Echoes: Slow Beasts

"Truth is a road to justice."

Writer: Dan Rebellato

Format: Audio

Released: May 2024

Series: Eighth Doctor Adventures 13.03

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv, Helen

Synopsis

The Doctor takes Liv and Helen to see one of the Wonders of the Outer Galaxy – to Ran-Zoan, where immense alien figures loom over the plains and settlements of the Renn.

But the Slow Beasts hide a secret – a secret that, once unleashed, spells doom for this entire world.

Verdict

Slow Beasts was a great episode to conclude what was a really strong Echoes series of Eighth Doctor Adventures! This was a really strong story and whilst the ending is probably why this gets a lower rating than its series counterparts, it's still an impressive trio to serve as a very good boxset indeed. I thought the setting of Ran-Zoan was terrific and I like the idea of Liv and Helen believing they may now be immune to being amazed. That's quite a sad state of affairs in my opinion as I love travelling and I can never get bored of it. I recently ticked off Switzerland and Liechtenstein on my own countries list which is now at twenty-seven and there are still so many places I want to visit. Of course, they won't quite be a Wonder of the Outer Galaxy but we have to make do with what planet Earth offers us. Immediately Liv and Helen were gazing in awe at the Slow Beasts and whilst visuals would have been welcomed, I thought the moment was sold well for the audio format. Mathryn was an intriguing character and I was fascinated by his interactions with the Doctor. He seemed slightly shady from the start and it all made sense by the end! Iri was really good and I enjoyed her relationship with Liv who was very good at having a keen eye for detail. She saw Iri as one of the freedom movement members and their proclaiming how the sky doesn't burn would prove to be very important indeed. Liv challenging her on that was powerful stuff, but not as much so as the Renn justice system! Iri was tried and released within a few minutes and their concept of reparation and rehabilitation over imprisonment was certainly unique. I thought the description of the Slow Beasts was fascinating and it was almost difficult to comprehend something being half a mile tall. Liv's reaction when the Doctor revealed that they were living creatures and not man made was marvellous. I enjoyed the concept of them existing relatively at a millionth of a second pace was very interesting and obviously gave the Renn a huge advantage as they were always many steps ahead. The sad truth about the Slow Beasts was that their own planet had been colonised though and the story put forward by Mathryn in hiding the truth and how they were extracting from them. It was quite horrible and the Doctor was far from pleased. He wasn't going to let the Slow Beasts destroy the Renn though and Mathryn challenging him on if he would help felt out of place considering it was now knowledge what they were doing! But he would try and reason with the Slow Beasts to give them time to let the Renn depart the planet and never to return. The use of the TARDIS translation circuit and going back five years to hear what they were saying over such a long period of time was impressive stuff. The imagery of the Beasts moving quickly and just as the Doctor and his companions were getting a close up view was great stuff. I do think the Slow Beasts accepting the Doctor's offer and him just giving the Renn a power cell from the TARDIS was a slightly quick ending, but it certainly rounds things out. Iri not wanting to go with them was a powerful message too. Overall, a great episode to conclude the series! 

Rating: 8/10