No Man's Land

"I am a coward."

Writer: Martin Day
Format: Audio
Released: November 2006
Series: Main Range 89

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Hex

Synopsis

It is 1917 and the Doctor, Hex and Ace find themselves in a military hospital in northern France. But the terrifying, relentless brutality of the Great War that wages only a few miles away is the least of their concerns.

The travellers become metaphysical detectives when the Doctor receives orders to investigate a murder. A murder that has yet to be committed...

Who will be the victim? Who will be the murderer? What is the real purpose of the Hate Room? Can the Doctor solve the mystery before the simmering hate and anger at Charnage hospital erupts into a frenzy of violence?

Verdict

No Man's Land was a great audio adventure which finally got me back listening to an extended story from the Main Range. I can never quite seem to get a decent run going from this range of audios and that simply is down to time but I am still determined to one day catch up with the monthly releases and the only way to do so is to simply crack on. I thought the setting of this story was very good with it being in France in the midst of the Great War. I also very much enjoyed how the audio began with the TARDIS trio very much having been involved in events that we didn't get the chance to listen to. There was no establishing things for a lengthy period and instead they were thrown right into a prison cell during World War One. I liked that. Ace warning Hex, who we forget is still a relatively new companion, about the dangers of interfering and changing history was great and I thought she had an excellent outing. She was even prepared to flaunt her looks at one point - something that I thought was refreshing and new and perfectly suited to her character. The reference to The Settling was very good and I was very intrigued by the companions' relationship throughout the story. The Seventh Doctor was terrific too and I liked how annoyed he was at being unable to prevent the murder that he was sent to stop. I thought Sergeant Wood was a great character and I was quite surprised that he was killed off at the halfway stage of proceedings. Brook was also good but I'd have preferred if he was the one to die with Wood being the monster that was trying to produce angry soldiers. Ace and Hex's trek across No Man's Land to the church was good and the revelation once they arrived that there were actually no German casualties was excellent. Dudgeon being sent to spy on matters at the hospital was also a little unexpected but my favourite part of the story was probably when the Doctor deduced that the warning letter had come from the typewriter of Taylor. They were all unique and after we got to experience some of his sleepwalking, in which he committed murder, he had warned people that he was likely to strike again. I thought that was brilliant. The ending was good but could have been a little faster paced and I was quite surprised to learn of the Forge's involvement. I do hope that gets elaborated on further in a future audio but I'm certainly not against it. The Hate Room was another good element of the story and I do wonder if it will have any kind of effect on Hex in the future too. Overall, a very good audio adventure!

Rating: 8/10