A Tragical History

"When I notice things, they do tend to be something."

Writer: Tessa North

Format: Audio

Released: September 2021

Series: Eleventh Doctor Chronicles 2.04

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

To most of the inmates in Hythe Prison, life is miserable. However, some are living out their idealised lives within its walls. Amongst the dank conditions, the Doctor is about to uncover the key to everything he could ever desire.

Verdict

A Tragical History was a pretty good story that sadly felt like a slightly underwhelming conclusion to the second volume of Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! It's good to get more stories with this incarnation of the Doctor and Jacob Dudman does a great job of filling in for Matt Smith in the role. However, I think after two boxsets of single standalone episodes, it's time for some continuity and series arcs to take place as there is so much potential with the gaps available for the Eleventh Doctor between series and episodes. Titan Comics did a stellar job with that and I think Big Finish could as well. It would help to have a companion as it doesn't feel right that the Doctor is just turning up alone but his arrival to the eighteenth century here was fun with him quickly deducing that he was in 1770-something from a quick lick of his finger and feel of the air. That's always a fun quirk. I thought the basis on the prison was decent and I liked how everyone within was there because they hadn't paid their debts. Oh how times have changed! The mysterious and whispering voices were good but I think they went unidentified for a bit too long. Their wanting Eliza was interesting and she was a fun character as an older woman that was a thief with a reputation in London. The Doctor meeting Wainwright was fun and him posing as a prison reformer was terrific. That was right up the Doctor's alley. I thought his meeting with Dora was good as well but there was a bit of an overload of new characters in quick succession. The whispers continuing through Eliza were eery and having her want to enlist Wainwright was intriguing, but she was soon dead after a connection and wrote something in the dirt. The escape from the whispers worked well for audio and hearing the three blind mice song was a really creepy option that worked very well. The Doctor realising that the symbol was ancient and a distress call for home was interesting and I enjoyed the concept of the voices making the prisoners think they were living dreams, although that wasn't obvious from the start. Sarah was a nice character to compliment the Doctor and the banter that came from her stealing the sonic and his TARDIS key when showcasing her thievery abilities was fun. The Ilyani being revealed as the whispering species was good and I liked how they were beings of pure consciousness attempting to take life force. They just wanted to go home and they needed power, but humanity wasn't enough for them. They needed the Doctor to amplify that power which was a decent development. Hearing Dora being offered her dreams was good and I really enjoyed the Doctor seeing his desires and being in the TARDIS for that. Getting a glimpse of his darker side and contemplating leaving the humans to themselves for once was good and intriguing, I'd have liked more of that. I thought the ending was very weak though with the way the Doctor and co was able to send the Ilyani back from where they came with seemingly nothing more than magic words. That was too convenient and easy for my liking. Overall, an interesting and pretty decent audio to conclude the series.

Rating: 6/10