Caerdroia

"Every time we're in a dark place and you wonder off, something bad happens."

Writer: Lloyd Rose

Format: Audio

Released: November 2004

Series: Main Range 63

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Charley, C'rizz

Synopsis 

Self-exiled to a new universe, separated from his TARDIS, opposed and manipulated by the Divergence and their agent the Kro'ka, the Doctor has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer and regain the TARDIS!

Threatened and desperate, the Kro'ka abandons his behind-the-scenes machinations to confront the Doctor directly. But will both of them lose their way in the maze of the strange world in which they find themselves? A world in which a clock may have a cuckoo but no hands, a labyrinth imprisoning a paradox, and a Garden of Curiosities reveals something the Doctor has never seen before.

As the Doctor faces these challenges, Charley and C'rizz provide valuable help. But with the TARDIS itself at stake, the Doctor reaches deep inside himself to find some surprising new allies...

Verdict 

Caerdroia was an excellent audio adventure to continue along the Main Range of Big Finish audio adventures! It really does seem that with this story following the outstanding The Last that the Divergent Universe story arc for the Eighth Doctor has taken a huge swing in the right direction! I was thrilled with what I listened to here and I enjoyed how the story arc finally came centre circle after six previous stories of just going from one Interzone to the next. I wasn't against that and there was always some interaction with Kro'ka to keep the overall arc firmly in the listener's mind, but the first half of the arc was a little disappointing as I didn't think that the setting of a completely different universe was utilised as it should have been. That has since changed and I just loved how the Doctor finally got the upper hand on the Kro'ka after a lengthy time of being in the dark. The Doctor has always held firm that he would eventually get into the driving seat and this story saw that happen, and it was fantastic. The first part was probably my favourite of the four that made up the audio because the Doctor was enjoying taunting the Kro'ka so much. He played him to the perfect tune and never looked like losing control. We learned a lot about the Divergence and their relationship with the Kro'ka and it wasn't what we thought at all. The Kro'ka had been charged with finding out how to get into the TARDIS and really just to get all he could from the Doctor. But this story saw that swim down the drain and the Kro'ka was soon in extreme trouble with his masters for inadvertently bringing the Doctor back to his TARDIS. I really liked how the time sickness of the Doctor, in a universe with no time, brought him to the very place he'd been searching for. I loved that the story was called Caerdroia because of it being a Welsh word and I loved its connections with Greek mythology. I imagine I'm not the only Welsh Doctor Who fan who was thrilled to see a Welsh word on a cover of a performed story and I really did like the subtlety in its meaning for the story. I was not expecting the story to feature three different versions of the Eighth Doctor but the moment that happened at the part one cliffhanger was brilliant. The only thing that really let me down about the story though was Charley's explaining of how each duplicate was a different mode of the Doctor's personality but it didn't really come across that way to me. It was still fantastic to hear three different versions of the same Doctor, and I did enjoy a lot of the dialogue, but it wasn't quite what was said. I liked how with Charley and C'rizz splitting up in the story's events, they were both accompanied by a Doctor whilst the Doctor was still also on his own. Three versions really did provide a lot of opportunity which was magnificent. The final part was terrific in the relationship of Charley and C'rizz and I don't think I've heard them get along as well as they did hear. That's not to say they haven't been friends in earlier audios but things just seemed extra nice here which was wonderful. The scenes inside the cuckoo clock were superb and I also really liked the maze and Minotaur trouble that everybody got themselves into. I was really hoping for a The Mind Robber reference but that didn't come sadly. We did however get great references to Zagreus, Scherzo and The Creed of the Kromon. I liked the humour surrounding the numerous rabbit references but I think the real highlight of this story was the Doctor getting the TARDIS back and I loved how the TARDIS was helping the Doctor to save her. It worked well and it does seem now that things are going to come to an end for the Divergent Universe arc and the timing is certainly right. C'rizz experiencing TARDIS for the first time was brilliant and overall, an excellent audio!

Rating: 9/10