Black and White

"A goddess should be all knowing."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: August 2012

Series: Monthly Adventures 163

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Hex

Synopsis 

The TARDIS arrives in the land of the Danes, where a young warrior seeks to rid the kingdom of Hrothgar of a cruel and terrifying demon. The brave young warrior Beowulf; the monster is Grendel... or so his name will one day be written. But what's written down in black and white is sometimes very far from the truth - as the Doctor knows, and his companions are about to discover.

Verdict 

Black and White was a decent story to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures! This particular Seventh Doctor trilogy is shaping up very nicely and it certainly has a feeling of being a finale. A lot of loose ends are being tied up and it has set us up perfectly for what’s to come in the next release! This followed on nicely where Protect and Survive left off but it was always going to be a tough ask to follow that instant classic. With the Doctor absent once again for the majority of this adventure, that lost its effectiveness slightly but at least we did get the returning additions of Sally Morgan and Lysandra Aristedes. The former had a strong showing in House of Blue Fire so it was lovely to have her back here in a companion role. Ace didn’t know about Sally, but she did know about Lysandra who made a big impact in Project: Destiny as part of the Forge. That organisation still being felt in the arc of the Seventh Doctor is very good and really is the long game as far as continuity is concerned. I’m a big fan of that and she definitely made her mark here once again with Ace. They had a very tense relationship and that only dissipated slightly as the story went on. I was much in favour of the relationship built between Hex and Sally instead. They were clearly smitten and interested in each other which Ace cottoned onto. I was a big fan of the emotion Hex demonstrated in this story as he was getting sick and tired of the Doctor’s antics now and not being informed of what his plans were. He’d just been through a nuclear war over and over and the events of A Death in the Family still lingered which was certainly understandable. I enjoyed the first part of this story very much with the different companion pairings getting acquainted with each other and what that meant for their relationships with the Doctor. Neither knew about the other and they were wondering why. The mystery of the white and black TARDISes was slightly disappointing in my book as it didn’t seem to have much of an impact until the very end. More could certainly have been made of the idea behind the Doctor cloning the TARDIS in my eyes! Throughout this entire audio run it has only felt like the colour of the exterior has been mentioned without anything more in terms of meaning. It’s helped with the timeline when the Seventh Doctor was travelling solo, but it hasn’t really meant much. That’s fine, and I was glad to have the TARDIS faithfully restored to its blue exterior at the end here after the black was used as a power source to propel the white back to normality. I’m enjoying the theme of Elder Gods and it feels right for the seventh incarnation to be the one actively hunting them. That was different to the situation he endured alongside Ace and Hex though as the Gods seemed to be finding him then. That was a fun contrast. The significance of the Tale of Beowulf was good and I quite enjoyed fiction getting mixed up with reality and history. The Doctor reading said book was fun and I really enjoyed the connection back to the boss of the Forge, even if it came slightly late. I wasn’t a big fan of Garundel and I wasn’t overly fussed on Weohstan either which was a shame. I didn’t care too much about the Doctor being in the regeneration chamber as I never believed for a second that’s where he was! The Doctor’s role in the conclusion with the stark warning for his quartet of companions was great though to set us up for the next adventure and trilogy finale! Overall, a decent listen that sets things up nicely. 

Rating: 7/10