Phobos

"100% natural thrills and spills."

Writer: Eddie Robson
Format: Audio
Released: May 2007
Series: EDA 1.05

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Lucie

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands on Phobos, moon of Mars - where extreme sports nuts of the future indulge their passion for gravity-boarding and wormhole-jumping. But there's something lurking in the shadows, something infinitely old and infinitely dangerous. It's not for nothing that "Phobos" is the ancient word for "fear"...

Verdict

Phobos was a pretty average continuation of the Eighth Doctor Adventures and sadly it seems that this first series is a bit of a mixed bag and really struggling with consistency. This story had its moments and I thought the premise was actually good. I really liked the idea of a futuristic setting where daredevils came for their adrenaline rushes. Wormhole jumping certainly sounded quite thrilling but final delivery of its role in the story just didn't work. It wasn't a bad story, but it wasn't necessarily a great one either. It just needed some more action and an oomph factor rather than just plodding along. I really liked Lucie once again though and I think she's turning into a terrific companion. There's a lot of potential there and I'm liking her relationship with the Eighth Doctor very much. Paul McGann was decent as always and I liked that the Doctor had to use his fears to defeat the deity from another reality but I thought it was a bit of a cheat to the listener for those fears not to be mentioned or elaborated upon. The Entity of Fear didn't seem all that frightening considering its name and place of origin but I liked that it used the loved ones of some of the main characters in this story to communicate. Kai was an intriguing character and his association with the Entity was certainly an interesting one. It was quite disturbing in a way. Amy and Farl were lovely characters and I thought they made a good couple. The idea of their relationship being frowned upon and hunted because the latter's species wanted a pure gene pool was quite horrifying but hardly surprising if history has anything to tell us. It seems that lessons won't be learned by the future. Lucie's reaction to seeing Mars was probably the highlight of the story and I should also mention that Drew and Hayd's relationship was another very good aspect of the audio. The revelation that the latter was in love with the former was an unexpected turn of events but once it was mentioned it seemed so obvious which was a unique feeling I must say. The ending needed expanding and some more clarity. The continuing arc with the tracking of Lucie Miller was interesting and I look forward to hearing how that's resolved. Overall though, an audio that had its moments but could have been improved upon.

Rating: 6/10