Last of the Colophon

"My days of solitude are over."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: May 2014

Series: FDA 3.05

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

The planet Colophos is a dead world. Nothing but dust and rubble – and the ruins of a once-great civilisation. But is it really as dead as it appears?

When the Doctor and Leela land, joined by the crew of the Oligarch survey ship, it's not long before they receive a communication from one of the ruins. A communication from Astaroth Morax, the last of the Colophon. Attended by a sadistic robot nurse, Morax is in a wheelchair and bound in bandages to conceal his terrible injuries. But is he really as powerless as he seems? What became of the rest of his race – and why didn't he die with them?

Entering his lair, the Doctor uncovers a terrifying secret...

Verdict

Last of the Colophon was a really good Fourth Doctor Adventures audio! The pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Leela very rarely lets me down and I thoroughly enjoyed them together here and the humour that came with the former's efforts to come for a holiday was terrific. He just wanted a little rest, but Leela knew the likelihood of that occurring was minimal. Morax was an interesting character that made for a very good villain and hearing the life support systems at the audio's beginnings was great. I loved how Leela could feel that there was evil close by and it was soon deduced that the rubble they were standing in was once a building. Something catastrophic had occurred on the planet where they had arrived. Nurse Torvik made for a brilliant character and I also liked how the citadel was shielded to prevent access. It was an intriguing dynamic to discover slowly throughout that Morax wasn't actually as helpless as it had first appeared and he was actually quite desperate to meet the new arrivals that had been identified in the form of the Doctor, Leela, Hardwick and Sutton. The last two of those being from the Third Imperial Consortium was great and I loved the Doctor's reaction when meeting them initially and how he triumphantly stated never hearing of their organisation. Tom Baker was certainly on top form. The feel of static before entering the citadel was good and I thought the line from Leela describing the feel as like then world holding its breath was outstanding. Definitely a highlight in my eyes. Morax wanting the route into his location to be clear was fantastic and it was good that the Doctor was aware of the fact that they were being let in. Getting more backstory about Morax and how he was the last of the Colophon was more than welcomed and hearing of his supposed burned skin that would be infected upon contact with the atmosphere was a fascinating concept. The Doctor genuinely felt sorry for him. However, the full truth was soon revealed as it turned out Morax was a scientist and the detailed history of the pathological infection that impacted on his own people was quite something. He'd come up with an experimental treatment and the Colophon people as their last act had ensured that Morax paid for his failure to save his people with eternal life in the captivity of the Nurse. She was programmed to keep him alive and had devised the traps to keep others out to ensure his status stayed as so. Morax being described as an evil genius was fun and the madness that came with the bacterial release and his wanting to be bowed down in front of in return for the cure was excellent. I was a little disappointed to find that he had been feigning his capabilities throughout and removed the bandages to reveal a nothingness, similar to the unmasking of Omega in The Three Doctors. I enjoy the concept of invisibility so that element was definitely fun and can work quite easily in audio. Morax killing Hardwick was unexpected but showed the evil madness of the villain. The back and forth regarding Morax's blindness was another weird element where I was hoping to settle in one direction. The action that came with the explosion of the citadel with Morax supposedly dying was good, but with it being a faux ending I think it would have been better to have just ended that way rather than go in the direction of the recording. The final scenes taking place on the Oligarch was different, but there wasn't quite enough time to establish the setting fully. The Doctor just landing the TARDIS on it was great though! Light passing through Morax because he'd weakened his own molecular makeup was intriguing and I liked how the invisibility was actually driving Morax mad. A life of nothingness must be terrible. I was very surprised with how calmly the Doctor reacted to Morax's murdering of Kellaway, but by that point the Doctor knew that the effects of radiation had come into fruition and the Doctor was telling the truth in not bluffing. Overall, a great audio!

Rating: 8/10