Storm of the Horofax

"Memory is time travel."

Writer: Andrew Smith

Format: Audio

Released: August 2017

Series: Third Doctor Adventures 3.02

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis

During a North Sea military exercise, the crew of the destroyer HMS Nemesis detect what they suspect is a submarine following them. But it's actually a futuristic ship with an alien occupant, Arianda. 

The Doctor and UNIT are called in, but things are already running out of control. The damaged craft is leaking particles and containing the Nemesis with time disruption.

But that's not the biggest problem. For Arianda is being followed by the warships of the Horofax, who have picked precisely this moment to invade. Soon the destruction of humanity's future will begin.

Verdict

Storm of the Horofax was a very good adventure to conclude the third series of Third Doctor Adventures! Following on from the excellent The Conquest of Far, this rounded out was probably my favourite volume from the series. I was a big fan and this complimented the opener with a really solid story that really felt authentic of its era and would fit in well in any of the seasons involving the Third Doctor and Jo. I have more than warmed to Tim Treloar in the role of the third incarnation now and I really enjoyed the relationship the Doctor had with Jo here. The involvement of UNIT really helped with the genuine feel and it was actually quite refreshing to have some unfamiliar soldiers on hand rather than the usual suspects of the Brigadier, Benton and Yates. The focus was very much on Paul Hardy who initially piloted the Doctor and Jo to the scene of Arianda's arrival in then submarine, but he was soon forgotten about because of time being altered. The use of time in the story was excellent and I'm always a fan of playing around with it. Arianda made for a fantastic villain and she was pleased to come up against the Doctor knowing that he was a Time Lord. Her position as provost of the Horofax was great and a fun revelation, even if it was clear that she was never going to be the innocent historian she claimed to be at the start. I thought she was far more interesting than the titular Horofax, but her position as leader made that absolutely fine. I loved the use of time to build an army of Horofax and finding out that they weren't a race but rather an army of those conquered by essentially just altering the perception of history was terrific. That really was very unique and there was a feeling of Cold Blood midway when Jo was forced into forgetting who the Doctor was. He didn't hesitate in undoing that and Arianda realising early on that she wasn't under her control anymore was a fun moment. I liked that Arianda had returned to this time in particular because amidst the Cold War, there was a potential for the human race to destroy each other and that means being through nuclear warfare. She was hoping to orchestrate the right moment to position the powers against each other and begin the end of humanity, because her time sensitive abilities had foresaw that humanity threatened the Horofax far in the future and that their empire would not last. Jo working that was brilliant. I liked the time locking of the planet and the Doctor not being subjected to it, and Paul Hardy returning after initially being wiped from time was a really good moment. He was there at the time of the Auton and the Axons which was good continuity, but time had now been rewritten and he was never there. I thought that was really well done and a good example of ensuring that things could actually change. The action of the conclusion was exciting and full of action which seemed the right way to go considering there were so many UNIT personnel present. The Doctor ensuring that Paul Hardy would be remembered was a nice note to end on after what was as a whole, a really solid story! Overall, a great listen.

Rating: 8/10