Waves of Destruction

"You think we're being invaded by pirate DJs?"

Writer: Justin Richards
Format: Audio
Released: January 2016
Series: FDA 5.01

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9

Synopsis

A modulated frequency wave cancellation signal isn't something that the Doctor and Romana expect to detect in 1960s London. But then they don't expect to find Professor Lanchester, the man who invented it, lying unconscious. Or MI5 investigating.

With the help of MI5 Agent Miller, Lanchester's daughter Jill, and his nephew a pirate radio DJ called Mark, the Doctor, Romana and K9 investigate. They soon discover that there is more at risk than they imagined, and an alien invasion is about to begin.

Can the Doctor identify and defeat the aliens in time? Will Romana manage to find a recombinant transducer before it's too late? And how will K9 cope with his new job?

Verdict

Waves of Destruction was an absolutely superb audio adventure and it really is ranked right up there with the very best audio adventures that I have listened to. From start to finish, this story was funny, brilliant and just sublime. The pacing was fantastic and with the pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Romana II reunited, it really was the perfect start to the fifth series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures. K9 managed to add so much to the story as well which is testament to just how good this script was from Justin Richards. It started off excellently and I loved the Doctor and Romana doing a crossword and having the next day's newspaper on hand to find the answer. Their deduction that they were simply too smart for the publication was wonderful. The mention of the Black Guardian was intriguing but one thing I really did enjoy was the setting of the 1960s. Romana provided quite a considerable amount of humour when it came to her shopping for plastic bags. The pun of Ray Dio as a DJ was painful but good and I really did enjoy the whole basis of the story being on radio. Professor Lanchester being found unconscious was not what I expected once the TARDIS arrived but it actually worked out splendidly. Mark was put in an interesting predicament then and I really loved the moment where he revealed that his uncle had no daughter. Jill being able to read minds was good and I liked her admiration of Romana's being a struggle to decipher. The way she killed Cooper was quite a shock but one character who I thought was magnificent was Agent Miller. His relationship with the Doctor was outstanding and I loved how he was just aimlessly providing all the information he needed. The cliffhanger was very good and I must admit I should have worked out that the Vardans were returning. I was very happy to hear that they were coming back and that just made the Christmas offer price of £2.99 even more of a bargain from Big Finish. The reference to The Invasion of Time was good and I just adored the concept of the aliens. They recognised the Doctor which was good and I just loved how they managed to escape via a broadcast. It's a genius idea, it really is. K9 having copied the cancellation wave that initially put him out of action was good and it seemed obvious that it would result in the resolution but it didn't hurt the story one bit. I enjoyed the reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis and the concept of the Vardans needing the right bandwidth to invade Earth in numbers was terrific. Miss Logan's doubt that the planet could be invaded via radio was great and I loved how the jingle of Radio Frantic was being used for the Vardans' flight path. The Doctor's defence of the human race was rather epic following the merciless death of Logan and that just made the ending all the sweeter for him. K9 emitted the wave and just before they arrived in numbers, the broadcast was cut short and the Vardans were no more. Overall, a spectacularly good audio!

Rating: 10/10