Sympathy for the Devil

"Sometimes they call me Who."

Writer: Jonathan Clements
Format: Audio
Released: June 2003
Series: Doctor Who Unbound 02

Featuring: The Doctor, Brigadier

Synopsis

What if... the Doctor had not been UNIT's scientific advisor?

1997... and a lone exile arrives on Earth, years later than planned.

On the eve of the Handover, an advanced Chinese stealth bomber crashes in the hills above Hong Kong. The discredited UNIT has just 24 hours to steal the technology, rescue the passenger and flee to international waters.

Down by the harbour, there's big trouble in Little England – a bar owned by an old soldier, who simply wants to forget the past. But an ancient evil is stirring in a place of peace.

The Doctor finds a world on the brink of terror. A world that has lived without him for years. A world that is frighteningly like our own...

Verdict

Sympathy for the Devil was an excellent audio adventure as I look to continue my way through the Doctor Who Unbound series! I thought this was a brilliant story right from the off despite the uncomfortable start that came with the repeated racism from Adam and Ling given the Hong Kong setting. Placing this audio in 1997 on the eve of the Handover was fantastic and I was interested by the events I found myself doing a little bit of research on events as that kind of contemporary history was something that unfortunately I didn't get to study throughout my years at university. The drunken collision with a police box was quite funny, although I didn't see any humour in Adam admittedly being racist against the "Japs and the Welsh". I took a little offence to be honest being a proud Welshman. Regardless, after a shaky start things massively improved and with the premise being the Doctor never having been UNIT's scientific advisor, I was massively interested that this seemed to come post-The War Games. The 1997 setting for that was great as everything we witnessed during the era of the Third and Fourth Doctors in the '70s and '80s had happened, without the Doctor's influence. Nicholas Courtney starring was wonderful and I enjoyed how the Doctor had echoes of memories that should have been with the retired Brig. The reference to The Web of Fear to remind him of who the Doctor was along with the mention of cosmetic surgery to explain the change of appearance was great fun. Where I wasn't so fussed on Geoffrey Bayldon's take on the Doctor in Auld Mortality, I thought David Warner was outstanding here and his voice sounded sublime and perfectly suited to the Doctor, even if it might just be a one off. The Brigadier explaining how UNIT was a disastrous organisation without direction or belief was incredibly interesting given the absence of the Doctor. The mention of plastic robots was delightful. The invisible jet crash onto the hill was interesting as it set the hill alight. The pilot speaking Mandarin and not being alone was good and I liked the idea of Communist involvement early despite them legally having rights to Hong Kong once midnight struck. David Tennant starring as Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood was fantastic and I liked how he was speaking his natural deep Scottish. He was a superb character and his troubled relationship with the Brigadier was a terrific element of the adventure. The Abbott was a very good character and UNIT using the temple as a HQ regardless of respect for religion was great. The monks believing in non-interference and the Doctor likening that to the Time Lords given he'd just been exiled was terrific. The mention of Master Kong hinting at the Master's arrival was good and I liked the way the Ke Le disguise was used to link with The Mind of Evil and the parasites from that being what was contained in the soul jar. The continual chanting surrounding the box was intriguing and the way the Master arrived into the adventure with his identity clear from the laugh being a highlight. Ling describing how he'd regenerated after the crash was magnificent and that told the Doctor all he needed to know. The ship's invisibility being a crude chameleon circuit was also excellent. The mention of the Brigadier being fired after the fake flower fiasco report from The Daily Mail relating to Terror of the Autons was sublime, along with the mention of the hole in London stemming from alternate events of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. That was all superb stuff. I enjoyed the chanting only protecting those not pacifists like the monks as that was unexpected. The meeting between the Doctor and the Master was really well done and I liked finding out that the Master had been stuck on Earth the whole time and practically waiting for the Doctor's arrival. The comment about the Doctor being "such a tourist" was just incredible! The image of the monks taking the bus and moving with the jar and chanting was quite something and I liked how UNIT had to head for Inner Mongolia before they were on Chinese soil. The way the Master was tricked into thinking Little England was actually the TARDIS was marvellous and I loved his line about a new TARDIS at last being likened to the new body acquired in The Keeper of Traken. The use of the bomb to kill the parasites and the Master not wanting to be left behind when the lure was up was excellent stuff. I thought the ending when all was sealed with the prospect of a nice friendship beginning with the Doctor and the Brigadier was a wonderful way to end. Overall, a fantastic audio!

Rating: 9/10