The Great Space Elevator

"Enjoy the view."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: August 2008

Series: Companion Chronicles 3.02

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria

Synopsis

The Great Space Elevator is a marvel of human engineering; a transit tube stretching from the equator up to a space station held in geosynchronous orbit.

When the TARDIS lands in Sumatra in the future, the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are captured by guards just as the station loses power. Together with Security Officer Tara Kerley, the three travellers take a one-way trip on the elevator to fix the problem, and find themselves confronted by a powerful alien force that threatens to wreak chaos on Earth...

Verdict

The Great Space Elevator was a pretty average Companion Chronicles story. It certainly had its good parts and a strong feature at its heart, but for some reason I just found myself losing interest in parts with my attention diverted because I just wasn’t wholly interested in what was happening. It failed to capture my attention wholly which was a big shame as I actually really like the idea of centring a story around a great space elevator. As far as titles go, that’s an impressive one and I like the idea. Why wouldn’t there be technology like this in the future to link up different parts of space? It’s nice to use a mode of transport that’s familiar but to take it to an absolute extreme. I thought the way it was met with awe by Jamie upon seeing it was good although I had an issue with the immediate description that it must be hundreds of miles high. That may be the case, but there’s just no way Jamie would be able to deduce that from sight alone. Even just one mile tall would be almost impossible to ascertain its scale! The fact it was so big was very intriguing and I was really hoping for more trepidation to come from the actual structure. But for the most part it felt like it was just there until the threat at the end with the electrical creature completing its journey down the chords. I thought the presence of the electrical creature was decent and I did enjoy the similarities it shared with the Vardans with its utilisation of electrical currents like they did with sound waves. It was nice to have something as simple and crucial as electricity to pose a problem and threats like that always feel a bit more trepidatious. Whilst it’s always lovely to hear Deborah Watling reprise her role as Victoria, I do think her efforts in bringing the Second Doctor and Jamie to life were somewhat lacking. It didn’t feel authentic which is a shame as usually in the Companion Chronicles range we at least get some sort of attempt at an impersonation. That wasn’t the case here. I thought the dynamic of the TARDIS trio was pretty good and it’s just always nice to revisit them as they’re so strong. The Sumatra setting was decent and quite unique which I always like. I’m not sure it fitted in with the era though which isn’t much of a criticism but this one didn’t quite feel like it could slot in on television when these three characters were at the helm. The creature trying to create storms on Earth was good and the scale of destruction that would cause was a strong threat, but I felt a bit more background on the electrical creature itself would have gone a long way. It wasn’t relatable and just didn’t feel complete. It’s a shame because the idea there is a strong one, but I wasn’t given enough reason to fully care. I thought the opening gambit from Victoria was a nice touch though to get some more information on her character after her departure in Fury From the Deep as we learn that she’s got a family. I was surprised she hadn’t told them about her journeys in the TARDIS though! How could you not? The conclusion was decent in stopping the creature before it had scaled the elevator and averting disaster on Earth, but as a whole this just felt like it was missing that something special. Overall, still a decent listen but not one to be remembered. 

Rating: 6/10