The Transcendence of Ephros

"They're all going to die for the sake of a lie."

Writer: Guy Adams

Format: Audio

Released: November 2016

Series: Third Doctor Adventures 2.01

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis

The Doctor and Jo arrive on the dying planet Ephros, where Galactux Power Inc is exploiting the world's remaining resources. But something is stirring beneath the surface...

Verdict

The Transcendence of Ephros was a really good audio adventure to kick off the second series of the Third Doctor Adventures! I think I am more than accustomed with Tim Treloar in the role of the Third Doctor now and he did another fantastic job in representing Jon Pertwee's incarnation here. I liked how things started full of action and there was no messing around after an opening full of intrigue with the Doctor noticing how the stars were in something of a grid one pattern and straight line. Before they could ponder more, the TARDIS was lost beneath the surface following a tremor which was good and whilst the idea is far from original, it provided a good plot issue to try and resolve. The planet of Ephros was a good setting and I liked how it was in perpetual darkness. The Sortan religion was great as well and I liked getting introduced to all of the followers. Mother Finsey being blind but wearing glasses that provided her with essentially full vision was really good and I thought it was good how her hearing sense remained acute. The concept behind the Great Rebirth was brilliant and I really enjoyed that Transcendence was looming. The cliffhanger at the end of part one was very well done with Galactux looking to harness the energy released when the planet exploded. The Sortan followers believing that with that explosion they would reach the next level of consciousness beyond was quite something! The Doctor and Jo's lack of knowledge regarding this meant they didn't last long pretending to be Galactux members which was really fun. Temper was a very good character and I enjoyed his relationship with the Doctor very much, especially when they went to extract the TARDIS and actually went within. Karswell was an excellent villainous character as the head of Galactux and his conversations with Quail after he'd captured Jo with quite the rouse was tremendous. The second cliffhanger with Jo being in a crumbling mess was probably the weakest of the three, but it resulting in her thinking that the Doctor was lost beneath was fantastic. I really loved her conversation with Finsey about their wise men and how the Doctor was hers. Quail being shot was an unexpected development and that allowed Bartram to really step up and avenge the death which was great. Jo continuing to voice her displeasure at the Transcendence was really great and I liked how she was pleading, specifically for the children as they were too young to choose to follow. The introduction of the Thraxian lava worms was interesting and the Doctor knowing of them worked well as he knew that it was they that would be responsible for Ephros exploding rather than a natural event. The Time Lords had wiped them out and weren't supposed to exist, but they had been genetically engineered from Throx with only Galactux standing to gain. The timeline of the story being in line with Frontier in Space was a lot of fun and the difficulties that then came with the Doctor wanting to stop the expliosn were fantastic. I wasn't expecting Temper to somewhat turn against him by tying him up as he knew that the planet needed to explode. He didn't seem to want to ponder what might happen if there was no Transcendence. The cliffhanger at the end of part three was sublime with the revelation that her wise man she had talked about was the Master and I just love that even when he doesn't appear, he has a big impact on yet another Third Doctor tale. Her wanting to speed up the process of the planetary explosion was good and I loved her describing the history of her time with the Master. They caused a lot of destruction together and she was responsible for the entire Sortan religion which was a wonderful revelation. I was a very big fan of that. Her respect for the Master even after he had got rid of her was admirable for all of the wrong reasons but now she wanted to initiate the breeding of the worms to heat up the planet. Temper finding out that Finsey was responsible was great and he got shot for his discover but managed to tell the Doctor what he'd learned before passing. Karswell taking the Doctor's advice and deciding to save rather line his profits for Galactux was a brilliant moment and I also enjoyed how Jo was fighting against the worms and using her being one of only a small number of females at UNIT to make her thick skinned. The Doctor's way of dealing with the larva worms was great by programming the transmat to their DNA and using a wave pattern to send them into space where they would safely explode without damage. Karswell's hasty button pressing with the cargo ship mention was a fun moment too and I liked how those of the religion were disappointed not to reach Transcendence. Overall, a terrific audio adventure!

Rating: 9/10