The Eighth Piece

"It sings in my dreams, from the future and the past."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: September 2016

Series: Doom Coalition 3.02

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv, Helen, River

Synopsis

15th Century Prague: in the castle dungeons, a prisoner raves about the end of the world. Outside, Liv Chenka seeks out the workshop of a strange Clockmaker to see what he is creating.

England, 1538: Lord Thomas Cromwell finds his duties interrupted by otherworldly forces – clockwork soldiers, an unusual nun, and a mysterious scholar calling himself 'the Doctor'. Perhaps the truth can be extracted in the torture chamber of London's Bloody Tower?

Rome, 2016: Helen Sinclair has an appointment with an enigmatic Professor, whose greatest work is almost complete. Only the Eighth Piece is missing...

Verdict

The Eighth Piece was a great story to continue my way through the third series of Doom Coalition within the Eighth Doctor Adventures! This one once again fails to see the Eighth Doctor and River Song interact which is a shame, but I do feel like it's going to come. Maybe everything that's going on with the focus on the Doomsday Clock and the passing of time that something whacky will occur to ensure they can meet but have the Doctor fail to retain the memory. I do hope it happens. Considering her position on the cover artwork, River was surprisingly absent from the episode for much of it. That wasn't a huge issue just more of a surprise on my end. I thought the format worked well in splitting up the TARDIS trio and sending them across the planet and across time. I think there might have been perhaps a little too much going on for just an hour's episode, but things quite clearly aren't finished given how we ended the story so I'm excited to hear what comes next. I thought the continuity within the episode was strong and I liked how things came full circle with the part of the clock being left at a lost luggage on the London Underground. Hearing the Clocksmith threaten to burn Apolena. That was brutal but I felt like the threat was real, as was proved when he had obtained the lost luggage ticket. He killed her anyway in quite horrifying fashion! Live was disgusted and rightly so. I thought it was a little humorous how a being like the Clocksmith who clearly had the power to cross time and make violent threats with molten couldn't just find his way in and get the extra piece of the Doomsday Clock. I loved the continuity dating back to the Eleven too at the end of the previous boxset with his TARDIS blowing up. The concept of it materialising and the Clocksmith using some of the molten metal it left behind before perishing to build the clock was tremendous! That's some great use of time and putting pieces together. I was a big fan of that and I look forward to it being explored more moving forward. Helen being the one to go to Rome in 2016 seemed a bit of an odd choice given how unfamiliar she was with the time and country, but I did like hearing her traverse her way to observe part of the Doomsday Chronometer. River being disguised as a nun is definitely something I'm all here for and it was fun that Liv caught her before she could hide herself. She knows her as Professor Malone of course which is good fun and I like how the hypothesis came from her. She had the working theory, now let's put it to the Doctor. Except he got in quite the mess with Thomas Cromwell who was presented as being quite the awful man! The relationship between those two was feisty to say the least and the pleas to have King Henry vouch for the Doctor went on deaf ears. Cromwell was having none of it which did seem right in character. The Doctor didn't exactly present himself as someone fit for an audience with the monarch! I thought the clock being split into eight pieces was intriguing and I like that it gives us a mission to build towards for the next two episodes, although where the Doctor fits is unknown given the ending that seemed cemented in time. The escaped prisoner was killed during escape which the Doctor would take the place of. That's quite concerning! It also seemed that River didn't want to stick around which is a shame, although this won't be the last of her. The Doctor being insinuated as part of the Revelation Sect was fun and I loved how he was dismayed and constantly being referred to as part of that organisation. Overall, a great episode! 

Rating: 8/10