Chase the Night

"Climb high into the sky!"

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: January 2020

Series: FDA 9.02

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, Adric, K9

Synopsis 

The TARDIS lands in an alien tropical rainforest at night where the Doctor, Adric and Romana discover a set of rails stretching through the undergrowth. These tracks carry a long-crashed spaceship that's been covered to run along them like a train.

The ship has to keep moving because only the night-side of the world is habitable. The sun on the day-side burns so hot that everything on the surface is turned to ash.

But the stress and strain of the constant movement is beginning to take its toll on the ship. Parts are starting to break down, and the relentless heat gets ever closer – but the greatest danger may be on the inside...

Verdict

Chase the Night was an excellent story to conclude the first volume of the ninth series of Fourth Doctor Adventures! This was a definite improvement on the opener of Purgatory 12 and I liked that the TARDIS was answering a distress call from a planet that was only inhabitable on the dark side. That felt very off to what should be normal and the fauna on the planet evolving as such that they created their own light set an eery atmosphere. I thought Engineer Terson was a good character and his realising that the ship was wearing out was very good. Pilot Dena was immediately an intriguing character when it was made out that she had already usurped a mutiny. The Doctor and co being mistaken for a rescue ship was amusing and it was surprising to find that they had been stuck for 114 years! That was quite the amount of time. The story behind the Tantalus was fantastic and I loved the story of survival with how they converted power and the ship actually running on rails continuously as it needed to stay on the dark side of the planet. The Tantalus always needed to be on the move as it was too hot on the light side. That was a sublime concept. Dena having enacted martial law on the planet was good and to disagree with her meant you were tranquillised and tied onto the track as the new dawn approached to see yourself incinerated. That was brutal! The ship's engines being confirmed as faulty and slowing down was excellent danger and having a countdown until dawn caught up was exciting and tense. The Wing Sloaths as the native species were good and Bolan being bitten really set the adventure rolling. It seemed that a fungus was possessing him but it wasn't as a result of the bite, it was something he eat as K9 confirmed. The little robot dog had a stellar outing and the idea of being consumed and taking the host as part of the fungus reproductive cycle was scary. Dena's ruthlessness in suggesting lightening the load by a cull of the crew was fantastic and I loved her ruthlessness in only needing one of the Doctor or Romana to pilot the TARDIS when it came to getting her and the crew to safety. The Doctor being the expendable one and tied down to the cracks made for a strong cliffhanger. I liked that Adric and Laker couldn't reach the TARDIS with dawn getting too close and the companion also being infected by the fungus was some great trepidation. The constant urge to climb high in the sky was eery and Bolan dying really made it a tense situation for Adric. The fungus being something that everyone ate raised questions and I liked how after Romana halted the Tantalus to save the Doctor, he was tasked with fixing it and getting it up and running again quickly. The idea of the fungus using death's last breath to spread their pores was frightening and climbing high to get the biggest possible dispersal was good. The phototropic response of the infected when the light was coming worked well and I liked that the Doctor repaired the circuits, but only for half an hour. The fact that Adric died as the final cliffhanger was tremendous and the revelation of the Atlis was great. The forest was all one psychic brain which I rally liked and within them Adric was immortal and it was they who kickstarted the effects of the fungus. Adric evolving resistance was terrific though and the fungus being the way for the crew to survive was good, but it took some convincing with Dena defying it! Dena wanting to stand by her oath was not a shock as she got more and more deranged as the audio went on, and dawn was coming and the Tantalus was burning up. The Doctor and Romana getting to the airlock in the nick of time made for a good conclusion and I absolutely loved that the HADS were in place to get the TARDIS to safety and to the right side of the planet. Romana again teasing her upcoming departure and wanting more purposeful travels was really well done as well. Overall, a fantastic adventure! 

Rating: 9/10