The Lost Flame

"Why was everyone so scared of doctors?"

Writers: George Mann & Cavan Scott
Format: Audio
Released: July 2017
Series: NSA 29

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Alex, Brandon

Synopsis

The TARDIS makes a bumpy landing on Karn, home of the legendary Sisterhood. There, the Doctor encounters his old acquaintance Ohio, who denies all suggestions of involvement in recent unusual activities on Earth.

The Doctor, Alex and Brandon move on to the planet Escalupia, a medical hub for Earth's First Great and Bountiful Human Empire. There they find squalid living conditions and sinister, hovering drones preying upon the populace. Why does everyone fear doctors; and who is the Angel they seem desperate to see?

When Alex is captured by the drones, the Doctor discovers that the slums are test labs for huge medical companies, with the humans as lab rats. Furthermore, the mysterious Angel is someone they've encountered before – someone well known to Ohio...

The stakes are high, as the travellers and the Sisterhood fight to end an injustice and escape with their lives.

Verdict

The Lost Flame was a decent little story, but a somewhat slightly underwhelming conclusion to the 'Lost' series of Twelfth Doctor audio adventures. It was far from bad but after quite a lengthy buildup, I really would have expected a little more from the likes of George Mann and Cavan Scott. The end goal just seemed a little weird and not really headed towards and I also felt that the companions could have been better utilised whilst they were there. I'm sounding really negative here which I don't quite intend to be, as I did still rather enjoy my listen, but it was just missing that bit of oomph and excitement that I would associate with a finale. I know it wasn't marketed as being like that, but at the end of the day it is the final of four connected stories and it should feel exciting! I thought the moments on Karn were probably the most entertaining as it is a planet that is so unique and just brilliant. Ohila returning after her appearances in The Night of the Doctor and Hell Bent was a nice moment and I thought Clare Higgins did a pretty good job as the narrator. It was always going to be a tough ask to top Dan Starkey after The Lost Magic though! I was a little disappointed that it initially seemed like the Sisterhood of Karn had no involvement in the ongoings of John Dee and the mysterious women in his mirror and the setting quickly shifted to Escalupia and that just wasn't quite as exciting as Karn. I did like that it had connections with the First Great and Bountiful Human Empire which was some very good continuity from the Series 1 era and it definitely seemed to fit into that mould. The idea of everyone being scared of doctors is something fun to play with given our hero's name and the reaction of the locals when he revealed his titular name was quite humorous. He doesn't often have that kind of effect on people! The drones were an intriguing element to proceedings and I liked the idea of a subscription for preventing disease in the future. That wouldn't be surprising at all, especially with the inclusion of a service protecting you against diseases that weren't already around yet! Exploitation at its finest. The mystery of the Angel was good but I felt there needed to be a little more to it given the ongoing theme and alluding to her in previous stories. The Doctor infecting himself with Venusian flu was excellent though and perhaps my favourite part of the audio! It was so obviously something he would do and it did work pretty well in getting him where he wanted to be to sort things out. I noticed in this story more than any other how limited the companions were, especially in a single actor narrated adventure, as there really wasn't a great deal for them to do for the most part which is a big shame. The fate of Alex was somewhat unexpected with her getting left behind and I was stunned with how easily Brandon went along with things and just returned home. What on Earth would he tell his parents? It was quite a hasty exit for the pair after a decent run alongside the Twelfth Doctor, but I sadly think they will be rather easy to forget which is a shame. I felt things could have improved but the truth concerning Ohila was good, but there needed to be more impact concerning the overall plot. As a whole, still an enjoyable tale!

Rating: 7/10