The Burning Prince

"We don't have the right to wipe them out."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: September 2012

Series: Monthly Adventures 165

Featuring: Fifth Doctor

Synopsis 

The Drashani Empire – a galaxy-spanning civilisation, the glory of Rome set among the stars. But for decades now, the Royal Houses of Gadarel and Sorsha have been at war, each claiming the Imperial throne. 

The wedding of Prince Kylo and Princess Aliona was meant to change all that – a blessed union between the Houses, a new hope for the Empire. Until Aliona's wedding galley crash-landed on the planet Sharnax – and all contact was lost.

The TARDIS lands aboard the ship carrying the fiery Kylo in search of his lost princess – but with a sabre-toothed monster roaming its corridors, the Doctor soon discovers he's not the only alien presence  aboard.

Verdict  

The Burning Prince was a great Monthly Adventure audio! This has kicked off the latest trilogy in the range and this looks set to follow the format of Excelis in having a story with a different incarnation of the Doctor. That’s a refreshing approach although I do think the trilogy style has perhaps run its course now. There’s nothing wrong with a singular release! It was fun to have the Fifth Doctor travelling alone after leaving Tegan and Nyssa in Amsterdam, as it’s just so rare to get a solo outing for this incarnation. Peter Davison was excellent and I think this must rank as one of his better performances in the role on audio. Upon arrival he was immediately thought of as a stowaway spy which was fun and he had to defend himself, which he did admirably and quickly gained the trust of those around him. The political nature of the story was very strong and whilst more focus could have been made of the Drashani Empire as a whole with it supposedly being Rome amongst the stars, I really enjoyed the society and landscape that was created here amongst the stars. Having politics on a cosmic scale was really fun and presented very well here. The royal houses of Gadarel and Sorsha were due to be brought into unity thanks to the wedding between Kylo and Aliona, but the latter’s ship had crashed and she was thought last. That was good and the search for her provided a good basis for the plot to build towards. Kylo was a fascinating character and his nature as a pyrokinetic was quite something! It’s obviously where the title of the story is derived and the ability to conjure up a fire from pure thought is spectacular. It would prove useful but it being generated from stress meant there was a strong emotional effect. He was rather crazed! That presented a good dynamic. His love for Aliona was admirable and it was used against him brilliantly by the princess. When her true intentions were revealed, she was a sublime villain. She taunted Kylo for his love for her and even used it to save her own life and throw him out of the airlock! That was brutal, but somehow not as brutal as the moment where she cut off his hand in order to extract the DNA of his royal house when she admitted that a mere lock of his hair would have been sufficient for her purposes. That was incredible. The Doctor had questioned the validity of two houses at war coming together thanks to true love and it was indeed one of convenience after all. But only Aliona’s! She was deranged and it appeared that the war would be over after all. That was true, but not as she wanted with Tuvold deceptively turning on his niece after convincing her that he’d fallen in line. The message he sent out regarding ceasefire was really clever and well done. Shira sacrificing herself to save the prince from the Igris was a really powerful moment and I thought the part one cliffhanger was superb as they were crashing to a planet ravaged by the ruthless slave race in their thousands, right after just one had taken out the ship’s entire military crew! The Igris didn’t really live up to that billing, but with the focus all on Aliona I didn’t really mind. The use of burning by Kylo was good and it’s a shame that the princess did die as she had such strong potential as a villain. The sacrifice of Corwyn was a good moment too and I loved the Welsh accent in space. That made me proud. The use of the weapon focusing on DNA resulting in Tuvold killing himself to take out his niece and peace be preserved was fitting given her intentions. The Doctor was pretty horrified by what had happened here and his line at the end was powerful. Overall, a really strong audio!

Rating: 8/10