The Famished Lands

"It fills them... but doesn't feed them."

Writer: Lisa McMullin

Format: Audio

Released: August 2019

Series: The Eighth Doctor: Time War 3.02

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Bliss

Synopsis

Trying to make a difference far from the front lines, the Doctor and Bliss arrive in the Vale of Iptheus, where the Time War is starving populations out of existence.

The inhabitants have taken matters into their own hands – but are now on course for something worse. Bliss discovers exactly how the robot Enablers are helping the people, while the Doctor uncovers a terrifying secret...

Verdict

The Famished Lands was another excellent episode to continue my way through the third instalment of Time War within the Eighth Doctor Adventures! I thought this was a really strong look at the impacts the Time War is having on everyday planets and species who had no position in the fight. Following on from the events of State of Bliss, it was a really nice approach to have the Doctor and Bliss wanting to make a difference. They would do so in a big way here whilst also realising that it wasn't just the Time War bringing out the horrors of the universe. I thought the Vale of Iptheus setting was very good and I was fascinated by their trade routes being impacted by the conflict between Time Lords and Daleks. Aeronwen was a strong character as the defacto person in charge on Iptheus, and the truth that she had helped implement at the Vale was soon learned and it wasn't exactly positive. I find it very intriguing when we have stories like this as it's quite fun to think of planets the same way we would think of countries in ordinary life. Is the whole of the Vale of Iptheus united as one and not separated by hundreds of borders as is the case on Earth? Taking that kind of scale to an intergalactic level is tremendous and just fun to think about. An entire world ravaged into starvation because of a trade route being decimated. The knowledge Aeronwen had on the Time War was good but she clearly didn't have all of the details. When the Doctor begrudgingly admitted his place of origin as Gallifrey, she thought him a Dalek at first! She also thought the Daleks and Time Lords were as one in an army, but the Doctor was able to shed some light that they were actually the two factions in a war against each other. Neither side were interested in the Vale of Iptheus and they were just another of many casualties. The Enablers were really strong in how blunt and forceful they were. They enabled one to die, and that was happening a lot here. There simply wasn't enough food to go around and the population were starving, but they were doing it with hope and happiness. The concept behind the ichor as the sludge food was awful. A food that didn't feed you but gave you the illusion of being well fed. It would soon have an effect on Bliss as she thought she was eating some fancy eggs, but the Doctor was immune. It didn't end there though as whilst it didn't give nutrition, it did strengthen the eater's bones as their flesh was ravaged. The skeleton army was a scary concept, especially with the description of the brain still working and being completely enraged. I think I would have some sort of rage built up within me too if my body was reduced to a skeleton to fight in an army of apparent protection. Of course, they would be no match for a Time Lord and the Doctor stopped them all quite simply with the sonic screwdriver, but Aeronwen was so delusional. She actually believed it was better to give the population hope instead of a simple death. The entitlement of choosing 10% of the population to survive for four years on the food supply that remained was scary but not surprising, and the rest were left to essentially rot and starve or be at the mercy of the Enablers. It was quite the societal make up! The Doctor trying to get the Time Lords to leave the sea trade route alone seemed to go on deaf ears as the Daleks are attacking on a multiverse level now which is exciting moving forward, but this felt very much like a real issue. The Doctor showing Aeronwen the future and eventually that there was hope and to prevent the ichor endemic was excellent. She finally saw sense in the end. Overall, this was a fantastic episode! 

Rating: 9/10