E is For...

"He screamed in his thoughts before he screamed out loud."

Writer: Julian Richards

Format: Audio

Released: September 2019

Series: Companion Chronicles: First Doctor 3.01

Featuring: Susan

Synopsis

All is not right on the planet Malkus. Every day more and more monstrosities are born; people with powers and abilities far beyond those of normal men and women. They call these people ''the Gifted'. And Susa has become one of them. Separated from her friends in a Police State dedicated to hunting people like her, Susan finds herself in a prison which has destroyed countless lives. And at its centre, at its heart, waiting, is the most dangerous monster of all.

Verdict

E is For... was an excellent start to the third volume of First Doctor Companion Chronicles! I was really impressed with this as an opener and I liked the unique approach, even for this range, to have just Susan featured. Of course, Carol Ann Ford has starred before in Companion Chronicles as the only familiar lead actor but more main characters than just Susan have featured, but that wasn't the case here. This was very much Susan starring and whilst the Doctor, Ian and Barbara were mentioned and was whom Susan arrived onto Malkus with, they didn't feature at all which was really nice. Susan entering into a prison was good and I found it amusing that her method of trying to find her grandfather was to open every cell and take her luck with whoever or whatever was inside. She came to build a strong relationship with Virgil Winters and his other alias simply being as Weapon E was a little harsh in taking away his identity. Susan encouraging him to be more than just a weapon was nicely done. I liked how we harkened back to The Sensorites with Susan and her use of telepathic abilities in a very strong way here. She was struggling on arrival as she could hear the thoughts of literally everyone around her which must have been painful. The concept of the Gifted on the planet was a good one and Maria Rage being in charge of rounding them up was fantastic. She was aptly named and made for a very strong villain. She didn't give Virgil any kind of acknowledgement other than being a weapon, and the way she followed him and Susan back home was good. I thought the cliffhanger was decent although it did catch me a little off guard, and getting an exploration and explanation of the other weapons that were created, namely A-D, and what the letters stood for was terrific. I was a big fan of the ingenuity and SPEAR even having a clearly named acronym was impressive. Virgil pondering on what his letter stood for and thinking it was Evolution only to find that it was actually Extinction was excellent. His gift being concerned with energy was intriguing although I can't imagine living with it. The very idea of constantly creating energy and having it recycled into background radiation was certainly interesting, but it seemed to come at a high cost with Virgil's inability to see colour and having to wear a suit that essentially acted as a forcefield. Susan's little way into his mind through the glove coming off was fun, and I liked that she could see that Faith was what he was after and keeping him going after years in containment. The revelation that SPEAR had actually inadvertently created the Gifted was good and probably something I should have seen coming, but it was still a brilliant moment. Virgil using the exo-suit to get the upper hand was good and I liked how triumphant Susan sounded in revealing that to Rage. Overall, it was wonderful to have Susan in the starlight and she really shone as a lead. It was great to showcase her abilities. A fine start to the series!

Rating: 9/10