The Wreck of the World

"I should have shot them all on sight."

Writer: Timothy X Atack

Format: Audio

Released: December 2017

Series: Early Adventures 4.04

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

Undergoing repairs in deep space, the TARDIS is caught in a collision with the huge, decaying wreck of a starship. Zoe, spacewalking, is separated from her companions in the crash, and the Doctor and Jamie wake to find the TARDIS fused to the side of the ship.

Venturing inside to rescue their friend, they discover that they are on board The World, the very first colony ship to leave Earth, lost mid-voyage under unknown circumstances.

And they are not alone. A terrible suspension chamber is filled with dead, withered human bodies, and a team of gun-toting astronauts are stalking the corridors. But a far greater threat lurks deep inside. The terrifying force responsible for the scuttling of the ship is active once more – and if it can't be stopped, it won't just be the end of this World. It'll be the end of all of them.

Verdict

The Wreck of the World was a decent story to conclude the fourth series of the Early Adventures! It does seem a little weird after three straight stories of having Ben and Polly travelling alongside the Second Doctor and Jamie that we now shift forward to have them replaced by Zoe, but that’s not a major issue! It’s just strange scheduling in my view. I think it would be better if we just had four continuous adventures with the same team. In saying that, Zoe is certainly one my favourite companions of this early era and starting this story off with her out on a space walk was pretty unique for this era! Jamie not being happy about her being the one to go out there was fun as he dealt with his perceived macho dominance, but it was nice later in the episode for his role as a Jacobite at Culloden to be acknowledged. That felt like he got something back a little. I thought the TARDIS being lost was fun and always something I enjoy with the vulnerability it brings, but I thought the resolution in getting it back was a little easy and didn’t have much of an impact. The World actually being a ship and not a planet was quite fun and not something I anticipated as I hadn’t read the synopsis prior to listening. I like to go in with as little information as possible so the story can tell me everything I need to know. Blavatsky was a good character and I thought the twist of joining up with the Corvus was great. I wasn’t exactly surprised, but I didn’t see it coming either so I appreciated that. The concept behind it of being a scavenger entity was good and I enjoyed the potential there. Praying on civilisations and worlds that were dying seemed logical as they wouldn’t really be missed and could also be explored with them being weak. Lorne was a fantastic character and whilst the impact was huge it was quite a shame that she perished at the end of episode two. I felt that was a little early as she was a big character and I did feel that there was a little bit of a void once she wasn’t around. The Nostic was on paper a decent element of the story but crikey was it annoying! I thought the sound and the way it just said ‘accept’ when affirming confirmation was frustrating. Once or twice was fine but it got very repetitive and tired. In an audio format, I’m not sure this was the way to go. Zoe’s interaction with it was terrific though, as was her relationship with Twenty. His simple reply in asking why he was named as he was because of his age was fun and I liked the discussion with Zoe about crying. He didn’t have the ability whilst she had to train herself which is honestly quite sad. I loved the mention of T-Mat as a means of transportation which is great continuity with The Seeds of Death and a fine use of the futuristic setting, and just exploring a time after Zoe’s where she wasn’t familiar with the technology and scientific advancement was tremendous. It was a lot of fun to hear her not in the know. That’s not something we’re used to! Getting a reference to the TARDIS reconfiguring itself after The Mind Robber was also delightful continuity and the closest thing we’ve had to an explanation there! Overall though, a decent adventure. 

Rating: 7/10