Island of the Fendahl

"Imagine something so black that the Daleks call it darkness."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: July 2019

Series: Further Adventures of Lucie Miller 1.04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Lucie

Synopsis 

The Fendahl is the death of evolution, the horror that lies in wait at the far end of the food chain.

The Fendahl is death itself.

And the Fendahl is dead. The Doctor destroyed it many years ago, in another incarnation, when he encountered it in a place called Fetchborough. 

But if the Fendahl is dead... how can it live again, on the remote island of Fandor?

Verdict

Island of the Fendahl was a really good audio to conclude The Further Adventures of Lucie Miller! I really hope this is not the last we hear of the Eighth Doctor and Lucie together, but this rounded out a really strong boxset and a fun unheard gap between their early series together. I liked how all four seemed to follow on from each other and the way their recent destinations such as Horton's Orb and Canthares linked to form a pentagram was excellent. I think the Fendahl has a lot of potential and whilst the story in which it debuted, Image of the Fendahl, perhaps leaves a lot to be desired, the idea of its framework for Earth and the human race is really strong. I think a little too much was relied on when it came to previous knowledge in this story, but it was good that I have recently read the novelisation and also had the knowledge from the fantastic Night of the Fendahl. This didn't live up to the heights of that sublime Torchwood audio, but it worked well. It was one that probably could have benefitted from a little more time as the reveal of the Fendahlman surname was a great moment with Lucie being none the wiser as to its meaning, and whilst it took a few seconds for it to click in the Doctor's mind, the moment it did things really clicked into gear. I was a big fan of the setting of Fandor and after listening, research telling me that this was a gag on a misreporting in a fanzine at the time was a lot of fun. Credit to Alan Barnes for that! I thought that was a lot of fun. The Fendahl didn't really appear much outside of being a skull, but that worked well with the audio format and I loved how things tied back to The Dalek Trap. That was really clever as it turned out that the supernova there was the one the Fourth Doctor had deposited the skull of Fendahl into, but the Daleks were now taken over from it. It was the Fendahl that they referred to as the Darkness which was excellent. I thought the power of my quote was really impressive and did a stellar job in selling just how dangerous it was. Dieter was a terrific character and it was fun to hear how much his relationship developed with Lucie despite it starting with him kidnapping her and knocking her out with chloroform. He didn't seem too fussed by the cosmic occurrences and the concept of cosmic pentagram was something I thoroughly enjoyed. The TARDIS had worked out what was happening which explained its nonconformity at the end of The House on the Edge of Chaos, as one more journey back to Canthares would have completed the pentagram for the Fendahl. Lucie having a lookalike in the form of Maxine was good and something I think would have benefitted from more time. Howard as the detective was a fantastic character too and I really enjoyed the relationship she garnered with Lucie was a lot of fun, especially that fake bike chase! The use of the HODS was probably a little bit silly, but Lucie using the sonic to open the TARDIS and have the skull thrown out of the TARDIS and make contact with its earlier version to cause an explosion and the supernova itself tied things up nicely! Overall, a really strong audio to round out the series! I do so hope there is a second volume in the future.

Rating: 8/10