A Storm of Angels

"Behold the mercy of the heavens."

Writer: Marc Platt

Format: Audio

Released: January 2005

Series: Unbound 07

Featuring: The Doctor, Susan

Synopsis

What if... the Doctor really had changed History, even just the tiniest bit?

1480: Leonardo da Vinci visits the stars.

1508: Vasco da Gama sets foot on Mars.

1585: Francis Drake begins charting the Asteroid Belt.

1588: Earth is destroyed by a storm of angels.

The Doctor was really enjoying his freedom. But now there's a Temporal Agent on his tail. Gloriana and the President of Gallifrey are not amused. And Susan's none too well either.

Possibilities, like the Doctor, have a habit of running away with themselves. But who cares, when the jewels are so dazzling...

Verdict

A Storm of Angels was a fantastic story! This was a really unique take on Doctor Who and I thoroughly loved the premise of the Doctor having changed history. There was considerable mentions of Aztecs culture and given the setting of the story in the sixteenth century, this fitted in well with The Aztecs being a crucial part of establishing that the Doctor should not and could not interfere in established history. Having that not quite be the case here was terrific and there really was so much that had changed quickly. I thought the concept of spaceships in the Elizabethan era was outstanding and it was just so fun to have Elizabeth as a monarch and then also revered as Gloriana. It was so strange and great with it not fitting, but it actually worked so well. Continuing on from Auld Mortality with this version of the Doctor and Susan was lovely and the truth surrounding their relationship played a huge role. Because this wasn't a normal version of Susan, she had been created from the probability generator by the Doctor from his memories of his granddaughter. There's something so special and sad about that but it was really quite beautiful that both versions of Susan swapped places at the end without telling him. Of course, the Doctor knew that but he didn't let on which was lovely. Susan, as the President of Gallifrey, regretted not travelling with her grandfather which was superb and had to tie up all the loose ends that the Doctor's travels and interference caused. The Doctor not realising that his couple of outings with Leonardo da Vinci had caused such a change to the timeline of human history was tremendous and the intelligence of the historical figure was sighted as the reason. From there, we had Gama and Mars and even the Asteroid Belt which just shouldn't be happening at this point in history. The presence of the Angels was fantastic and I was a big fan of them. They sounded deadly and the connection with the jewels was intriguing and reminds me of my recent listening of The Wreck. Susan getting one on her shoulder was good danger and I just liked the connection of Angels and jewels, particularly with their dazzlement. I love how wrong it feels to have the TARDIS chameleon circuit working and having it appear as a barrel was amusing. Zeuro was a fantastic character and having him come from Gallifrey was good and I liked that there was involvement from the Doctor's home planet with the Doctor and Susan, something that rarely occurred during the First Doctor era. The use of Drake and Dee as literary historical figures was excellent too and I really liked how that all linked in with the religious theme and the Angels. Needing to get them away from Earth and moving the entire Asteroid Belt away was good and I thought it was a fitting outcome for strong villains. Overall, a very intriguing listen! Such a great insight into what could have been and whilst we know the Doctor has changed history before, the timeline presented here was extraordinary and the Doctor merely believing it as a sideways shift into a possibility was terrific. 

Rating: 9/10