Spaceport Fear

"Trust no one."

Writer: William Gallagher 

Format: Audio

Released: February 2013

Series: Monthly Adventures 170

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Mel

Synopsis 

Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where the tribes of Business and Economy have been at war for all of four hundred years...

Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where a terrible creature called the Wailer prowls the corridors around the Control Tower, looking to eat the unwary...

Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where there is one Arrival: a battered blue Police Box containing the time-travelling Doctor and his companion, Mel...

Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where there are no Departures. Ever.

Verdict 

Spaceport Fear was a great story to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! Whilst the general concept of this adventure is basically a rehash of The Face of Evil and Paradise Towers with the devolved societies and misappropriated terminology and origins, I thought taking it to a spaceport was a very fun setting.  It certainly was based in fear and the very idea of the Doctor and Mel arriving was greeted with great caution. They brought with them the ‘summer’ of simply having the lights turned on and the effect that had on the inhabitants in terms of their eyesight was fascinating. The fact ordinary people lived in darkness was a shock and something I can’t imagine for a long period of time, let alone generations! The scale of captivity for the spaceport was incredible with Elder Bones claiming to be half a millennium old! Nineteen generations had passed through the spaceport which was on its last legs in terms of power supply. The arrival of the TARDIS provided a ten minute listing, but systems went into shutdown and with the TARDIS getting lost amidst the automatic interior reorganisation, getting it back would be very difficult without power to move the walls back around. That formed the basis of a strong opening cliffhanger. I really enjoyed how hands on Mel was in this story and it’s just another example of how well she is handled in her audio adventures. She pairs with the Sixth Doctor so well and her desire to have a window in the TARDIS was brilliant. The scanner that the Doctor offered her wasn’t up to scratch. The two rival forces of the Spaceport being Business and Economy was fun stuff and there seemed genuine distain between two. The Doctor oozed charisma and pompousness when he claimed to be from neither and that he was First Class. That was marvellous. That’s exactly what you’d expect and want from the sixth incarnation in particular. The way he was able to deduce what had happened on the spaceport was good and slowly but surely you could hear that he was working it all out. The truth regarding Elder Bones - or was it Director? - and his position of authority in both Business and Economy was fantastic despite its predictability. The anticipation of it coming was strong and made for an exciting conclusion. The shock and dismay of Naysmith and Pretty when that was revealed was very good. Bones taking the words of firing your employees quite literally added to his credibility as a villain as he didn’t hesitate in shooting Rogers dead and the way he talked Galpan into gaining his trust to obtain the gun from her before shooting her dead was horrifying. The first rule of business was not to trust anyone indeed. That was a stark lesson. The Doctor and Mel communicating on the handhelds through the usernames was good, although would it really be possible to have usernames as long as the messages they were sending? It was a neat idea though. Mel not knowing what wifi is was also great and such a simple way to show she’s out of time but a good use of modern tech. I thought the ending was a little simple but the light switch moment for Mel where she realised she could literally just pull the plug of the computer was decent stuff. It eradicated everything in an instant! The threat of the Wailer throughout was good and I liked that the ship coming was their race to take their child, rather than his own people as Bones expected. The merging of the Business and Economy at the end was nicely done too. Overall, another strong audio adventure! 

Rating: 8/10