Masquerade

"You will remember the truth."

Writer: Stephen Cole

Format: Audio

Released: June 2014

Series: Monthly Adventures 187

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa

Synopsis

France, the year 1770: by special invitation, the famous 'Doctor', friend of Voltaire, arrives at the lonely estate of the lovely Marquise de Rimdelle – once a hostess to the highest of high society, now isolated by the strange, pernicious mist that lingers round the countryside. 

But there's more in that fog than mere vapour, confesses the Marquise's strange niece to the Doctor's ward, Nyssa. She senses some uncanny machine circling the fringes of the estate, in the space between the shadows. Watching. Always watching. She's given it a name: 'The Steamroller Man'. 

Meanwhile, the man in the cellar talks to the Doctor; a dead man, trapped behind the cellar walls. The Steamroller Man is coming, he says; coming to smash the place down. It seems the Doctor has been drawn into a very dangerous liaison...

Verdict

Masquerade was a decent story to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures and conclude the latest trilogy for the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. Of course, they weren't alone this time around and after her stowaway arrival midway through Tomb Ship, Hannah Bartholomew featured throughout this adventure. She was absolutely fine in the story but I must say I'm not her biggest fan. I certainly wouldn't consider her as a companion and I'm glad that she won't be sticking around. I don't dislike her, but for some reason I just don't think she fits alongside the Doctor and Nyssa. The dynamic feels slightly off but alas she would be sticking around in Shadow Space after becoming one with the system. I thought the way things started was actually very exciting and after seeming like we were headed back to 1911 to drop Hannah off, we started abruptly in 1770. That abruption was really positive and I loved the mystery. Thoughts were being interfered with for all of our TARDIS team and when that even impacts the Doctor you know the power involved is strong. I liked the misplaced memories and being instructed to steer in a certain direction. From there though, things seemed to just get less and less mysterious and unfortunately it kind of petered out by the end in a perfectly adequate way, but I just felt this could have been more. The potential of a 1770 setting was fun and the truth of the SORDIDE Delta just didn't feel as interesting. I think I'm begging for a pure historical at this point! The threat of the Steamroller Man was decent and I liked that it was a bit of programming designed to route out anomalies within the system that everyone was contained. I liked the concept behind Shadow Space even though it wasn't exactly a new concept, and Hannah's understanding was impressive given when she was from. It was fun for someone from 1911 to have technological advantage over people. That was before their true identities returned. That was a somewhat underwhelming moment and should have happened with a bit more oomph in my opinion. It was exciting to learn more about them but things just got focused on the Maschera. They served as a strong villain and their desire to use the human race as a plague carrier was excellent. It wouldn't have any long term effects on other species and would just be used to wipe out a big chunk of humanity across the stars. The Doctor and Nyssa not being human provided a fun element into the story and the threat and ultimate fate of Hannah was all down to her being from Earth. That worked pretty well. Their posing as guardians of Shadow Space was nicely done too and I enjoyed how calm they were with everything whilst still feeling threatening. Hannah saving the day and becoming one with the system was intriguing in that she lost all emotions and obviously wouldn't be coming back in the TARDIS. It was the only way but she saved countless lives which is an impressive way to go out. I find it a bit strange that she is hidden from the credited cast as she's not exactly a big character return or anything, but this is a fine way to see her out. Overall, a decent idea that I think just needed a bit more excitement and action to get a higher rating. Still, a fine adventure and it would have been good to make more use of the era and masquerades. 

Rating: 7/10