Planet of the Drashigs

"The fearsome, primal wonder known as Drashigs."

Writer: Phil Muryne

Format: Audio

Released: January 2019

Series: FDA 8.02

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Ann, K9

Synopsis

When the TARDIS lands on an alien planet, the Doctor's intentions to show Ann Kelso an advanced future society are thrown into disarray. Because they have arrived o DrashigWorld – a park where every known species of the terrifying predators has been gathered together to entertain and thrill the public. The familiar wetland Drashigs, the albino burrowing Drashigs of the desert, and deadliest of all, the tiny Emerald Drashigs of the rain forests.

And it's not the best day to have arrived. The park has been shut down due to a visitor fatality. A Galactic Attractions inspector is on site meaning everyone is extremely tense and under pressure.

It's exactly the right circumstances in which someone might make a mistake. And on DrashigWorld, mistakes are deadly.

Verdict

Planet of the Drashigs was a great story to continue the eighth series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures! This was a very fun adventure and a good way to introduce Ann Kelso to life on board the TARDIS as the new companion. I'm already a big fan of hers in this role and she really seems well suited to the Fourth Doctor and I'm enjoying her down to Earth style. I like how her police officer routes already continue to be harkened back to with her constant questioning and the Doctor's reaction to this is terrific. Having her introduced to K9 was so much fun and the pair really got on very well. She reacted to him and soon got accustomed to his presence in quick fashion which was great and I loved how she didn't waste time in using her newfound status as K9's mistress to ask him to follow her and the Doctor shortly after they departed the TARDIS after landing. Ann's reaction to hearing the Doctor call the TARDIS old girl was also lovely and it was nice for her to experience the intimacy of the Doctor and his travelling machine. The return of the Drashigs is a fun idea after they wreaked havoc during Carnival of Monsters so bringing them back in the audio format was clever because there were no budgetary constraints! The imagination was required and the different types of Drashigs that were on DrashigWorld was excellent. I thought it was a concept that worked well and did a good job in expanding the species. I liked how the park was explained and whilst it would have been fun to hear it in action to the public, that wouldn't quite have had the same impact for the Doctor and Ann's arrival. Braye as the owner of the park was a fun character and his constant efforts to hide all that was going wrong from Wayland the inspector was definitely a highlight of the story. I thought both of those characters were very strong and their different roles and occupations made for a good element in the storytelling. Hearing K9 on the edge of losing battery with his power all but depleted was rather sad and his desire for a power bank and the literal way of his repetition was very fun. He's such a good character. Vanessa's link to the Drashigs was really good and I liked how she was being effected by them and was actually the person who let them out of the enclosure! The cliffhanger was a little predictable but still worked well with Drashigs mounting an attack. Learning about Braye and Vanessa's plan to connect themselves to the neural functions of the Emerald Drashigs was intriguing and I enjoyed their desire to experience and feel what it was like to hunt with them. They wanted to feel the thoughts of the Drashigs and almost become at one with them. It was a pretty audacious plan! Vanessa hearing the Drashig thoughts worked well and the Doctor realising early on that she was the weak link and was inadvertently leaking information from her link was brilliant. Again, it was a little predictable but it worked. Vanessa's sacrifice was a powerful moment and I liked that the Doctor was audibly shocked, but didn't waste time in mourning her and got on with the job. His resolution being a connection to every Drashig on the DrashigWorld and sending a new signal of torment to break them down was quick and sudden, but again it was logical and just worked. It tied everything up neatly and brought things to a good conclusion! Overall, a very good story to continue the series!

Rating: 8/10