The Acheron Pulse

"Not all fairytales end with marriage."

Writer: Rick Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: October 2012

Series: Monthly Adventures 166

Featuring: Sixth Doctor

Synopsis 

The planet Cawdor. Deep in the heart of the Drashani Empire.

The Doctor lands thirty years after the Succession of Blood brought Empress Cheni to the throne. For most of her reign there has been peace and prosperity. The Empire flourished. But five years ago, the War came. And nothing was ever the same again. Now the Drashani are at war with the mysterious alien race known as the Wrath, led by the Warlord Tenebris. As more and more planets fall to their advance events are rushing to a head.

What exactly does Tenebris want? What is the secret of the Wrath's weapon, the terrifying Acheron Pulse? As the Doctor races to save an Empire, he may not like the answers he finds.

Verdict  

The Acheron Pulse was another decent story to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! This was a direct sequel to the previous story of The Burning Prince and I liked that whilst it was heavily linked to everything that went down during the events of that adventure, it had a very different tone and atmosphere. It also had a different Doctor which was a nice change of pace from the usual trilogies that have been occurring in the range in my recent blogging, with this one more so following the style of the Excelis saga which is fun. We look set to conclude with the Seventh Doctor, but alas there is much to discuss before we get there! It was odd and quite fun to have the Sixth Doctor travelling solo as we just don’t get that often across all formats, and I wouldn’t say that anyone struck me as filling that companion role here which was fine because it never felt like one was missing. Colin Baker was superb and really shone. The reference to The Visitation with the Doctor longing after the sonic screwdriver was amusing and it’s staggering really to think that this incarnation of the Doctor will go his entire duration without the trusty device. That is almost unfathomable! Returning to the Drashani Empire was something I must admit I was not overjoyed with as whilst I did enjoy the previous story, it didn’t seem to grasp my attention in the way that a trilogy should warrant. I enjoyed the politics and history of the Doctor’s involvement, but I couldn’t help but feel the whole Empire was a glorified and just expanded version of Peladon. But just not as interesting. The Doctor being the only survivor from the crash that would send Kylo and Ariana into the mythological ethos was brilliant and I loved how that had been spun in the thirty years since the Doctor was around to see what happened. The shock and awe his reveal of what Ariana did to Kylo was fantastic and it it was a stark reminder of just how terrifying she was. She cut off his hand and threw him out of the airlock from 30,000 feet! So I was very surprised to find that Tenebris was the prince himself very much alive! I I thought that was good but I’m not entirely sure how feasible it is, but the power of the mind is a strong thing so I appreciated that being the explanation. It did tie in with his abilities to generate fire from his thoughts. Maybe it was possible? He was much changed now though and him having a different face tied in nicely with the Doctor having regenerated since their last encounter. The Wrath were pretty good and I really liked that the Igris were back in a big way with the Doctor knowing exactly what they were this time around. It was rather horrifying with the idea of the pulse not killing someone, but merely stretching them to the point of breaking and their mind going to the under void. The part three cliffhanger with the Doctor ending up there was good. I thought the conclusion was slightly anticlimactic with the Wrath just wanting a purpose, so who better than the Doctor himself to program them after? He seemed quite proud of that. I liked the emotion that came out of Tenebris when it came to discussing Aliona and even after everything she did and all these years, he still hoped to win her back. The brutality in which he shunned off marriage and proclaimed that fairytales didn’t always end that way was stunning, so his calm and normal demeanour by the end of the episode was a bit quick to be matched with that kind of evil streak. It was nice for him to acknowledge that the Doctor showed him humanity he didn’t deserve though. Overall, a very decent story! I’m not sure how we get another adventure to conclude this trilogy as this certainly had a feeling of finality. 

Rating: 7/10