The Demon Rises

"A man of water is invisible in rain."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: January 2018

Series: FDA 7.04

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela, K9

Synopsis

A killer has been uncovered, but the mystery is far from solved. The Doctor, Leela, K9 and their friends are on the run, pursued from all sides. All the clues point to one place – but getting there alive may prove impossible. 

Something horrific is happening on Chaldera... and it has been happening for longer than anyone could possibly have realised. Now every life on the planet is at stake. Bar one.

The dark secret at the heart of this world is about to be revealed.

Verdict

The Demon Rises was a very good conclusion to the story already started in The Mind Runners and to the first boxset comprising the seventh series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures! I really enjoyed the cliffhanger to the previous episode with the devious Mr Swift emerging and throwing Tarenah to her death and proclaiming that Leela would follow, except K9 emerged to save the day in fun fashion which allowed Leela, without any hesitation, to throw Swift over to his apparent demise. Her annoyance at not finding a body below alongside the police officer she grew to admire was great and I loved that she deduced he had become a puddle again before hitting the ground. The Doctor meanwhile was engaged by the Digitals and his humour at not being effected by their uploading was terrific. The first instance of playing with the idea of there actually being no Night Mind was good as well. I loved the fact that Mr Swift was being paid by the President of Chaldera and having issues run deep to the top of the corporate tree is always great. The Doctor being saved by Leela and K9 was good and Shift arriving in the mist in gaseous form was marvellous. The way he destroyed Cloten with ease was brutal. Shift having the ability to control his atoms was pretty darn impressive and whilst this had made him somewhat insane, the sheer will power to maintain that was off the charts and I thought that whole concept was excellent. Eldran, the man we first heard killed at the start of the first part comprising this adventure, knowing something and ending up dying for it was good confirmation and this sparked the constant killing of Mind Runners. The idea of it having something to do with the construction of the rocket was good and the truth of that being revealed was extraordinary. Finding out that it was mostly Founders at the rocket site was intriguing and I liked the mystery of there being no construction workers there for such a big project. I thought the concept of the rocket being made of flesh was fantastic and the attempts of people literally being absorbed into it was quite something! The President falling victim to this showed nobody was exempt and Cain as the Vice President and a Founder being the implementor of this whole scheme was terrific. He made a decent villain. The comment of the construction workers literally being the building blocks of the rocket was great and it actually turning out to be the Night Mind made for a logical answer. The cliffhanger with the Doctor and Leela facing absorption was fun and K9 being the saving grace was good, if not a little repetitive following how we started the audio. The Doctor questioning the purpose of the rocket and its size if there would be nobody to evacuate was good and the development that it was designed to be split and had eggs in the floor was interesting. The hunt for the Demon beneath the city was very good and I liked how there was something below the rocket engines. The Doctor not being surprised by the rocket site being on top of the original settlement was good and the city itself building the Founders was unexpected! There was certainly a lot going on. Finding out that Chaldera itself was the Night Mind was a little strange in my opinion but I liked its confidence when K9 broadcast the intentions to the planet ensuring there were no further evacuees coming to the rocket. No people meant no fuel. The city's efforts to take people from the floor was pretty good and I enjoyed its boasting considerably. Shift preventing the Night Mind from taking over was fun and the Doctor telling him in a sideway that he could infiltrate from within the city in his gaseous form was terrific. I liked that a lot and it was great for the Doctor to have had this plan all along. I also enjoyed the sense of him having overlooked something and I expect that might come back to be proven true in the second half of this series. For now though, a really strong conclusion!

Rating: 8/10