Faithful Friends: The Krillitane Relic

"It's like stasis, but in the stars."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: January 2025

Series: Classic Doctors, New Monsters 5.03

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ray

Synopsis

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Ray to a space station cryogenic facility, where interplanetary VIPs are stored pending medical cures.

There is a familiar face here too – someone the Doctor remembers, but who does not remember him...

Verdict

The Krillitane Relic was an excellent story to continue my way through the Faithful Friends fifth series of Classic Doctors, New Monsters! I must admit I wasn’t too surprised to hear that this was a direct sequel to the series opener of The Krillitane Feint, but the way in which it was just worked so brilliantly and was a tremendous twist. Knowing that this story was the turn of the Seventh as the Classic Doctor featuring in the episode, I was quite taken aback to hear Wendy Padbury open proceedings in a fascinating pre-titles sequence! It was tremendous and the prospect of encountering a Zoe post-The War Games was delightful. The Doctor recognised her right away which was lovely but she was less sure on who he was. That was of course understandable given he’s regenerated quite a few times since she last saw him! I thought the references to The Wheel in Space were delightful and it’s just another reminder of how soul destroying the fate of Jamie and Zoe is at the hands of the Time Lords. As the Doctor explains to Ray, her memories of their travels together are wiped apart from her first one and that just isn’t fair. The Doctor wondering if the Time Lords actually botched the job here was excellent and more than feasible! I really liked the continuity with Zoe’s numerous Companion Chronicles adventures and the humorous line about the originality of the Company’s name being just that was fantastic. It wasn’t exactly creative! Acknowledging that was a nice touch. I enjoyed the pace of the story and whilst the Krillitane would become the focus given the huge twist, at its heart this was actually a Zoe story that brought out a touching side to the Seventh Doctor. His pondering on if he should have gone back and visited his former companions to check in after everything that had happened was powerful stuff. It’s not often this incarnation of the Doctor has a guilty side. Of course, he would actually have no reason to as the truth about ‘Magdor’ was revealed as a leftover Krillitane from the Second Doctor’s encounter with the race in this boxset’s opener. The Doctor thinking she would die within hours was actually a bit harrowing but it showed what he thought of the Krillitane. This episode really sold just how well the Krillitanes can adapt and take on another’s form as the Doctor was convinced he was encountering his old companion. I thought Peacock deducing and tracking down the real Zoe based on the Doctor’s description of the Wheel and Cybermen was impressive and gave the game up. The Krillitane was outed and her innocence in reacting to the monstrous claw marked deaths in the episode became even more callous. Given the name of the episode and the connections with cryogenic technology it was clear early on what truth lay behind ‘Zoe’, but that really didn’t take anything away from the reveal. It was just wonderful. The plot had natural similarities with the series opener and that was fine, and I was quite impressed with how impactful and quick the Krillitane were dealt with this time around. Now, the only problem I had with the episode was Ray. That sounds harsh and whilst I was delighted to hear her again after making such a strong impression in Delta and the Bannermen, I just wish we had an explanation for her presence! I thought I may have missed something in the Monthly or Seventh Doctor Adventures but research tells me this is her first Big Finish appearance! And she’s just already a companion? Some sort of origin for her being reunited with the Seventh Doctor would have made this a perfect rating for me. She was wonderful to have around and I adore how Welsh she is, but I’d just like to know why. Overall though, still an excellent episode and magnificent listen!

Rating: 9/10