Snare

"The little explorer arrives in anger."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: August 2025

Series: Ninth Doctor Adventures 4.01

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

Kevin left the Powell Estate a long time ago. He wasn't going to be trapped there. But all these years later, he's back and clearing out his dad's old flat. At least his neighbours, the Tylers, are still here.

But Rose has a strange new man in her life. And this Doctor's going to be show Kevin a world he never knew existed. Unfortunately, something ancient is stirring on the Estate. Perhaps Kevin will be trapped here after all...

Verdict

Snare was a great story to kick off the fourth series of Ninth Doctor Adventures! This really does though feel like the start of a whole new range in having Rose alongside the Ninth Doctor and a story placement between the events of Father's Day and The Empty Child. In saying that, the entire series is going to be set between those two on screen episodes and I think that gives it some extra credence when it comes to the series. Don't get me wrong, I have loved getting three whole series of Ninth Doctor Adventures with Christopher Eccleston, but I have always struggled with the idea that so much time passed between the events of The Day of the Doctor and Rose for this incarnation. It's been a ride but now this feels like what we really came for and it was a very strong start. Naturally given its placement it's an emotional time for Rose after everything that just went down with her father and thinking she's save him only to just fully experience losing him. That must have been tough so it makes sense that she would want the comforts of home. I thought it was a nice touch that the Doctor was going to stick around given the trauma and that provided some tremendous interaction with Jackie Tyler. He wasn't all that accommodating of the Tyler household hospitality! I thought the way the Powell Estate was captured in this audio was impressive and I think reuniting Rose with an old friend in the form of Kevin helped with that. It's good that Rose is fresh off seeing a lot of familiar people out of time so to now catch up with him was nice. They had a good spark and whilst it was firmly stated she was still with Mickey, Rose was close with Kevin and that was good to explore. He was dealing with his own trauma in losing his dad and here he was to clean up the flat of his things. That must be incredibly tough to do. There was more to it in that flat though and that sparked the Doctor into action to escape his boredom and the fine dining of Jackie! The mystery of the Soul-Snare was fascinating and I liked the analogy from Jackie about it being an evil Narnia. It certainly wasn't a fairytale but the portal in Kevin's dad's flat was not new. His dad even had a map of the place! Once that was clear and Rose suggesting that there might not have been a body found, it was clear that he was going to be on the inside. He was consumed by the Snare and the concept of it being able to disguise itself was really good. I enjoyed the perception filter and Rose not realising there were extra rooms in the flat was good stuff. She almost found it fun! I wasn't a huge fan of the sound effects for the Snare's voice with it actually being Kevin's dad, and their trouled relationship was powerful stuff. The way it referred to him as the little explorer was actually quite sad as Kevin clearly desired more from his paternal relationship. The way he was protective over his dad's things indicated that Kevin knew more. I did like his brief knowledge on Rose going missing and the posters that followed during Aliens of London/World War Three, and I thought it was hilarious that Marlene didn't think aliens were real and the whole there was a hoax! She was a pretty good character who felt like she went away too soon. Jackie's trust in the Doctor was nice to hear and it's good that she's confident in him considering her young daughter is travelling the cosmos in his company! The Doctor pulling on the heartstrings at the end with Kevin and his father is a strong way to end the episode in what is a mighty fine introduction to a whole new series! Twenty years on and it feels like the Ninth Doctor and Rose are somehow still only just getting started. I can't wait for the next one already! Overall, a terrific listen to kickstart the range.

Rating: 8/10