Kidnapped!: The Sorcerer of Albion

"Those knights are on fire!"

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: March 2020

Series: Donna Noble 1.03

Featuring: Donna

Synopsis

Trying to get home, Donna and Nat end up in the right place at the wrong time – the Middle Ages!

A monastery is under siege from the Burning Knights, and the great Sorcerer Parval calls on the assistance of another great mage. He has summoned Merlin herself – or as Nat knows her, Donna Noble!

Verdict

The Sorcerer of Albion was an excellent story to continue the Kidnapped! series for Donna Noble! I thought this was another fun and great adventure for Donna and Natalie and it followed on right where Spinvasion left off with Donna apparently piloting the TARDIS. That was an amusing concept in of itself and their arrival in the past had me immediately interested as having Donna and Nat ready to interact in history very much excited me. There was an immediate welcome as it appeared that Donna was mistaken for Merlin who had been summoned by the wizard Parval! Well, that was all the ingredients necessary for a romp of a story. There was an immediate threat too with the burning knights and Donna not having a means to defeat was covered up nicely as she did nothing and claimed she wouldn't use her powers before fully understanding the situation at hand. That left things to Parval who banished the knights quite abruptly. We were introduce to Vivien who was a good character as Parval's granddaughter and she was the one Donna appealed to try and get out of imprisonment once Parval decided Merlin had acted inadequately. Nat's husband Garrison being the form that the TARDIS emergency program 12 took on was fun and I loved how she was getting familiar with the time machine and almost saw it as a home comfort. She went there to try and find healing magic in the form of first aid which I adored and the tease of the TARDIS arriving when they had to locate an important book was fantastic. If someone used it they could create a hole in creation which was quite the potential predicament. Parval being ill gave him some desperation which worked well and he needed Merlin's help and power to see him through. It was also probably tiresome maintaining the collection of UFOs! I didn't see that coming for sure. I loved how Nat marvelled at Parval's library and her ability to apparently speak Babylonian before Donna simply explained the TARDIS translation circuits in a quick line. Nat having left the TARDIS doors open was so simple but so effective as she was new to all this travelling malarkey so why wouldn't she? Vivien and Parval entering and being shocked and scared by the hologram of Garrison as the emergency program 'ghost' was very amusing. The threat of the book not being allowed into the TARDIS added to the danger and the eeriness took a dark turn when we met the monks that were somewhat hidden at the monastery. They were literally dead but somehow being powered to write endlessly and the TARDIS program wanting to know what was being written with the threat of the power of words was good stuff. I'm not sure the program should have followed Nat out though. Garrison provoking the Knights because he was a hologram was funny though and he was able to reverse the polarity of the particles making his existence to react badly with their weapons. Parval needing the power to be channelled into him was an intriguing development and this was why Merlin had to gift his power to him. The Knights wanted their freedom which hinted at a tortured existence as they had no strength, of course linking them with the frightening monks. Vivien being convinced by Donna of the wrongs of her grandfather was fantastic and she let out the fake Merlin. Vivien being the one that was the source of Parval's power was very interesting and I liked the simplicity of her cutting the link. The scry glass made for some good late drama and Parval attempting tot take Donna's knowledge of flying the TARDIS to use to his advantage was great stuff, especially when Donna casually admitted she had no idea how to fly it. Nat's reaction was priceless! Vivien smashing the mirror glass to free the Knights was very good and the exploration of the past relationship between Donna and Nat and their oneupmanship was great character building. I wonder if that will play a part in the finale. The book turning out to be the cheat codes needed to fly the TARDIS, I expect they meant manual, was very good stuff and Donna's reaction to learning that the Doctor had been winging things was marvellous. Overall, a brilliant listen!

Rating: 9/10