector of time and space previously and been somewhat unsuccessful. Captain Greeg made for a good villainous character and him ultimately being responsible for the wrongdoing behind the hunt for Space Whales was good and not a surprise, not that it was intended to be so though. I thought the computer voice of the ship after being infected with a virus was quite a bit of fun with its differing voices and the frustration that was causing to Greeg. The devotion those had to Megaptera was really good and I liked how that also provided frustration to the Doctor as he wasn't able to convince them of his methods. They believed that they'd be saved. Megaptera ultimately being rescued was good and definitely how things should have concluded and it was quite nice for the Doctor and Peri's mission to be a success, even if it went in a roundabout way! Overall, a great audio adventure. 

Rating: 8/10