The Galileo Trap

"They say he's lost his soul."

Writer: Marc Platt

Format: Audio

Released: October 2015

Series: Doom Coalition 1.03

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv, Helen

Synopsis

Helen Sinclair doesn't know what hit her. One moment she was trapped in a dead-end job in 1960s London, and now she is transported back to Renaissance Italy over three centuries before. Florence is a city in turmoil. A new plague stalks the streets. A ferocious behemoth rampages through the vineyards. And Galileo Galilei, celebrated scientist, astronomer and old friend of the Doctor, is imprisoned in his own villa for heresy. 

But why has Galileo summoned the Doctor? Who are the mysterious Fortuna and Cleaver? Why have they been sent to Earth? And what is Galileo's secret? Is it the last thing he saw before he went blind?

Verdict

The Galileo Trap was a great episode to continue my way through the first volume of Doom Coalition in the ongoing Eighth Doctor Adventures! I think this a really strong outing and follows on very nicely from The Red Lady with the stone tablet warning from Galileo to the Doctor. Of course, it was a warning to stay away but the Doctor wouldn't be able to resist such danger. He was obviously going to investigate and not give his old friend any potential of being consumed by a threat. He was going to help Galileo as we would expect and I thought it was really nice to explore their relationship. There was a deep past amongst the pair which was intriguing and the blindness of Galileo came into play very well. He didn't need to see and could just hear that this incarnation of the Doctor was much too young and not the version he had previously met, That was good and whilst I'm not usually a massive fan of unseen past amongst characters, this worked well. He was almost so famous in history that it didn't matter. I was impressed with Helen in her first full journey as a companion and her reaction to going back in time by three centuries was delightful. She'd not even been abroad so the fact she was in Florence alone was extraordinary, let alone in the past! I loved that newness and it was nice to experience her first journey. She was having the time of her life and this is just the beginning. I thought Cleaver and Fortuna made for decent villains as the Volkbrood, and they really were monstrous. I must admit I think it was best placed that the format for them here was an audio as whilst I do appreciate how they look on the cover artwork, seeing this in play is not something I would imagine would work too well. I'm not sure why but I'm not a huge fan of the overbearing monster type of enemies but they didn't get in the way too much here. Thankfully they also had human personas and they were really interesting! I liked exploring how they had knowledge of the future also with the likes of watches and cameras, something simple but so out of place in Renaissance Italy. They didn't even seem that bothered by the TARDIS trio though who they'd deemed tourists. That was except for the whole thing being a trap to get the Doctor. I thought it was a roundabout way to get him, but it made for a fun episode never the less! Cavalli in his multiple forms was a humorous character too as a cyborg (which was of course classified information) member of law enforcement. The Doctor's role in bringing about the downfall of the Volkbrood pair was good in that he didn't actually have to do a huge amount as they tried to feed upon his soul, but of course that would be too much for them and would actually see them perish. The disguise of Fortuna as Galileo's daughter was a little emotional when it was revealed that he knew all along she wasn't who she was impersonating, but it still provided him with some comfort in his blindness after her death of five years previous. That was touching but it was tremendous to hear just how intelligent he was. He was under house arrest because he believed that the Earth orbited the Sun! Perish the thought. I thought he was fantastic and it was a great use of a historical character. Overall, a really strong outing for Helen in her first foray in the TARDIS and a nice way to set up the finale with the identity of the employer, even if it was expected. A good listen! 

Rating: 8/10