"I'm entirely in character."
Writer: Roy Gill
Format: Audio
Released: December 2025
Series: Eighth Doctor Adventures 16.02
Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv, Helen
Synopsis
A distress call draws the Doctor, Liv and Helen to a remote world and a crashed ship, where Captain Elhan is searching for her lost sibling...
As the storms close in, the two crews must investigate the wreck together. In the darkness, the Zygons are waiting...
Verdict
Lure of the Zygons was a strong conclusion to the Empty Vessels series of Eighth Doctor Adventures! After a mammoth task and around two years in the making since starting Dark Eyes, I believe that's me all caught up on everything Eighth Doctor! That feels almost ridiculous to say as I've found his incarnation at Big Finish to be the most daunting as there's just so much there. But here we are and I think it's glorious. He's such a strong incarnation and at times it has felt like I've been encountering him too much as I like to jump around the incarnations and eras, but now I don't know what my next Eighth Doctor outing will be! The Zygons are a good lure in terms of a selling point and I was excited by the prospect of them coming up against the Eighth Doctor once again here, but it's been a long time since The Zygon Who Fell to Earth! I thought doing the Zygons in space felt a little like limiting them as there were only a few humanoid characters for them to take the shape of, but it actually helped add to the emotion. I was glad that the story didn't beat around the bushes of them being present and even though we didn't hear one for a while, it was obvious right away that the Helen that was taking care of Liv at the start of part one was not the real article. That puts the listener in a strong position in having knowledge of the Zygons where the companion doesn't but she cottoned on pretty quickly to be fair to her! And she wasn't a big fan of what she was learning. I thought Shay was a strong character as the captain and the emotional nature of her searching for her sibling was fantastic. That's a strong bond so when they were reunite it was always going to be packed with a lot of weight. Did Wren actually want saving? Her connection with Vorgel the Zygon was very reminiscent of what we saw with Osgood and everything that went down in The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion and I thought that was powerful stuff. Liv was also really instrumental there when it came to Vorgel as she tried to bring out the individuality of the Zygon. She was different from her other brethren and that was fascinating to explore. I liked how she stuck around at the end even when her people were seen off. That really did say a lot. I liked the throwback and references to Terror of the Zygons and the very idea of Scotland supposedly being the name of the glorious home world in which they were heading was hilarious. Maybe not. I did like the status of the Skarasen and it felt crucial to the Zygons and their survival which brought a good sense of vulnerability. These versions did feel almost contained to the shadows and whilst that did weaken them a little, it also made them very dangerous. The mythical history behind the martlet was intriguing and Helen putting her linguistic skills to the good throughout the episode was absolutely brilliant. She was so impressive and really shone, even when challenged from the Zygon taking her thoughts and bringing up the likes of Albie. This was definitely one of her very best stories as companion which is saying a lot! I liked that the Zygons took their duplication feats to a whole new level when it came to the martlet itself but they went one step too far in trying to duplicate the TARDIS. Whilst a fun concept and incredibly audacious to say the least, it would prove to be their undoing. I thought that was really strong stuff. I will say, I think the second part perhaps goes just a little bit too long but it was still a really good listen! I'm delighted to get another outing for the Zygons as it feels like it's been a while!
Rating: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment