Tales from the Vortex: Dark Watchers of California

"This world wants us to feel like monsters."

Writer: Riley Silverman

Format: Audio

Released: April 2015

Series: Short Trips 13.01

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

Susie hides out in California's Big Sur, but finds she cannot entirely escape a 1966 San Francisco riot. Can the Doctor and Bill Potts catch up with Susie before her past does, and discover what the menacing Dark Watchers want with her?

Verdict

Dark Watchers of California was a strong start to the Tales from the Vortex thirteenth series of Short Trips! This was a really solid outing and right from the off I was excited by the prospect of a Twelfth Doctor and Bill story. It seems an awfully long time since I have done one of those and it turns out that having this particular companion around for the adventure was very important indeed. I was a big fan of the 1966 setting and exploring San Francisco was a refreshing change from the norms of a mundane London. It's brilliant that these audios are not restricted by budgets and can just simply venture off to California and not the usual touristy sites either. That was really good and the Big Sur made for a fine base for the story. I thought Susie was a pretty good character and it soon made sense why Rebecca Root was the narrator for this adventure with her being a transgender. I was initially sceptical and confused as to why she would be telling a story featuring the Twelfth Doctor! I was taken aback as I pressed play because I hadn't read the details beforehand on who was what when it came to story roles. It's a smart bit of casting by the end and having Bill alongside her instantly makes her feel more comfortable which I could really appreciate. America in 1966 is not a place where many people other than white men might feel comfortable or accepted so having Bill as a lesbian alongside Susie as a transgender was a powerful message. I liked that a lot and it was great to have Bill's personality shine in how upfront she was about her sexual orientation. She instantly recognised that Susie was running from hers as she could see all of the signs from her own experiences. That was all positive. And then came the persistent Officer Finch who was just a horrible person. Nothing much needed to be said about him as his insistence on continuing to hunt Susie and not take well to being told no by her was more than enough to show what kind of person he was. Especially in the America of 1966. Trying to use his position of power to get what he wanted and not understanding why he was denied it when people like Susie had to resort to selling themselves was really strong stuff but I appreciated the realism. We even got a description of it often being rough! I didn't see that coming but it really hit home. I thought the involvement of the Watchers actually got in the way of the emotion of the story for me and whilst I did like that Susie rejected her previous meeting as nothing more than a nightmare of her childhood when she was who she considered to be somebody else, the Watchers had actually come back for more of what she had provided the first time around. The Doctor recognised that they were after something was intriguing and that turned out to be guilt. I thought that was a little random but it's no surprise that she had it in abundance to give after everything she had been through. She was confused as to why it was a surprise though and she wasn't the only one! It sent them packing though as did the psychic paper from the Doctor for Finch. It was nice at the end though for her to want to finally return home and get involved in the trash clean up demonstrations. That felt like a powerful historical message. Overall, a strong start to the series! 

Rating: 7/10