Hysteria

"I just don't remember being on the moon."

Writer: Juno Dawson

Format: Audio

Released: April 2022

Series: Redacted 1.02

Featuring: Abby, Shawna, Cleo, Rani

Synopsis

Following an ominous message from Rani Chandra, Cleo drags her brother Jordan to the creepiest hotel in London to find out what the hell she's talking about. Meanwhile, Abby meets Dr Oliver Morgenstern to ask him about what happened at Royal Hope Hospital in 2008.

Verdict

Hysteria was another great episode to continue my way through the Redacted podcast audio series! I once again thoroughly enjoyed this as a twenty minute story and I’m really loving the attention to detail. This one didn’t waste time with any introductions which was good and really delved into another mystery as part of the Blue Box Files podcast for Abby, Shawna and Cleo. The episode at the heart of the podcast this week was Smith and Jones and the disappearance of the Hope Hospital. That’s another fine event to delve into because it’s rather ludicrous for an entire hospital to vanish and leave a crater in the ground, especially when it returned perfectly a few hours later! I really liked that the reports on the BBC News bulletin that we saw in the episode were addressed as when it was initially brought up that there were dozens of witness accounts, I couldn’t help but instantly remember the news report. Thankfully that fitted in nicely with the redacted element at the heart of this series as there were no longer any accounts and the BBC denied any footage of those reports existing. I must admit, I was a little disappointed that Rani didn’t feature in the episode until close to the end after the SOS cliffhanger, but her warning to Cleo meant she’s bound to feature more prominently as the series goes on. Her insistence on talking to Cleo discreetly because of the Doctor being redacted seemingly being contagious was really interesting and something I hope gets explored more. Forgetting by passing on essentially a disease is a very fun concept. I was glad that Jordan featured again as I’m enjoying the sibling relationship he has with Cleo. The talk of the relationship they had with their parents and them clearly having favourites was good emotional stuff, but the humour that came from Jordan saying a trans person couldn’t be a lesbian when Cleo mentioned having a hot date with a she was very amusing. I was a big fan of that. Oliver Morgan being the guest on the podcast to discuss the hospital disappearance was really good stuff and him having a friendly relationship with Martha meant he was a prime candidate for the contagious memory loss. He remembered the hysteria of being on the Moon but couldn’t quite pinpoint actually being there and seeing the surface. That was good to explore and I’m just loving rhe intrigue in the series. Thus far, I really am wanting more and to move onto the next episode which is obviously a good thing! Rani using technology from Mr Smith to meet Cleo by hologram was a nice touch and lovely continuity with The Sarah Jane Adventures, although the Blue Box Files podcast was becoming a bit too real for the hosts. At the moment, Cleo is by far the star of the trio so I do hope we get more of a chance for Abby and Shawna to take a lead role, but there’s still plenty of time for that! Rani wanting Cleo to tattoo their own body with ‘The Doctor in their TARDIS’ was amusing purely because of the reaction comparing the phrase with ‘Live Love Life’. I couldn’t disagree! The alien threat got to Rani and whilst I’m intrigued to find out who the three people are that are left that knew the Doctor, I’m equally interested in who the aliens are that told Rani to put her hands up and were seemingly going to teleport to Cleo and Jordan. That was a decent cliffhanger that’s quickly thrown the podcasts hosts into the thick of the action! Overall though, another fascinating episode. 

Rating: 8/10