Wicked Sisters: The Garden of Storms

"They are too powerful even for the Time Lords to destroy."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: November 2020

Series: Fifth Doctor Adventures: Wicked Sisters 01

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Leela, Abby, Zara

Synopsis

In pursuit of Abby and Zara, Leela pilots the TARDIS to the eye of a violent storm in time. Yet she and the Doctor find themselves in an idyllic garden city, the people contented and happy. They soon discover that this bliss comes at a terrible cost, and that Abby and Zara are determined to put things right... so how can Leela and the Doctor stop them?

Verdict

The Garden of Storms was an excellent start to the Wicked Sisters collection within the Fifth Doctor Adventures! I think I have been quite lucky with my covering of the Graceless series and the Key 2 Time trilogy within the last six months or so as this meant I didn't have such a long wait between adventures for the Graceless sister tracers. The prospect of this boxset excited me more and more as I made my through the Graceless range and the way things started with Leela having recruited the Doctor was a great deal of fun. The humour that came with his continued ignorance to her message requests for help was terrific and I really enjoyed the dynamic between the Fifth Doctor and Leela. I thought they had good chemistry and it was just intriguing to hear Leela later on in life where she isn't quite the companion we knew with the Fourth Doctor. She's clearly grown and gained some wisdom which I am hearing as I make my way through the Gallifrey range, but I think that actually suited her pairing with the Fifth Doctor here. Davison and Jameson played off each other really well. Their venturing to a garden at the eye of a storm was entertaining and I liked how they were both subjects of a big feast. A feast in which they were going to be killed once they'd eaten! That was a fun way for the story to start and the introduction of Abby and Zara into events was nicely done in a simple way. There was no time for messing around which was an approach I was a big fan of and the wicked sisters still not knowing how powerful they were was an excellent dynamic. Their place at the garden was very good and the locale having a custom of killing people once they reached the age of forty was sublime. This supposedly provided an abundance of resources and coupling that with no sense of personal space made for an incredibly interesting setting. The mentioning of the theory and the attempt to change things by Abby and Zara not working was brilliant. The damage they were causing to the Web of Time were pretty darn large! Brody made for a good character and Leela sensing the smoke aura behind him was fantastic. Zeeb having a party as she was minutes away from reaching forty was terrific and the calmness in which she accepted being led away to her death was uncanny and almost uncomfortable. The Doctor's interference was wonderful and it was clear he wouldn't be able to handle himself when innocent and healthy people were being taken to die. Leela not wanting to interfere was also intriguing as she has clearly accepted her role on Gallifrey by this point in her life. The riots that ensued following the Doctor's meddling were fun and I loved how he got people to admit they didn't want to die. The Doctor and Abby being catalogued as being considerably older than forty was magnificent and the trip to the process plant was very nicely done. The idea of the dead being broken down into chemicals and distributed as needed was incredible and all part of a pretty disturbing due process. Leela's faking of an illness with Zara to get ahead of the line and a quicker death was really amusing because the character was not the greatest of actors! Her attempt to convince the guard that she had been told by him to sit down years ago and was just left ignored was wonderful stuff and thoroughly entertaining. The revelation that death was induced by death ray rather than a chemical absorption process was very good and the creatures feeding off the dust was really well done. Brody falling victim to the creatures was very sudden and impactful and the sisters' desire to go back and change events again was great fun given the Time Lord presence. Leela's efforts to ensure that Abby and Zara didn't use their powers was brilliant and the cliffhanger finish with her interfering mid-teleport ensuring that she and Abby remained behind when the Doctor and Zara set off to anywhere and anywhen. The fact that the wicked sisters are powerless unless they are together is just fantastic and I love the issue and pairings this provides for the next instalment of the series. Overall, an excellent start to the boxset!

Rating: 9/10