Wicked Sisters: The People Made of Smoke

"The smoke feeds on emotion."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: November 2020

Series: Fifth Doctor Adventures: Wicked Sisters 03

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Leela, Abby, Zara

Synopsis

Abby and Zara strive to use their powers for good but it's clear they are damaging reality – and allowing monstrous creatures to bleed through from beyond. The Doctor knows he can only save the universe by destroying his friends. But just how much might he be willing to sacrifice if there's a chance to save them?

Verdict

The People Made of Smoke was an excellent conclusion to the Wicked Sisters boxset within the Fifth Doctor Adventures! This has been a hugely impressive little series reuniting the Fifth Doctor with Leela and Abby & Zara. There really was a lot going on and visiting the community of the Moon in the future where the past was unknowingly changed by the Doctor was a good way to start. The humour that came with Leela's admiration for the learning capabilities of ice cream for children was wonderful and typically brilliant of her as a companion. The Doctor admitting that he feared Abby and Zara was fantastic and I liked how he was manipulating them by keeping them together to gain their trust. The murdering of Brody was good continuity from The Garden of Storms and the fake police routine with constable Leela was brilliant stuff. Wei as Brody's husband was good and the mystery surrounding his death by electrocution despite no wiring was good and something I do wish we'd have come back to. The return of the smoke creatures was terrific and I liked how they were firmly the enemies for this adventure, getting an enhanced showing. Their being in the timeline was very good as an echo of what we heard in the first episode and they remembered killing Brody so came back here to feed again. Their being dispersed by a hairdryer was amusing though! Finding out that Brody and Wei had an argument over Zeeb's (who was now Zeet in this timeline) birthday party was again superb continuity and that ending up leading to the smoke creatures drawing on the sister's powers was very good. Zeet's dying seemed sudden but I really loved that Abby and Zara genuinely wanted to help her survive. Their use of the powers to heal her but it providing a connection for the smoke creatures was really nicely done and it was a clever way for the sisters to see the badness of their power usage. I ddi like how Abby and Zara were questioning how their powers had to be used for them to destroy themselves and this could provide the smoke creatures with even more strength. Zara admitting that being separated from Abby would be worse than death was magnificent but I did enjoy that there was another option for the sisters other than death. The smoke creatures having rage with grief worked well and their envying the living was very intriguing. It was good development for them and provided a motive which came at the right time. Their consumption of the Moon people provided some tense actions and the plan of Abby and Zara to use themselves up to save everyone was admirable. They would draw the smoke creatures like moths to a flame which I really enjoyed. The effect of the consumption on the Doctor was drastic and he had aged and wasn't in the best shape, but he still had an incredible plan up his sleeve. He was fed on hard and his agreement of the plan to separate Abby and Zara was nice. Death would never be an option in his mind. The way the Doctor deceived everyone to take the smoke creatures away with him locked inside the TARDIS was superb and the life that he gave them – quite literally! – was really intriguing. The scenes inside the TARDIS when the smoke creatures realised what was happening were outstanding and the use of the cloister bell and action to have an audio regeneration was sublime. It really was done so well and getting a brief moment of Dan Starkey as an alternative Sixth Doctor was just lovely. Really well done and something I definitely didn't see coming! The emotion there was fantastic too. The Doctor dying continuously through his regenerations before the smoke creatures would be trapped for good was a daunting prospect and Abby and Zara seeing that the Doctor died for what they created by overuse of their powers was tremendous. Quite fitting for this finale! Leela questioning if the sisters would learn before they just popped off and used their powers one last time was excellent and the Doctor being brought back without his memory of recent events was brilliant! Leela covering events by asking the Doctor as a taxi service was fun and the prospect of the Fifth Doctor and Leela having some stop off adventures on the way back to Gallifrey is something I could get behind! They make quite the good little pairing. The Doctor tracking Abby and Zara down to a spaceport was a nice way to finish as they were still very much alive, only now using their powers very sparingly to ensure the smoke creatures weren't created again. The Doctor had covered to Leela and the Time Lords regarding Abby and Zara's fate which I thought was marvellous. Overall, a brilliant audio to conclude a superb boxset!

Rating: 9/10