The Demon Song

"Loving the serial killer vibe."

Writer: Bob Ayres

Format: Audio

Released: February 2023

Printed in: First Doctor Adventures 2.01

Featuring: First Doctor, Dodo

Synopsis 

Managing to land the TARDIS in Dodo's far flung future, the 2020s, the Doctor detects a haunting melody on the streets of Camden. People are going missing, and one of them is Dodo!

Verdict 

The Demon Song was a great story to kick off the second series anthology of the same name for the First Doctor Adventures! It’s wonderful to have Stephen Noonan and Lauren Cornelius back as the First Doctor and Dodo and I really enjoyed them being put into a modern Camden setting. That worked really well and it was fun to have them in what felt like a future setting but one that’s invisibly familiar. The demon spotting by Daniel De’ath was intriguing and I thought he was a fun character as the psychic investigator. Having the Doctor and Dodo on the tube was amazing and the latter’s confusion regarding everyone having mobile phones was well done. The Doctor didn’t even seemed too clued up on it either which was fun with him referring to them as portable televisions. Dodo noticing there were also far fewer men with beards was something unique to notice and it was nice to acknowledge that we were immediately post pandemic in the early 2020s. Archie and Paul were good characters and I liked how the former was immediately struck by the Doctor and Dodo’s demeanour. The constant tune of the titular demon song playing was good even if it did get a little annoying by the end! It was partly responsible for Paul and Dodo going missing which split the main characters up nicely. De’ath wearing ear defenders to ensure he couldn’t be pulled in by the song was amusing and I loved how he thought the Doctor was stepping on his territory in thinking he was a fellow investigator. The Doctor could feel right away that the demon song was beguiling and De’ath was crucial in linking things with all of the missing people linked to the song. I thought that was nice to showcase what he offered to the adventure. Paul and Dodo waking amidst thirteen others entranced was intriguing, as was the messiness of De’ath’s house! The symbols of protection everywhere put Archie off and simply labelled him a conspiracy theorist, but the Doctor was more welcoming. The demon capturing musical people was a different kind of target and the description of her being like a kinnara as half woman and half bird was excellent. That painted a picture and she soon became angry! Her being part of the Choir was terrific and I liked the threat of wanting them to sing or die. It really felt believable. The humour of the Doctor, Archie and De’ath walking in on the choir performance at the singer’s group was a glorious moment after the build up. It was good to acknowledge that the song had to spread so not everyone was impacted right away. I thought the cliffhanger was decent with Dodo being overpowered by the song and the demon killing Helen just to make a point was brilliant. I thought Noonan did a fine job as the First Doctor once again although I will say that I think his impersonation is more like how William Hartnell would play the role rather than his own take on the First Doctor. And that’s not a problem it’s just something I noticed with the intentional line fumble for example. The Doctor using his fob watch to deprogram those under the ire of the song was good and I liked the humour of De’aths music ability, or lack there of, showcasing that bad music effected the Choir. Archie offering to give herself up to become hypnotised by the song was admirable and was a good way to find where everyone was headed as they could just follow her. The Choir needing to share their song worked well and I enjoyed the threat of when released the song could kill the city. The demon needing to provide the right resonance to open the gateway back home was useful information in understanding her but humanity wasn’t doing enough. The Choir lived in a world alongside ours in a different dimension which was great and I really enjoyed the concept of a celestial choir. The Doctor using the singing group and the organ to open the gateway was decent and I really liked the twist of De’ath playing the guitar at the crucial time to change the resonance and let the Discord through. We didn’t really get anything of the battle other than De’ath’s commentary on a live stream but I did like that he appealed to his followers to help thwart them. The portal was reopened then in a simple conclusion by the end. Overall, a strong start to the series!

Rating: 8/10