Excelis Decays

"Your technology has advanced, but your society has not."

Writer: Craig Hinton

Format: Audio

Released: June 2002

Series: Excelis 03

Featuring: Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

When the Doctor last visited the city of Excelis, its citizens were about to enter an age of enlightenment and reason. But some centuries later, he discovers a vicious totalitarian regime at war with the rest of Artaris, living off the efforts of a drugged and broken underclass.

Who is the mysterious Lord Sutton, and what hold does he have over the ruling classes? What are the Meat Puppets, and what role do they play in the eternal war? And why is the Doctor's arrival the final piece in a plan that has been centuries in the making?

Throughout his lives, the Doctor has fought legends. But some legends refuse to die.

Verdict

Excelis Decays was a great story and a really strong conclusion to the Excelis saga! Now, I am aware that Excelis also features in a Bernice Summerfield story but I'm not sure when I will ever get to that range so as far as I am concerned this finished the trilogy off very nicely and for some reason, the eery and dark nature of the adventure really suited the Seventh Doctor. As was the case in Excelis Rising, the Excelis presented here was much different from our previous visit to the city and whilst Artaris as a whole didn't seem to be as important here, the fact that Excelis was at war was not what the Doctor expected given how he last departed. I thought a little more explanation as to how Grayvorn was actually able to survive being consumed by the Relic would have been beneficial, but I did like his comments about nobody actually dying on Excelis for the previous 1300 years. Quite the haul of souls there! The reaction of Grayvorn, now in the guise of Lord Sutton, to the Doctor's arrival was brilliant and I really liked that he had a feeling of the outside almost immediately. The TARDIS interior scenes were terrific and I liked the proximity to The Movie with the Doctor mentioning how he'd recently given her an entirely new TARDIS console. That was fun and it's nice to get a timeline on that with events going beyond those we saw on television. The politics and society of Excelis had been stalled and the Doctor seemed to find the reason when comparing the recent history with the official version hidden away. At strategic points, the natural course of events had been tampered with and that meant that Excelis was wholly reliant on the war from an economic perspective. A war that was almost entirely manufactured. That was a strong basis for the story and it came to a big surprise to the likes of Major Brant. The way he was deemed insignificant by Sutton and the Doctor was very harsh but it showed that there were bigger fish to fry. The continuation of the silly handbag being the relic was good and I found it humorous that it was even a little mouldy now. Some exterior for the souls of the perished! Jancis was a lovely character in almost filling the companion role and the way she was able tot talk the Doctor through the recent history of her people and their treatment on Excelis was very good. Her relationship with the Commissar was also really well presented and was a very important injection of realism in a society that was moving backwards despite the technological advancement of war. The conclusion was really well done to finally put an end to Grayvorn and his many forms after twice surviving death. His link to the Relic was pivotal in finally putting him to rest and was a good explanation for how he had survived the previous two audios in the saga. The Doctor's dilemma at the end over whether he could save Grayvorn was excellent and brought things to a fine finale! Overall, another great adventure to a fascinating and intriguing saga so early on during Big Finish's Doctor Who tenure. 

Rating: 8/10