Mary's Story

"You intend to bring back the dead?"

Writer: Jonathan Morris
Format: Audio
Released: July 2009
Series: Monthly Adventures 123d

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Mary Shelley

Synopsis

Switzerland, 1816: at the Villa Diodati, Lord Byron's house guests tell each other tales to curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart. With a monster on the loose outside, young Mary Shelley isn't short of inspiration.

Verdict

Mary's Story was an excellent conclusion to The Company of Friends anthology of short audio adventures with the Eighth Doctor and a number of companions! This one saw us introduced to a brand new companion for the Monthly Adventures range and she is someone that has been name dropped quite a bit by the Eighth Doctor so hearing Mary Shelley officially become a companion and join the Doctor on his travels was terrific. To be honest, this story could easily have made for its own feature-length release as there was so much going on and whilst the condensed format certainly added to the pace and excitement, I think the atmosphere would have been enhanced by the longer format. However, that's not to see it wasn't any good here because it truly was, there just wasn't enough time for it to settle and have a profound impact. The idea of a Doctor from the future being in deep trouble and having the TARDIS bring him to Villa Diodati in 1816 is terrific and whilst everything about this story was pretty much contradicted by the events of The Haunting of Villa Diodati, it's still wonderful to revisit this setting and the woman behind Frankenstein on the fateful night of its creation. The concept of the Doctor possibly being Frankenstein was fun and I liked how he had to clarify that to Mary in the TARDIS before they set off on their travels. The way the era was presented in audio worked well and I liked the pomposity of Lord Byron. Having him meet the Eighth Doctor specifically was fun for a number of reasons, not least because of the appearance and personality of this incarnation. The threat that the future Eighth Doctor was under seemed to pretty severe and I love the paradoxical nature of the latter's distress signal being picked up by his past self. Two Doctors meeting when they are the same incarnation doesn't quite have the charm of different Doctors, but each version of the Eighth Doctor conversing with each other was certainly fun to listen to. It was nice for the earlier version to help his future self and particularly the TARDIS which was pretty much reduced to a burnt wreck. I loved that the 'current' Eighth Doctor initiated TARDIS regeneration in something similar to what we would later see in The Eleventh Hour. Perhaps Steven Moffat took some inspiration from this audio? The emphatic way in which the Doctor delivered the regeneration line was marvellous. Paul McGann was most definitely on top form for this audio adventure. It was probably his best of the whole release. The chemistry he shared with Mary was great and I loved their conversation about leading complicated lives. Mary seemed to have him beat which was quite fun! Their future adventures of meeting Cybermen and Axons sound magnificent and I do hope they exist in performed form! I do hope that any future stories we do get circle back to events here, although the future Doctor didn't have Mary with him so I wonder what her fate will become. The Doctor mentioning a host of former companions from his eighth incarnation across a number of formats was good and nice to establish continuity, and it was also good for him to pick up another one here! The idea of the future Eighth Doctor needing a renewal or resurrection in the form of a lightning strike was really intriguing, specifically when it comes to thinking about regeneration! As a whole, this was a fitting conclusion to what has largely been a fantastic set of unique adventures with characters we might not have expected to team up with the Eighth Doctor on audio. Overall, a brilliant story to finish.

Rating: 9/10