Immortal Beloved

"Let us die together."

Writer: Jonathan Clements
Format: Audio
Released: April 2007
Series: EDA 1.04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Lucie

Synopsis

'Theosophy? Ha! Surely you mean theophany? Because we're not talking about real gods here, are we? We're talking about the appearance of gods. Your heavenly powers are a little too mechanical for my liking. And, if I may be so bold, Lord Zeus, your demeanour is not very godlike.'

Verdict

Immortal Beloved was a brilliant audio story and a great continuation of the Eighth Doctor Adventures! After a bit of a blip with Horror of Glam Rock, I was delighted to hear things back on a very high level with what was a fantastic story. I thought this was Lucie's best story yet as new companion as we got to see a lot of her personality come out and Sheridan Smith was just terrific. I like the new dynamic she brings to the TARDIS and Lucie's relationship with the Doctor is a very good one. They started off a bit shaky, and that's in terms of the story not quality, but now they're getting quite acquainted with each other and it's wonderful to hear. Paul McGann was once again very good as the Eighth Doctor and I just like how new and modern this feels. I adore the Classic era of Doctor Who but there's just something unique about this period of the Doctor's life because everything isn't quite Classic but it's not quite New Who either. It has its own feel and I think that's awesome. The TARDIS arriving at the moment Sararti and Kalkin were going to throw themselves from a cliff and kill themselves was quite a shocker. That's some introduction for the Doctor and Lucie! I liked that the Doctor wouldn't just let them kill themselves, that should never be the answer, but little did he know what he was preventing from occurring. Zeus was a very good villain and the whole concept of the heir and spare being literal in terms of closing and mind transfer was superb! It was disturbingly evil but that's what made it a good point of the plot. It was disturbing and the lack of remorse Zeus had for the clones just made him an even better enemy. His love story with Hera was atrocious as well really, considering that they went off with other people once they got to a certain level of old age. Zeus's advance on Lucie was quite shocking but I thought she handled it brilliantly. She felt like a very modern companion in this story which was a big bonus. Sararti pretending to be Hera when the lover of Zeus had suffered a sudden heart attack was great but I didn't expect the trick to be repeated so soon with Kalkin and Zeus. I liked that as they could live happily ever after and in power and the Doctor had put an end to the mind transfer machine. Lucie knew that they might be tempted but the Doctor was going to risk it. Hopefully one life time of happiness together would be another. Overall, a very intriguing, unique and just fantastic audio adventure!

Rating: 9/10