The Zygon Who Fell to Earth

"He's scared of confronting the person he was back then."

Writer: Paul Magrs
Format: Audio
Released: June 2008
Series: EDA 2.06

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Lucie

Synopsis

"There are no monsters this time... are there?"

Ten years later and Aunty Pat is in her prime. She's snagged herself an ex-rockstar at the Kendal Folk Festival and now, in the brave new world of the early 1980s they manage together a snazzy hotel on the poetic and shingly shore of Lake Grasmere. However, still waters run deep and friends from the past are returning, intent on milking the old cash-cow...

Verdict

The Zygon Who Fell to Earth was an excellent audio adventure and my favourite story of the second series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures! It may actually be my favourite EDA as a whole as it really was quite superb. I was really intrigued by the title but it was a little different to what I expected and that was a good thing. I thought it might be something along the lines of The Woman Who Fell to Earth but there was no literal fall from the sky like the Thirteenth Doctor did in that story. Trevor was actually a Zygon who had took on his human form and stayed that way for over twenty years. He was tired of leading a Zygon group and just wanted to enjoy human life in peace. He was actually known as Haygoth and his former clan wanted him back as their warlord. He was not willing and was far more happy with his partner, Lucie's Aunty Pat. Her return after Horror of Glam Rock was definitely welcomed as she was one of the rare good elements of that particular story and I thought she was even better here. I really liked her relationship with both her niece and the Doctor and her continued reminders to the latter that she wasn't his aunty were very humorous. The Doctor would quite clearly not be calling her by any other name. I thought it was good that she knew that her lover was in fact a Zygon and didn't seem at all perturbed by that. Lucie was stunned at that! With the Zygons appearance not being a surprise due to the story's title, I was glad that they weren't kept hidden for much of the adventure and were quite quick to be revealed. The Doctor knew of their presence early on as well which was good due to the body print technology he came across, and I found the timeframe and links with Terror of the Zygons very good. The theme of a Zygon diaspora is excellent and has so much room to be played with. I also thought the reference to The Bodysnatchers was wonderful and quite unexpected! That was a brilliant novel and it does quite seem that the Eighth Doctor and the Zygons make for a superb story. They haven't let me down so far. The other Zygons in this story were trying to get Haygoth to return and lead them and they were quite insistent upon it. Their arrival at the hotel was good and I liked the eeriness that came with their businessmen persona. Trevor was less than pleased to see them. The use of the song remix throughout the audio was a good little addition which gave it a slightly different feel. I was delighted once again with the relationship between the Doctor and Lucie and they're quickly becoming one of my very favourite pairings. At this rate, they might eclipse even the Eighth Doctor and Charley! I thought the ending was very good with Trevor betraying the Zygons and the cataclysmic finale with Auntie Pat dying in the melee along with the other Zygons was a huge surprise. Lucie couldn't understand as she'd known her in her personal past and in the future from this story, but then Trevor had just about survived and would now take on the woman he had loved and give Lucie the auntie she had always had. It was a pretty poetic ending to what was actually a really emotional adventure. Overall though, an excellent story!

Rating: 9/10