Lost Warriors: The Curse of Lady Macbeth

"A man does not fear dreams."

Writer: Lizzie Hopley

Format: Audio

Released: November 2021

Series: Ninth Doctor Adventures 3.02

Featuring: Ninth Doctor

Synopsis

The TARDIS is drawn to Scotland again – to the trouble Kingdom of Moray, and its Queen Gruach. Or, as the Doctor knows her better, Lady Macbeth. While some believe she is the cause of her people's woes, she may yet become their saviour.

Verdict

The Curse of Lady Macbeth was a very good audio adventure to continue the Lost Warriors third series of Ninth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish! I remember hearing about this one a long time back with Christopher Eccleston an admitted fan of Macbeth in terms of the Shakespeare play, so having his incarnation of the Doctor meet the real article was terrific. You could sense there was an extra spring in the step of Eccleston in his performance which I might argue is his best yet for the range since reprising the role of the Ninth Doctor. There was an enigmatic start with apparent witches giving a strong vibe of The Shakespeare Code which was fun, but that didn't actually turn out to be the case. Their incantations seemed to drop relatively early in the audio, but them calling the Doctor the blue man was amusing stuff. From that he was able to deduce that he was in Scotland which provided a humorous reference to Terror of the Zygons and the Doctor using his somewhat limited Scottish knowledge when it came to the likes of the Kelpies. I must admit, whilst I did thoroughly enjoy the adventure I thought it was a little too Scottish for the casual listener. Character names are one thing, but it was tough to keep up with the mythology and the bouncing around of different names and pastimes. In saying that I will now contradict myself when revealing that I thought the setting was excellent. Medieval Scotland was a unique place to visit and we had a number of intriguing characters too. Lulach was at the centre as the new child of Macbeth, albeit not by birth, and the significance of that later in the story was unexpected. Lulach was muted and there was a curse abound in Moray as so many other children had been replaced by muted mouthless beings. That was a scary concept, especially when children are at risk! The presence of the Fuath throughout without actually physically appearing was brilliant and said a lot about the fear they had evoked in the kingdom. They worked well once appearing as well, although the resolution of how they were dealt with could have had a bit more clarity. Lady Macbeth was a great character and I liked how she was standing up to her husband. She developed a good relationship with the Doctor in quick style with him realising there was something that needed helping, more than just the mysteries that were around her feet at the story's beginning. Macbeth seeing herself as a mother to all of those that were muted was admirable and said a lot about her character, and she was audibly frustrated that they seemed unwilling to take sustenance. A curse indeed! One element of the story I adored was how the Medievalists saw the potential of the TARDIS to be a Trojan horse in war. Glorious stuff. The Doctor turning out to be to blame for the Changelings as they fed on psychic energy worked well as he had supplied them with all they could eat in trying to get the images out of Lulach's head using his trusty time machine. Kinade was a decent character as Macbeth's father and I loved how he was the perfect host because he felt robbed of the throne. It all comes down to greed and jealousy in the end! The Fuath symbolising hate as being the Gaelic word for it was quite fitting. Overall, a fantastic listen! 

Rating: 8/10