Cobwebs

"It seems our future has finally caught up with us."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: July 2010

Series: Monthly Adventures 135

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough

Synopsis

"You know what cobwebs mean. Spiders..."

In search of a cure for a sickness that's so far claimed six billion lives, scientist Nyssa arrives at an abandoned gene-tech facility on the toxic planet Helheim. 'Hellhole', more like.

Nyssa's not alone. The TARDIS has also been drawn to the Helheim base – and in its cobweb-coated corridors, she soon runs into the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, her travelling companions of half a century past. But who, or what, has engineered this strange reunion? The Black Guardian, perhaps?

The answer's here, in the dark. With the Cractids. In the cobwebs.

Verdict

Cobwebs was an excellent Monthly Adventures audio to kick off a mini season of stories for the Fifth Doctor and his large TARDIS team! I love the idea of having a series within the range and making use of the audio format here was tremendous in reuniting the quartet of the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa. This team was barely seen on television in the first two stories of the Black Guardian trilogy during Season 20, but even then Turlough wasn't really a companion. This was our first glimpse of the four together here in a traditional manner, but even that can be argued given the circumstances surrounding how Nyssa was reunited with the TARDIS crew. This wasn't the Nyssa we know from the Fifth Doctor era on television, this was Nyssa some fifty years removed from her departure in Terminus which is such a lovely idea. Of course, that is clear from the artwork of the CD cover but it's really great to have her aged and reunited with the Doctor and co where for them it has only been two days since they last met. That presents a brilliant dynamic to the main cast and I look forward to hearing how that develops as I have severe doubts as to whether Nyssa will be returned home anytime soon. We know the TARDIS isn't exactly reliable during this time! To the story at hand and I thought this was fantastic from start to finish. The title alone gives it an eery feel and hearing the description of the facility being covered in the cobwebs was really good stuff. It set the tone and atmosphere for what was to come, and the cliffhanger at the end of part one only extended that feeling. I thought it was a sublime finish to the episode and really had me wanting to listen to the next part right away! The idea of the foursome finding their own skeletons and withered attires was fantastic and they each had differing opinions on how to deal with it! The tension between the Doctor and Tegan was really felt as the latter had no regard for the Laws of Time and wanted to do everything possible to avoid her fate, which to the Doctor was sealed. Turlough siding her was intriguing given how the story started with Tegan being less than amiable to him after what occurred during their encounters with the Black Guardian and his efforts to kill them. But of course he didn't! The facility focusing on curing a virus was good and Nyssa turning up forty years in the past of when the TARDIS initially landed on immediately giving them the means for vaccine was terrific. I thought she was excellent and I like the idea of her being a bit more mature. The Cractids were good in that they were the only known species not impacted by the virus, but they could have felt more involved. The repair spiders being the cause of the cobwebs was a little underwhelming, but their role in rebuilding the skeletons from the DNA fragments was fun and a little cheap of a way out but I did find it amusing. I thought EDGAR was a very good character and the change in his demeanour through time for a robot was really interesting. I enjoyed the linkage he had with Loki and this robot being Nyssa's servitor was brilliant. I was a big fan of them together. The conclusion worked well and tied everything up nicely despite the sacrifices made, and I like how this sets things up further for the next adventures. Just how did the TARDIS come to be with Nyssa so soon after she departed? Coincidence? I like the ambiguity. Overall, an excellent audio!

Rating: 9/10