Return to Telos

"This whole Cyber invasion is my fault."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: August 2015

Series: FDA 4.08

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela, K9, Second Doctor, Jamie

Synopsis 

The Doctor reveals to Leela that they're heading for the planet Telos. And K9 has new masters...

On Telos, in the past, the Second Doctor and Jamie are exploring the 'tomb of the Cybermen'. 

Meanwhile, the Cyber-Controller and Cyber-Planner consolidate their plans. Spare parts from Krelos are being used to construct a mighty Cyber army. The Doctor must be captured.

Out of control, the TARDIS tumbles down a chasm and the Doctor and Leela find themselves caught up in a full-scale planetary invasion. 

Verdict 

Return to Telos was an excellent story to conclude the fourth season of Fourth Doctor Adventures audios! I must admit, it was largely different to what I was expecting (and hoping) but what we got was definitely still good! Continuing on where The Fate of Krelos left off, this audio was very action-packed which was a big bonus and I liked the continued inclusion of the previous version of the TARDIS console room, last seen with the Second Doctor. With Telos and the Cybermen being hinted at but not mentioned by name at all in the previous story, I was surprised by just how quickly they got name-dropped here. There was certainly no messing around! Immediately we discovered that the TARDIS was heading for Telos, as we could safely assume judging by the title of the story, and it seemed a meeting with the Cybermen once more was on the cards. I loved the cover of this story but despite my enjoyment of the audio, I do think it was more of a selling point than actually delivering. Yes, we did have the Cybermen appearing in the same version that we saw in The Tomb of the Cybermen and Jamie did make an appearance but I think so much more could have been done which would have made this story an instant classic. Although a part of the story actually took place during the events of The Tomb of the Cybermen, I was expecting either a sequel or a simultaneous story with that Second Doctor classic but instead we kind of got neither. The scenes taking place during the Second Doctor were marvellous though and Frazier Hines is incredibly good at portraying Patrick Troughton's incarnation of the Doctor. How he nails it so well is beyond me, he really is tremendous and it's incredible that through this great actor we can continue having performed adventures with the always popular Second Doctor. Bravo Frazier Hines. The Fourth Doctor and Leela were outstanding together in this audio as always but they were at their very best and it was my favourite story of the three from this series I have done for their relationship. The moment where the Doctor said to Geralk it was difficult to explain where they had been and then Leela jumped in claiming it was easy, well I was almost in tears. I love Leela so much in these audios and the humour she provides just keeps on increasing. She does remind me of Jamie quite a lot actually and I was just dying for them to meet and converse! I think that would have been special. I knew that this story continued on from events that occurred on Krelos, but I wasn't expecting such a large part of the story to be set back on that planet. The appearance of both the Cyber Controller and Cyber Planner was excellent and I loved the work of Nicholas Briggs in voicing the Cybermen of the appearance that dawns the front cover. John Leeson was superb as K9 for the second consecutive story and I liked how he seemed to have been infected by a Cybermat! The use of Jamie's tartan getting jammed in this version of the TARDIS console containing Cyber particles was maybe a bit far fetched but the idea was there which was positive. The Second Doctor and Jamie encountering K9 was marvellous and I liked how the latter thought it was some form of Cyber technology. The Doctor cancelling out the Cybermen use of going back on their timeline by doing the very same to his own was great and certainly some fair play! He changed history to ensure no particles ever got into the TARDIS which meant K9 didn't get affected and the plan of the Cybermen was foiled before it even began. Overall, outstanding in parts but maybe a bit misleading. It was still thoroughly enjoyable! 

Rating: 8/10