Nekromanteia

"The temple of Shara is threatened once more."

Writer: Austen Atkinson

Format: Audio

Released: February 2003

Series: Main Range 41

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Peri, Erimem

Synopsis 

In the depths of space a little known district harbours a terrible secret. Long known as a place of death, it claims thousands more lives as a great corporate space-fleet goes to war. As the fleet screams out in fear and pain, an irresistible voice calls out to three travellers and a macabre mind sets a deadly trap.

The Doctor, Peri and Erimem face the terrors of Talderun and the wrath of a corporate empire as they struggle to understand the hideous secret of the domain of the dead, a district known in legend as Nekromanteia.

Verdict 

Nekromanteia was a very intriguing audio story, and a very good one of that. I really liked the theme and it was quite enigmatic and ambiguous throughout which gave it a superb feel. It really did feel quite magical but also dark at the same time which was a very good mix of themes. It was perfectly suited for a story that contained witches! It wasn't similar at all to The Shakespeare Code, the only other Doctor Who story I can recall to feature witchcraft, as they were more of a cult here rather than the scavenger trio of Carrionites who were trying to control Shakespeare. After a hugely successful outing in The Church and the Crown, I was thrilled to see that the trio of the Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem were back for another story this soon. They probably weren't as good together as the aforementioned previous audio, but they were still thoroughly enjoyable together. Erimem really is coming into her own and although this is only her third story, I'm starting to see a wonderful companion and I'm really looking forward to seeing her character develop in the upcoming audios. I'm sure she'll work out marvellously as I was surprised to see the news in the latest DWM that Erimem is now having her own book series! I'm not sure they'll sell overly well but if I see them I'd probably pick them up, though I do still have a ridiculous amount of novels to get through and my task wasn't helped by the fact I picked up ten original Targets last week! But I'll get through them all eventually and have them readily blogged in time. There really is no rush. That's the same with audios! I'm only what, 160 odd behind in the Main Range? I'll catch up one day. But for now we're on number 41 and it was the last we saw of Antranak, Erimem's quite humorous cat. The farewell was in line with the story in being magically eery and that's the feeling I got for most of this adventure. Peri went through quite a lot in this story and her relationship with Rom was superb. It was quite a sorry ending for the pair though and it was Erimem who was the strongest companion of the pair. How the tides have turned since we last listened to them in audio. With her being from Ancient Egypt, she understood what rituals meant and she really didn't blame any of the witches and cult for what they were doing. She understood what a sacrifice meant and Peri denying them that was obviously going to cause problems. Harlon served as a good enemy and I really liked Shara and that realm of reality. The first two cliffhangers were extremely strong with the first suggesting that Erimem had been shot (which she had, just not fatally), and the second implying that the Doctor had been decapitated and his head was being paraded about! Were we in 1930s Italy? The references to The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Eye of the Scorpion were terrific, but not as terrific as it might have been witnessing Peri naked! She actually was naked in a Doctor Who story. It's quite incomprehensible but I'm now envious of the audio format. At least we could let our imagination run wild. The climax was very good and at 105 minutes this audio was very well paced. Overall, a good ending to a fantastic audio adventure. I'm really liking this trio. 

Rating: 8/10