Broken Memories: Invasion of the Body Stealers

"They're disembodied brains... with eyes!"

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: March 2024

Series: Classic Doctors, New Monsters 4.01

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane

Synopsis

Visiting the crystal forests of Systalzyn, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah encounter a crashing spaceship and race to find survivors...

But not everyone they meet on this colony world is in their right mind – the body-hopping Harmony Shoal have set their sights on invasion!

Verdict

Invasion of the Body Stealers was an excellent start to the Broken Memories fourth series of Classic Doctors, New Monsters! This is a range I absolutely adore and I am delighted to see it return once again. I like that there's a theme of memory in this one and we do have a nice little range of both Doctors and monsters. I must admit, I wasn't wholly excited by the prospect of Harmony Shoal returning after their unique appearances in The Husbands of River Song and The Return of Doctor Mysterio, but what we got here was actually brilliant! I thought it was good for the pairing to be the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane and I do like just getting a one-off episode. It's really a chilled atmosphere with no story arcs or anything. The hour absolutely flew by which is always a good sign and the humour that came almost immediately in the TARDIS console room with Sarah eating an apple was very good. It immediately established that famed relationship of the Doctor and Sarah with it being a lovely way to demonstrate the chemistry between Tom Baker and Sadie Miller. I was really impressed with that because that's an iconic pairing but I think Sadie did her mother proud with this performance. The return of Harmony Shoal was presented in a very intriguing way and it was nice that this was clearly the Doctor's first encounter with them chronologically. The same couldn't be said for Shoal though which was fun as for them they had already had the encounters, or at least one, with the Twelfth Doctor. The Doctor not being too bothered about knowing that was fun and it was nice that Sarah acknowledged that. Hearing Harmony Shoal refer to the Time Lords as an ancient race was good and really did make the Time Lords feel old as a race. The description and analysis of that infamous scar design of the Harmony Shoal was excellent and I loved how the Doctor realised that the first supposed corpse hadn't suffered it in the accident of the crashed spaceship. Jasp was a strong character as the doctor conducting the autopsy whilst she lasted, but her brain soon ended up within the alien body of the Harmony Shoal! That was really good and gave credence to the episode title in a big way. The invasion by literally taking over the bodies through the brain transfer was terrific, and whilst I never did believe that the Doctor's body had been taken over by the Harmony Shoal executive, having the reaction of Sarah when she was told the fate of the Doctor's brain was that it had been incinerated was fantastic! The role of Eban in helping the Doctor and Sarah was great and I liked how he was faking being part of Harmony Shoal in a fun double turn! He was a really strong character. I thought the way the Doctor and Sarah escaped the impending bomb with the crystal like formation was interesting and certainly unique, with the crystalline structure theme playing a huge part in the story's conclusion as the resolution simply was to seal this branch of Harmony Shoal within what was essentially a crystal prison! They weren't dead, but were simply sleeping. The Doctor wasn't worries about the prospect of encountering them again which was interesting, and he knew that his future self had already dealt with them. I wonder if he would be looking forward to it? Eban's reaction when Sarah was talking as if they were leaving when all was solved was a little sad after everything he had done, but the Shoal warning was a nice way to leave their return and future appearances as far as the Doctor was concerned open ended. Overall, a great listen and a fine way to kick off what looks to be an exciting series. 

Rating: 9/10