The Forsaken

"Why would he let in a creature that wanted to kill him."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: October 2015

Series: Early Adventures 2.02

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben, Jamie

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands on an island off Singapore during the Japanese invasion of 1942. The travellers are found by some British soldiers – among them a certain Private James Jackson, who just happens to be Ben's father. But they're not the only visitors to the island...

Verdict

The Forsaken was a really good Early Adventures audio! I love this range in expanding on a largely missing era from the archives with the Second Doctor, Polly, Ben and Jamie all together and the quartet worked brilliantly well together here. I thought the setting was superb with a small island in Singapore during the Japanese invasion of 1942 being threatening enough all by itself, so throwing in the element of the Forsaken as a Grim Reaper figure was great! It was quite the combination and right from the off a feeling of unease was present with both Polly and Ben impacted. Feeding on fear is not a new concept but the way it was presented here worked very well and the Second World War was a fine place to try and do that. However, pointing out that the decision for the Forsaken to do that on a remote island in a small populous was important and the Doctor deduced that it started off hidden as not to draw attention to itself. That was logical and the suggestion that it would then start to take its feeding to a new level when evacuated back to the UK was excellent. I liked the description of the Forsaken's appearance to go with the image on the artwork, and it just seemed to really fit in with the setting and time. The big element of the story for me was Ben meeting his father just ten months before he was set to be born. Ben not expecting his journeys in the TARDIS to get so personal was presented really well and I just loved the dynamic of him encountering his father. I thought a little more could have been done with their relationship and whilst there was one slip of the tongue regarding Jacko being Ben's father, a little more playing with that could have been great. The scene at the end though when Jacko is heading off home knowing a family is to be created and the banter over the names was delightful. Polly had a strong story too and I was impressed with the transitions by Anneke Wills from character to narrator. Frazier Hines was also tremendous in effortlessly bringing the Second Doctor to life. I thought it worked well to have the Doctor really confront the Forsaken and its reaction when the Time Lord stood up to it and powerfully proclaimed he wasn't scared was brilliant. That was really well done. The cliffhangers worked well in this one and the pace was frantic with the four parts clocking in at around 95 minutes. That was quite short for an Early Adventures story, but I was more than okay with it. The humour that came from the reference to The Power of the Daleks with the Doctor convincing Ben and Jamie that he was still the Doctor was magnificent, and the delay in revealing that the Forsaken could impersonate others was very good. The cliffhanger to part three with Captain Freeman having been dead for days was really good. That set things in motion for the conclusion nicely. Gibbs was an underrated character too and his relationship with Jacko was terrific and really captured the spirit and camaraderie of friendship between soldiers. The Doctor invoking fear into the Forsaken and essentially making it feed upon itself was a fitting conclusion! Overall, a really enjoyable audio. 

Rating: 8/10