The Sonomancer

"A little chaos is good for the soul."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: March 2016

Series: Doom Coalition 2.04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv, Helen, River

Synopsis

On the other side of the galaxy a mining company is exploiting the already unstable planet of Syra for every precious mineral it contains. River Song is attempting to save the native people. She needs the Doctor's help, but she also knows he mustn't yet discover her true identity. The final confrontation sees the Doctor once again face his enemy the Eleven in an attempt to prevent the destruction of Syra and the genocide of its inhabitants.

Verdict

The Sonomancer was a great episode to conclude the second volume of Doom Coalition and bringing to an end another successful boxset within the Eighth Doctor Adventures! This was an exciting finale, but at the same time I can't help but feel the pace didn't quite match the build up. That's not a huge problem, it was just something that caught me a little off guard. I was hoping for a bit more oomph but instead it was a bit of a slower speed. I liked how things started with River and it's exciting for her to get to encounter incarnations of the Doctor that she shouldn't be able to meet. And that's pretty much what happens here! She gets to interact with Helen and Liv which I was a massive fan of, but she was kept away from the Doctor. I understand why this is necessary to protect long term continuity, but it does feel like a little bit of a short change given that we basically had this exact scenario in The Rulers of the Universe so it felt slightly repeated. It is a fun quirk though for River to ponder on what this incarnation of the Doctor is up to and her reaction when going through her diary and Helen pointed out which face he was wearing was brilliant. It wasn't her ideal choice that's for sure! It did provide a good element of the episode though in making sure that they couldn't meet, with River only hearing the voice at the end as he was oncoming. I thought the Eleven felt a little less prominent in this story which I would not have expected at the start of the boxset in having his build towards him showing up again, but that's testament to the added strength of Caleera as a villain. She's really good as the Sonomancer and I thought her proximity to sound gave her some strong Maestro vibes! I do get the feeling that with her alongside the Eleven here that we're getting the beginnings of the umbrella series title in the form of a coalition. It would be quite embarrassing if I'm wrong there! I thought the setting of Syra was actually brilliant and the idea of the Doctor and Liv in particular spending a lot of the episode inside a volcano was fantastic! It was unique that's for sure and I liked how dangerous it sounded. Especially considering the volcano literally was being dug into and showing holes. That felt particularly wrong! The continuity from The Gift was good and I liked how that seemed to have lured the Doctor here. The Eleven and Caleera were now after it which is ironic given that she literally handed it to the Doctor in the previous episode! The Eleven wanting to witness the Doctor die was a good sense of evil and it was once again good fun to hear the previous incarnations within the current. The Five in particularly was given some time to shine which was terrific! I really liked the comment from the Eleven regarding River as being an amalgamation almost including some Time Lord elements, and I adored her shock at discovering that there were other Time Lords present. Of course for her the Time War had been and gone so there shouldn't be any left. Helen feeling guilty towards the end of the episode for being the one that helped Caleera be saved by the Doctor only for her now to wipe out the planet of Syra was fantastic. She was really hard done by which was understandable considering that a whole planet was now gone! I actually really enjoyed the open-ended conclusion with the Eleven's TARDIS showing no trace for the Doctor to follow whilst he was saved by the Sonomancer. She had transcended which was intriguing and I expect that we'll be catching up with them again before the series concludes. Overall, a really strong audio! 

Rating: 8/10