A Thousand Tiny Wings

"You've possibly the saddest eyes I've ever seen."

Writer: Andy Lane

Format: Audio

Released: January 2010

Series: Monthly Adventures 130

Featuring: Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

1950s Kenya. The Mau Mau uprising. A disparate group of women lie low in a remote house in the jungle, waiting for a resolution or for rescue. Among these British imperialists is Elizabeth Klein, a refugee from a timeline that no longer exists... thanks to the Doctor.

Reunited, the Doctor and Klein are forced to set aside their differences by terrifying circumstances. People are dying in this remote place. One by one. And there's something out there, in the jungle, accompanied only by the flutter of a thousand tiny wings...

Verdict

A Thousand Tiny Wings was a great audio adventure to kick off the latest trilogy of the Monthly Adventures as I work my way through the mammoth range! It's a little scary to think that even now the range has concluded, I am still not even halfway. But alas, we push on and here we have an intriguing tale and a fantastic return for Elizabeth Klein who is back quite a lengthy time after Colditz! I was a big  fan of that early audio in the range and hearing her return alongside the Seventh Doctor was a delight. I liked that Ace's absence was addressed and the prospect of the Doctor doing battle alone against the facist was excellent. She oozed confidence and had an impressive aura around her that made her a more than worthy adversary for the Time Lord. Her refusal to accept the Allied Victory as the 'true' course of history was terrific and I like how she is still determined to put history back on its right path as far as she is concerned. And that means a Fourth Reich. I think that's such a fun concept because of how dangerous it is and if history has taught us anything, it's that it will repeat itself. I enjoyed the unique element of the setting here as it's not often we get a historical trip to Kenya! The 1950s and the Mau Mau uprising worked well and even though it's an event I had next to no knowledge about, some of the racial comments in the story were very important to raise. The Doctor's bartering with Sylvia about her subtle ideals was great and the constant reference to the natives and how they were incapable of ruling themselves was fantastic. I was a big fan of that theme shining through. The Doctor making no efforts to hide future knowledge worked well because we knew that these women weren't a typical female group. Abraham was a decent character and even though his inability to speak hurt things slightly given the audio format, Klein seeing the potential for experimentation in him was very good. An alien with multiple joints in its limbs was a little hard to picture, but that image towards the end where the thousands of birds descended on him to join as one as the Cheylis was quite something! It was a good way to explain the scratches featured throughout the adventure. The fate of Lucy was also a powerful moment and I liked the threat of that being the fate of the entire planet if Sylvia didn't stay and guard after everything was all buried and that mission passed down amongst generations. That was a lot of confidence the Doctor was entrusting her with. Klein being infected was a good threat to have and I liked the character of Joshua Sembeke and the fear he invoked amongst the female non-natives. Him being caught signalling to his fellow Mau Mau was great! Even though it was predictable that he was a native, it was still a good moment. I didn't think the cliffhangers were anything special this time around which was a shame, but not at all a big negative. This adventure setting things up for the next batch of stories in the range with the Doctor taking Klein with him on board the TARDIS was really good and I'm intrigued to hear where we go next. The idea of Klein having access to a time machine opens up so many possibilities! It's inevitable she will go into action for herself at some point, so I look forward to that moment occurring. But for now, this was a very good audio adventure!

Rating: 8/10