Day of the Cockroach

"Humanity's time is done."

Writer: Steve Lyons

Format: Audio

Released: May 2012

Series: NSA 17

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis

The TARDIS materialises in a pitch-dark tunnel, where the Doctor, Amy and Rory stumble on the dead body of a soldier. Questioned by his superior officer, Colonel Bowe, they learn that they're inside a British nuclear bunker, in the middle of an atomic war – in 1982.

Amy and Rory weren't even born then, but they know the bomb didn't drop that year, and so does the Doctor. The friends also know they had nothing to do with the dead of Sergeant Trott – so who, or what, was the killer? And why does the Doctor's psychic paper not work on the Colonel?

The Doctor, Amy and Rory soon learn that something else is lurking in the shadows. Something deadly...

Verdict

Day of the Cockroach was another very good audio adventure to continue my way through the Eleventh Doctor Tales collection on BorrowBox! I liked the idea of the Doctor attempting to get Amy and Rory home to Leadworth, but there was no sign of a pond and it appeared that the TARDIS hadn't quite brought them to the right place. Or time. I was hugely impressed with Arthur Darvill's narration from the start and his take on Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor was actually really great. I think it was definitely the best from this collection as a whole. I liked the little background noise of rustling to indicate the cockroach arrival and the trio finding a dead body and soon being accused of carrying out the murder was very fun. The Doctor has been there before and referencing that was terrific. Amy soon realised with their bunker surroundings that they hadn't managed to return to 2011 as intended, but instead were in the middle of a nuclear war in Great Britain. Apparently, one in 1982! Of course, history shows that this never happened so I was intrigued by everything about this and the four minute warning that was brought up so often. The introduction of Colonel Bowe was good and I was very interested to find that the psychic paper had no impact on him. Miss Atkins was a good character and I thought she was great with Amy and wanting to show some female unity. The way the main trio were split apart was well done and Rory soon found himself very scared of a noise in a dark room. This turned out to be Harrington who was quite a strange old man that warned him about Bowe and who had also built the bunker the audio was set within. I thought it was brilliant to set the scene of the impact of the nuclear war with it being said that there was no British Government, food supplies had been destroyed, the air was contained, farmland was gone and millions were dead. It painted quite the picture above ground. The trapped feeling of the story within the bunker was impressive and I was intrigued that for the other characters they had been stuck within for three days. The contained atmosphere was superb in my opinion and I also really enjoyed the generator being broken and setting the scene with darkness. The atmosphere was definitely a strong point of the story. Amy's gagged reaction to the cockroaches was very good and I liked the description of them scaling after her and Atkins as they wanted a fresh kill. The Doctor's comment and tone of delivery about the cockroaches not needing their heads was brilliant and didn't exactly ease any fears! Bowe being dead came quite suddenly and the humour that follows regarding the danger of the air vents was good stuff. Rory being chased and the claustrophobic feeling that went with that was very good again. The Doctor's efforts of distracting the cockroaches with noise was good and I also enjoyed the expected take of the cockroaches being mutated by the nuclear war above. Except, that wasn't quite the case with the Doctor offering a number of alternatives in a fun way. I did really enjoy referencing the common belief that the only thing capable of surviving nuclear war was the cockroaches though. There seeing to be more to the 1982 setting was good and I liked how accusatory the Doctor was in questioning the Mayor. The idea of intelligent cockroaches and together providing a psychic element of hypnosis in the surroundings was excellent as that also explained the psychic papers not working. Harrington seemingly letting the cockroach kill him was a little strange and I'd have liked more of answer concerning that. The Doctor orchestrating a mixture that smelled like predatory and angry wasps was decent as that made the cockroaches go running. The would soon follow them back to the nest to rescue Rory which was logical but I wasn't expecting the cockroaches to be making Rory see his worst nightmare and have his finger on a rifle trigger! The distraction there from Amy with the kiss and from Rory's perspective that being with a cockroach was very nicely done. The resolution from there was quite straightforward and quick with the use of the wasp mixture to send them scurrying. It was the cockroaches hypnotic effect that made them think of the four minute warning and nuclear war in 1982 to provide themselves with a food supply. Overall, a simple ending but a very good and fun little audio!

Rating: 8/10