The Secrets of Det-Sen

"Darkness falls quickly in these parts."

Writer: Andy Frankham-Allen

Format: Audio

Released: August 2021

Series: Early Adventures 7.02

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven, Dodo

Synopsis

When the Doctor, Steven and Dodo arrived in the Himalayas, they have no idea that they are about to set off a chain of events that will haunt the Doctor throughout his many lives.

Joining a pilgrimage to the nearby Det-Sen Monastery, the travellers discover everything isn't as it seems. As the situation grows increasingly dire, they will have to uncover the secrets of Det-Sen before it's too late.

Verdict

The Secrets of Det-Sen was a great Early Adventures audio! Following on from reading Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen yesterday, I thought this served as a terrific prequel and I'm so glad that we got the depiction of the Doctor's previous visit to Det-Sen mentioned in that book and in the televised serial. I'm not usually a big fan of the Doctor having had unseen previous encounters that impact on a story, such as Timelash, so getting the gap filled in here is most welcomed. This series of Early Adventures was really exciting because of the connections to televised stories and this was the first time that I actually pre-ordered a bundle! I thought this one was perhaps ever so slightly too long, but it was a really solid story from start to finish. It was quite refreshing to have a full cast adventure with Dodo as a companion and whilst Jackie Lane declined to reprise her role, it was a nice touch to dedicate this release to her memory. I thought Lauren Cornelius did a decent job in taking over the role and I hope there's more to come from her as there is so much unexplored potential with Dodo as companion. Hearing Peter Purves again as both Steven and the First Doctor was brilliant and I really liked how the Doctor reacted to the Det-Sen setting. His older personality and nature really suited the location and the calm nature of the monk religions where he was able to get along well with pretty much everyone. I really liked how Oddiyana was the Abbot and the Doctor had a good relationship with him, so the revelation that he was actually Padmasambhava was fun despite it being completely expected. It was a great performance and the calm nature of the story despite a bandit attack being the focus of the plot was really impressive. I thought it was also fun to focus on the Ghanta given our knowledge of it and how it would relate to the Second Doctor's visit to the same monastery. The ending where the Doctor is entrusted to return it to a different abbot fifty years in the future is really amusing because he actually brings it back over three centuries from now and to the same abbot! That was terrific. I thought Steven had a strong showing in the adventure and his relationship with Pema was fantastic. I liked that he was having some potential romance and Dodo picking up on that was good. The Doctor's reaction to some potential romance was fun as well. Mentioning The Ark was also good continuity as we had some further exploration of the relationship between Dodo and Steven. It was a bit cheeky which was unique and felt a bit modern for the First Doctor era. I liked the presence of the bandits and the contained setting really was well captured in the atmosphere of the audio which I thought was rather impressive. As a whole, I thought this served as a fitting prequel to The Abominable Snowmen and despite knowing a lot of the details already, it was brilliant to hear everything play out. Overall, a great listen! 

Rating: 8/10