Dead London

"Roman London and 17th century London side by side."

Writer: Pat Mills
Format: Audio
Released: January 2008
Series: EDA 2.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Lucie

Synopsis

"Someone's playing with us. Manipulating time and space for their own ends."

The TARDIS lands in London. But which one? The Doctor and Lucie find themselves trapped in a maze of interlocking Londons from Roman times to the present day.

But they are not alone in this labyrinth: a killer is on their trail.

Verdict

Dead London was a very good start to the second series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures! This one was a lot of fun with the jumping around in time and it was certainly a format that worked for me. I was quite surprised that things started as quickly as they did with the Doctor and Lucie far apart, particularly with this being a series opener, but it hasn't quite been a year since I completed series one so I didn't mind that at all. I thought the moment where the Doctor's trial for a parking ticket due on the TARDIS shifted to the Old Bailey in the 17th century and a sentence of execution was excellent. I knew right there that I was going to really enjoy this one and I wasn't wrong! I thought the take on the theme was a nice touch as well and something I should mention sooner rather than later. I thought Paul McGann was brilliant as the Eighth Doctor and I really liked the relationship with Lucie once the pair were reunited. The idea of different Londons side by side is terrific as that is a city with a very rich history and a lot can be played with there. It was a little similar to my all time favourite story of The War Games so I definitely appreciated things, but it expectedly was not quite up to the same standard. I would have liked a little more playing around with the idea of the blackout killer in the First World War but I do understand that there were limitations with that not being the sole setting. Lucie's reaction and frustration towards the Doctor for, what she presumed, landing them some way from the 21st century. She was determined to find her way back to him and the present day and I really did like how she took the situation in her stride. Instead of being flustered, she was just seeing how she could help her situation and get back to where she needed to be. She's starting to become a really good companion and I actually think this might have been one of her better outings. Sheridan Smith is always great and this was no different. With her away from the Doctor though, we had Sophie, or rather Spring-Heeled Sophie, filling the companion void alongside the Time Lord which was an intriguing approach but she was very likeable and it worked well. When she eventually was introduced to Lucie, their initial meeting was rather humorous. The Sepulchre was a decent villain but I thought it took a little long to reveal itself after the Doctor named them and mentioned their planet. I'm not sure why it took the Doctor talking in their language to convince them that he knew more than he should. The use of avatars from the hive consciousness of the Sepulchre was good and that meant the Doctor had to get to the epicentre. The way he got there and actually dealt with the enemy was quite simplistic but sometimes it is quite nice for things to just be a little easy and that definitely seemed like the right approach to go with in this adventure. It just worked well and whilst it wasn't extraordinary, it maintained the fun feeling factor of this audio adventure. I look forward to hearing where things go from here!

Rating: 8/10