The Movellan Grave

"I am your mistake."

Writer: Andrew Smith

Format: Audio

Released: July 2017

Series: Fourth Doctor Adventures 6.07

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II

Synopsis 

When an archaeological dig in 1980s England finds a Movellan power pack buried amongst Iron Age artefacts, the Doctor and Romana have no choice but to investigate. And what they discover worries them very much indeed.

A Movellan ship is buried under the ground. Soon the robotic enemies of the Daleks are making their way to the surface, but they are not the biggest threat humanity faces. 

Because on board this ship is the greatest weapon the Movellans have ever devised. A weapon that could stop the Daleks forever... and anything else that gets in their way.

Verdict 

The Movellan Grave was an excellent Fourth Doctor Adventures story! I thought this was rather brilliant and a welcomed audio debut for the Movellans. They displayed a lot of potential on screen in Destiny of the Daleks and it’s great to have them without the Daleks this time around. They can take  centre stage and get to showcase themselves as the main attraction. That’s never going to happen with the Daleks around so this was terrific. I really enjoyed that they were still referencing the Dalek War they were engaged in and it was also nice that they weren’t really the enemies. The idea of the Doctor and Romana holidaying in London was lovely and it was fun that the former hadn’t really decided on how long they were staying for. Would it be for two minutes or for the rest of the century? Who knows. Romana wished she did though as she wasn’t massively keen on the twentieth century. Her description of a television as an entertainer scanner was magnificent though. I liked how on the TV they were looking at a live news report of a recent finding at an archaeological site and the pair recognised the supposed ancient artefact right away. It was a Movellan power bank! That was very exciting. Just what were the Movellans doing on Earth in 300BC. It was later established that they were still in their past so their desire to change the future with Chenek was an exciting prospect. The Doctor wouldn’t be having a paradox in place that’s for sure! The concept behind Chenek was intriguing and whilst he was still a Movellan, he was far from the norm. It was fun to establish that he did have the hair though! That’s an iconic element of the Movellan look so it would have to stay no matter what experimentation was going on. Injecting some emotional code into the Movellans was great and the Doctor pushing on what specifics were used was very good. He knew something was up. Captain Narina was a fine character as the Movellan who had awoken from the dig and I liked the development in Movellan evolution that they no longer needed the power bank to be attached to them. It could operate remotely and that’s where Carrie came in as she was the one who’d discovered it at the dig. That meant the Movellans were back up and running with their ship also found by Romana. I loved the use of her own sonic screwdriver too. The ease in which the Doctor and Romana created a fake archaeological society to gain access to the dig site and the Movellan power bank was tremendous. They gained access with ease! Robin was a good character whilst he lasted and the sudden nature of his seemingly accidental death was superb. It made a big impact and whilst not entirely evil, it showed the Movellans were extremely dangerous. The ambiguity regarding the intention there was excellent too. Chenek’s role in the conclusion was really good and I liked how he doomed the Movellans. That was a way to break the computer logic deadlock for sure against the Daleks! He even acknowledged that what he’d done had doomed them but it was a way to break up the stalemate. I thought that was a neat touch and tied things up nicely whilst protecting the future. The Doctor fiddling with the emotional code and the links of the power bank with the Movellans was good stuff. Mischievous Fourth Doctor at his best. Overall, a terrific audio adventure!

Rating: 9/10