Paper Cuts

"Draconia will rise again."

Writer: Marc Platt

Format: Audio

Released: September 2009

Series: Monthly Adventures 125

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Charley

Synopsis

The Empire is lost. The Deathless Emperors are dead. The future may never happen.

An urgent summons returns the noble Doctor to a planet he saved from disaster long ago. But Draconia, so elegant and so savage, is in worse turmoil than ever.

 

Who will be next Emperor? The high Prince? The lowest peasant? The soldier with no name? Or the Doctor himself – his life at their command? Who controls the army of deadly origami warriors? And is the truth about Charley painted on paper walls in the Emperor's tomb?

History is taking revenge on the Doctor. 

Verdict

Paper Cuts was a decent continuation of the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! It followed on right where Patient Zero left off which was good and whilst we didn't quite get what I might have expected from Charley/Mila in the story, the little hints were there and it's clear that this story is far from resolved and that's absolutely fine with me. I like the irony of this almost being a story within a story given the mystery of Charley's travelling with the Sixth Doctor after all her time spent with the Eighth Doctor. I'm intrigued to hear how this all gets resolved and if they will almost amalgamate. I thought the resolution from the cliffhanger with the Daleks causing the TARDIS to explode only for the Doctor to have set it into regeneration mode which was something new and perhaps a cheap and easy way out of what was a fantastic cliffhanger. I did though like that the Doctor realises that all of the viruses have spread out there and Charley seemed shock that the Daleks had seemingly defeated the Doctor. I guess that's subjective. This particular adventure took us to Draconia which was brilliant and I really enjoyed playing on the Doctor's unseen past in becoming a noble. It was really good to hear a glimpse of his chess match with the Emperor and the Doctor being summoned to the planet some fifty years after those events was fun, especially because it had been a lot longer than that for him! There wasn't much reference to Frontier in Space which was fine but I liked how what we learned in that serial was used in establishing Draconian honour and politics. The Doctor's summons from the Red Emperor coming at a time where he was actually dead was intriguing and begged the question of whether he was aware of his impending death. That certainly had the Doctor's attention. I really enjoyed the relationship between the Doctor and Charley and this might actually have been one of their best stories from a chemistry point of view. They got along as well as anyone could and I find that fun because Charley is of course Mila. Whilst I did enjoy exploring Draconian politics, I do think the audio went a little too long and there wasn't an awful lot happening in periods. The Sazou was not something I enjoyed too much to be honest and I found the whole concept of the paper-like element just a little strange. For a story set on Draconia, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The idea of the White Sazou was somewhat better and the fear invoked from the first Emperor and how he was a tyrant was very good though. Turmoil on the planet resulting from the Doctor's interference and setting Draconia on a path to less rampageous means was also great. I thought Prince was a pretty good character and I liked his annoyance at having to go through the rituals and traditions of vigil to ascend to the throne. Gomori was another decent character and I particularly enjoyed how Charley/Mila persuaded him not to come with them in the TARDIS. She had an objective of her own of course. That was a very good way to end the audio and keep the story arc in play. The Queen Mother was a good villainous character as well and her killing of her own son was quite the moment! That said a lot about Draconians for sure. The lack of female respect irked Charley which was good and the Doctor's comment about not chaining herself to something was slightly controversial! As a whole, this was a solid adventure and it was good to explore Draconian politics but it was slightly too long for my liking. A final comment for the walls showing memories and blending into shape. That was a nice visual. 

Rating: 7/10