Geronimo!: The House of Masks

"She wishes for us all to be washed away beneath the water."

Writer: Georgia Cook

Format: Audio

Released: October 2022

Series: Eleventh Doctor Chronicles 3.02

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Valarie

Synopsis

For Valarie's first trip through time and space, the TARDIS takes them to one of the Doctor's favourite places: Venice, during Carnivale. 

Unfortunately, not everyone is there to enjoy the party. Captain Tomasi has a murder to commit, and he needs Valarie's help to do it...

Verdict

The House of Masks was another tremendous audio adventure to continue my way through the Geronimo! third series of Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! This followed up The Inheritance in spectacular fashion and this is shaping up to be quite the memorable volume of adventures. I'm loving the full cast nature of the episodes and following on immediately where the previous story left off was good, although the TARDIS wasn't so much hijacked as it appeared in the cliffhanger. The TARDIS was drawn to Venice though against its will and was tracking a mysterious caller which is fascinating given what we know of the 'woman on the phone' that would come in The Bells of Saint John to unite the Doctor and Clara. Is Missy up to her old tricks again perhaps? I'd love for that to be the case. I thought it was great to take the Eleventh Doctor back to Venice as it's a really brilliant setting with so much potential. I really enjoyed his reference to The Vampires of Venice with the fish-eating vampires causing chaos in the city, and despite that it was a place the Doctor loved. He was thrilled to arrive during the Carnivale which was something I didn't have knowledge of prior to listening to this story, but it worked well and added to the fun of the eighteenth century setting. For Valarie's first trip in the TARDIS, this was a really strong one and she was pretty darn excellent. I'm already a big fan of hers and I'm very excited by the prospect of another ten adventures with her as companion! The mentions to Clara are a good reminder of the Doctor's intentions in the long run. Valarie's reaction to the psychic paper and knowing all about it showed she was no ordinary companion and knew the science behind it like it was nothing! She also seemed to have a universal translator in her systems which also meant the Doctor couldn't show off the TARDIS translation circuits! The opposing sides of Sicura and Tomasi at the party were intriguing and I loved how the background of their rivalry and history was explained as the episode went on. Sicura heading the house and being in control was fantastic and I loved that there was no way out. That's always fun to tackle. The pause that occurred by the party guests when the Doctor and Valarie tried to leave was startlingly uncomfortable with the silence. The passengers all being puppets following a devastating crash during the previous year's Carnivale was a brilliant revelation and Sicura now had lured in all of the people as puppets to represent those that died in the crash. She couldn't report all of the fatalities, but Tomasi was the ship's captain and the only other survivor. He knew the truth and was horrified but was completely stuck in a nightmare. His reaction to the Doctor and Valarie as newcomers sparked hope which was lovely and I liked his development from a supposed murderer to helping free everyone. The power diverter was a good aim to get and trying to ensure the ship returned to manual control by using it was great stuff. Sicura was able to be talked out of the horrifying situation she was in control of, and that sparked an incredibly heartfelt moment between the Doctor and Valarie. He needed her to know the scale of deaths he had caused in the Time War and the explanation of its horrors and the only way to end it for the sake of the universe was sublime stuff. I was a massive fan of that and the Doctor obviously still carries it with him, whilst she has shared trauma with her mum's recent death still being a fresh wound. The semi-cliffhanger finish of the mysterious caller supposedly having called the TARDIS from everywhere at once was really interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays into the finale! Overall, a superb audio! 

Rating: 10/10