Kill the Doctor!

"Why did everyone wish to kill you?"

Writer: Guy Adams

Format: Audio

Released: May 2018

Series: FDA 7.07

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

The TARDIS crew arrive on the planet Drummond, an Earth colony in the far future where everybody uses handheld computers from morning to night. Rania Chuma is the mastermind behind Rene.net, the datastream network that tells you everything you need to know. Anyone who's anyone uses Rene.net.

But ever since Rania was young she's heard a voice in her head. That voice is the key to Rene.net's success. And it's a voice the Doctor might find familiar.

Whilst Leela chases a thief, the Doctor looks into the planet's datastream and something evil looks back. A subliminal command flashes through Rene.net to Drummond's entire population: 'Kill the Doctor'. When the entire planet is against you, where can you possibly hide?

Verdict

Kill the Doctor! was another great little adventure to continue the second half of the seventh series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures! This formed a good first part of the double-length finale and it brings back a famous foe of the Fourth Doctor in the form of Sutekh, although it does in circumstances I didn't quite expect. I liked how we started with the Doctor and Leela landing on Drummond with the need to repair the TARDIS scanners. Whilst that was enjoyable and I never tire of Leela questioning the Doctor and him having to defend his old ship. That is always terrific. Whilst I did like that, I would have preferred some continuity from The Bad Penny and a comment about their intended destination of the Great Exhibition in 1851. We were incredibly far from that so I think it would have been beneficial to just elude to that. I loved the discussion between the Doctor and Leela about clothing attire and what that told about a person and the latter seemed genuinely interested in what her clothes represented. The Doctor explained that it showed she didn't feel the cold and she was good at using a knife, so she quickly brandished her knife for everyone to see with pride. That was great. The theme of data in the episode was excellent and I liked the intended going overboard with everyone being interested in their handhelds. Of course, society today is inundated with mobile phones so I appreciated what this represented and the dangers that come with it. Leela's comment about escaping often when asked if she'd escaped from somewhere by Kendra who obviously thought she was mad was just delightful and their relationship blossomed quite nicely from there. Her confusion of Kendra's homeless status despite referring to a box as a home was great stuff. Leela venting her dislike of cities was fantastic and I loved how she tried to lend her hand to an uprising after seeing her have to resort to stealing food. She wasn't impressed with this society with its people not looking after each other. The message instructing the society of Drummond to kill the Doctor was great and the Fourth Doctor was perfect for that. His fascination with the air bike was magnificent and the imagery to go along with the CD cover was marvellous! It was just lovely to hear the Doctor having fun. The cliffhanger with the emergence of Sutekh and revelation that he was in the head of Rania since she was an infant was excellent to go along with the Doctor being surrounded by the local population intent on killing him. Leela saving the Doctor on the air bike and not finding difficulty in using it was tremendous and I was intrigued to find how much of the episode they'd spend apart. Rania acting as Sutekh's puppet was great and she was a really good character! The Doctor trying to explain to Leela that he couldn't stop homelessness everywhere despite his abhorrence of its existence was a really powerful moment and I loved that she didn't accept that. She'd given her word to help and would not go back on that which was outstanding. Her leading the wholesalers break in was really entertaining and I loved her confidence when it came to dealing with the six guards. A number like that meant she'd be very quick! The Doctor going to Rania was good and I loved how we had a conversation from there with the Doctor and Sutekh through her. Rene.net being a network of all of the minds on Drummond was quite impressive and how Sutekh would utilise this was magnificent. It was a really good way for him to get his power back. Joyce protecting the Doctor after being interested and investigating him throughout the episode was a good move and I liked how he was able to provide protection by virtue of being a corpse finger. That concept was good and pretty amusing. The cliffhanger at the end with Sutekh having the network go live and the city being instantly rewritten in Sutkeh's design was brilliant. The Osiran service robots making a comeback to take the place of the guards in the new Golden Age of Sutekh was fantastic and a great cliffhanger to set up the finale! Overall, a very good audio.

Rating: 8/10