The Charge of the Night Brigade

 

"He seemed to cast a shadow darker than most men."

Writer: David Llewellyn 

Format: Audio

Released: February 2020

Series: Twelfth Doctor Chronicles 1.01

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

In the rat-infested camps of the Crimea, Mary Seacole offers a vital service to the beleaguered troops, serving up rice pudding and treating the wounded at her 'British Hotel'.

Mary's no-nonsense attitude is tested by the Doctor's arrival. Together, they must deal with a strange infection not of this Earth...

Verdict

The Charge of the Night Brigade was a decent start to my listening of the Twelfth Doctor Chronicles! I was looking forward to purchasing this set after it was released as adding to the Twelfth Doctor era is always a bonus and I'm actually struggling to think of anything major from his era that I have yet to blog, excluding this boxset of course. I thought the start was decent with us getting introduced to Mary Seacole and it's always nice for the Doctor to meet a historical figure of her nature. I always enjoy it the it's a historical person that he is so keen to meet as well because then he can have some fun which makes for a good listen. I loved the comment of the Doctor being referred to as a Scottish quack by the natives of the time and place and it was good that he didn't hear that description! I can't imagine this particular incarnation of the Doctor dealing with that too well. He most definitely would not have approved! Of course, Peter Capaldi is still yet to make his Big Finish debut and I look forward to that in the future, but Jacob Dudman does a stellar job with his impression for the Twelfth Doctor! He really was excellent and it really did make it feel like a legit story of the era which is a big positive. The plot in itself was simple enough and not exactly thrilling, but it still did a good job. The description of war at this time in the nineteenth century and the battles between the likes of Britain, France and Russia with the sides changing all the time was brilliant. I thought the Balaklava setting in Crimea was really interesting as that's beyond unique but I don't think it was utilised as well as it could have been. This story could easily have just occurred in London or its outskirts. The idea of an alien infection is good and I appreciated the uniqueness of how it arrived on the planet. Zavak being known to the Doctor was intriguing and the description of his people's war and how his fate was atomisation and being sent into the Void but retaining consciousness the whole time was spectacular. Trying to imagine that is beyond comprehension and I really enjoy testing my mind like that. I thought it was really good for the infection to come from him after millions of years floating around in space and the void and arriving to the planet through the rain, which in turn was what the rats drunk and their biting humans spread the infection. In my view, there are a few loose ends with the conclusion based on this arrival as if they could be stopped by light but had arrived two days earlier, what had happened in the previous days? I thought it was a bit cheap to just say it hadn't rained in the meantime as I wasn't buying that. The reaction of Major Berrisford when he was informed my Seacole and the Doctor that his men were being infected by an extraterrestrial source in liquid form was a story highlight for sure. The coming of dozens of rats was different and I liked how the story got its name. That was certainly clever. I wasn't too much a fan of them forming the shape of a man, but I did prefer them arriving as an army. The threat of the infection continuing to spread was good and I also adored the Doctor's comment about missing having a hover car. That was really fun. The ring of fire use was decent and I like the idea of the rain diluting Zavak as time goes on, but the loose ends weren't quite tied up for my liking. It was nice for the Doctor and Mary to get along, but the story could have been slightly better in my eyes. Regardless, this was still a very entertaining listen!

Rating: 7/10