The Iron Maid

"The armies of the dead are on their way."

Writer: John Pritchard

Format: Audio

Released: June 2018

Series: Companion Chronicles: Second Doctor 2.03

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

"I saw a wheel up in the heavens – a wheel of fire and swords... And I saw a heap of armour that was waiting for a Maid to put it on. I feared that it was meant for me, but a voice said otherwise – that another Maid was coming and she would save our country from its enemies..."

The TARDIS has arrived in France in the fourteenth century – a time of devastation and despair. In an empty church beside a crowded graveyard, Zoe meets a woman who claims to see a dreadful future waiting for the world.

Verdict

The Iron Maid was another strong story to continue what is shaping to be a very good and consistent second volume of Companion Chronicles for the Second Doctor! This time around it was the turn of Zoe to take centre stage and whilst I fully appreciate the format of this range, there really was not a lot of time for the Doctor or Jamie to feature which was a bit of a shame given the talents of Frazer Hines available for both of those roles. I enjoyed how things started with the discussion of history after landing in fourteenth century France, and that in of itself was a really strong pace to set a story. It seemed to fit this trio well and it was actually a nice change for even Jamie to be somewhere in his past. Zoe not even knowing what France was made me chuckle and the time she is from really did think humanity of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries were primitive! She didn't hold back with that opinion which was fun. I liked the mystery of a wheel in space coming towards the planet but leaving no imprint, and I was stunned that Zoe made no reference or even reacted to the title of her first serial being mentioned. There was a missed opportunity there. I liked that the village had been slightly tormented for half a century and the result of the fallout and scraps actually coming from a future war was terrific. I was a big fan of that idea and the particular war being the Great War was really good. France in the fourteenth century was a much different world to the society and times of that conflict, and finding the armour that was bulletproof was really great. Marie was a fantastic character and I really enjoyed her relationship with Zoe throughout. They got on well and she was almost confiding in the futuristic companion about the visions she was seeing and the deadly prediction of the world's future. Zoe was trying to reassure her that she need not worry about her world because the danger she was seeing was six centuries into the future, but her religious tendencies wouldn't allow her to fully believe that. Jamie going off into the woods and having the threat of walking into World War One was a strong threat. The merging of the time zones was a fun and exciting conclusion with Berger on hand to cause a bit of chaos. He was a typical character and his acknowledgement of the Highlanders was very good and something I very much enjoyed. The ultimate conclusion was a little straightforward and easy with the Doctor intent on letting the time glitch amend itself, but it was neat and we'd had a strong story for the 67 minutes that made up this adventure. I liked the descriptions of sounding like stone because that was a bit strange and off-putting, and really added a bit of eeriness to a historical that mixed well. Overall, this was a really strong adventure and a nice chance for Zoe to shine in a setting where that might not have been likely. 

Rating: 8/10