The Taste of Death

"They come here to eat."

Writer: Helen Godwyn

Format: Audio

Released: April 2018

Series: Tenth Doctor Chronicles 1.01

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

The Doctor and Rose sample the high-life on resort planet MXQ1, run by the famous Bluestone brothers. It has everything: exotic beaches, luxury accommodation and extravagant dining. Something's cooking in the kitchen, and it's to die for...

Verdict

The Taste of Death was an excellent audio adventure to start the Tenth Doctor Chronicles! I thought this was a fantastic opener and it was really good to get an additional story in the era of Series 2. The Tenth Doctor and Rose are an incredibly renowned pairing and whilst they are not my favourite, I cannot deny their qualities so it was great to hear them together again here. Of course, we didn't have David Tennant or Billie Piper back reprising their roles, but Jacob Dudman did a more than sufficient job filling in as the narrator. Whilst his impression of the Tenth Doctor isn't quite as good as that of his Eleventh or Twelfth Doctor take, it's still really well done and I thought the writing and characterisation of the Tenth Doctor worked very well to compliment that for this adventure. I was very impressed with how natural the writing felt for this incarnation of the Doctor. It was fun to start with the Doctor intending on taking Rose on a holiday and actually stated that there was nothing dodgy for them to encounter this time around. Well, that came back to bite him! They arrived on MXQ1 which was a funky resort setting for the mega rich and I loved the description of Rose trying to fit in and take on the luxurious personality. She wasn't very good and that's really what I would have expected. It felt very much like what we saw of her in Tooth and Claw which was marvellous. Chef Orentino made for a great character alongside the Doctor and Rose and his feeding Rose resulting in her being obsessed with what she was eating was an interesting scene. She wasn't the only one though and that immediately got the Doctor's senses tingling as the food was having an effect on everyone at the resort. To make matters worse, Orentino was at the resort to find his brother who had gone missing without a trace which was very much out of character. The Doctor and Rose were down to help immediately which I admired. The Doctor's comment about being a dab hand at a food machine was tremendous and I love how in a food-themed adventure that famed device of the First Doctor era got a mention. So much fun. The Doctor taking on the role of a fake chef was enjoyable and meeting the Bluestone brothers as owners of the resort was very good. Both Dench and Delta made for good villains and there was no messing around with them when they caught Rose snooping. The Brula as a slave species were an important element in the adventure and the Presha that was in the food resulting in the addiction was good storytelling. Everything tied together nicely with the Doctor having seen similar on a familiar planet of Raxicoricofallapatorius. It's no secret from the boxset artwork that the Slitheen would be returning, but I didn't know in which episode and I really didn't get the feeling of their presence early on so this was a fantastic reveal! They had taken on the Bluestone brothers and including an addictive crop in the food to feed up their exports. The fact they were using chefs as meat due to their cultivation and having tasted all of the dishes was horrific but brilliant. I thought that was so unique and a really good use of food for a theme for the whole adventure. The fact we had a butcher Slitheen was excellent and I liked meeting the Hazrateen as the big buyers from the Slitheen who had the scent and wanted the meat. Except, Orentina and his brother were chefs and they knew how to deal with that. Overall, a terrific audio adventure to start the first volume of Tenth Doctor Chronicles! 

Rating: 9/10