Now onto the second part in the Sara Kingdom trilogy! The Drowned World!
Doctor Who: The Companion
Chronicles – The Drowned World
Written by Simon Guerrier
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Starring: Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom
Niall MacGregor as Robert
Things left off with an interesting
revelation in Home Truths with our
lovely old story teller actually being Sara Kingdom herself, or as close to
Sara as an identical copy can be. This development doesn’t just open up a
wealth of possibility for our long dead companion Sara, but also adds years of
depth to her already brilliant character. Big Finish is now free to go ahead
and do what they wish with her! She could join one of the Big Finish Doctors
for some amazing adventures, or even star in her own series “Sara Jane and the
Destroyers of Galaxy 9!” There is only one tiny problem with all of these
exciting ideas that could one day bear amazingly succulent fruit, Sara’s new existence
is tethered to the house. She is its controller, mother, and care taker all
wrapped up into one old lady who is under permanent house arrest. However,
trouble lurks on the horizon for our lovely heroine! Now the old lady in the
house is in deep trouble!
Coming into the Drowned World
things look a little worrisome for our lovable storyteller. The elders of the
world the house inhabits have deemed Sara a phantom, a dangerous apparition
that must be destroyed. It’s up to Robert, who actually works for the Elders to
convince them with Sara’s help that she is not a danger and therefore should be
allowed to keep on existing. Being a Companion Chronicle adventure there is
only one way Sara can prove herself to be of worth. Sara will prove herself by
telling a story, but not just any story. A story about her, the Doctor and
Steven and their adventures on a drowned world!
Our tale opens with the Doctor,
Sara and Steven landing on a world nearly completely covered by water. However,
to be more precise they land inside a mining facility that’s currently home to
a group of human inhabitants, an expedition party to be more precise. Now it
wouldn’t be a Doctor Who adventure without some horrid catastrophe going on.
Fortunate for our listener a troublesome problem quickly rears its head as the
Doctor and co quickly discover that the expedition party are trapped as the
water levels are rising, their oxygen is running low and a rescues party won’t
make it in time to save their lives. Need I also mention that the TARDIS has
fallen into the water soon after landing, preventing everyone form just going
inside of it and escaping to safety? Oh, wait! There is one more piece of bad
news! The water appears to be alive and quite hostile as it eats away at almost
anything it touches and can form nasty tentacles that love to lash out and
strike at people! Clearly the TARDIS
crew is in a very bad predicament, thankfully though we have Sara to give us
her wonderful rendition of the events that happened.
Choosing to split up Sara’s tale
that started in Home Truths into
three separate stories was a great move on Big Finish’s part. While each of the
three parts has their own separate story being told within them, the main story
featuring Sara and Robert is a tale that can’t be told quickly. Slowly
progressing with the story over not just three separate releases, but also
throughout Robert and Sara’s own separate encounters lets us experience the
start of their friendship, and the trials and tribulations they both encounter
over the course of their meetings. Sara is bound to the house, but Robert is
free to come and go, and fights against the Elders for Sara at the start of The Drowned World. The first half of
this adventure has a cliffhanger ending that frankly would make a wonderful
ending to any single adventure, but the actual ending to this tale is actually
bitter sweet and goes down in the books as an ending that makes the third installment
all the more needed. They’re not just expanding on Sara’s story; they’re
redefining her giving her both new unique involvements and years of knowledge.
While I do feel the tale being told
in The Drowned World lacks a bit in
comparison to Home Truths tale, it
certainly is worthy of praise. The Drowned
World detaches Sara from Steven and the Doctor by mid-point allowing her to
shine on her own and take matters into her own hand to help some of the expedition
out of a room with no clear exit. Sara
not only shows she can help herself in a sticky situation, but is able to go
above and beyond what is needed to ensure the safety of people relying on her
for their life. In comparison Home Truths
is unnerving and spooky, while The Drowned
World is exciting and adventurous but not as amazing as its predecessor. That
doesn’t make it any less of a wonderful story and a complete joy to listen to. Not every aspect of this tale is exciting adventure
though. Towards the end of this audio drama things take a dark turn. A bit of
hope is shined down at the end for Sara, but a long dark shadow is cast over Robert
whose life takes a turn and a twist. I can’t wait to see where things go in the
third and finale part of this trilogy.
Thus far in the trilogy The Drowned World is in second place in
my book when it comes to comparing the first part over the second part. Just
because it sits behind its precursor doesn’t detract much from what comes off
as a fine example of a great Doctor Who adventure. Sara and Robert are two
characters who could carry a whole series on their own. They’re intriguing,
dark and a joy to listen to. The dark overtone that’s hanging over this series
is spun into every nook and cranny so perfectly it pulls me right in like a black
hole. Unlike most black holes though, I definitely want to be sucked into this
one, over and over again. I can’t wait to see what lurks on the other side of
the void.
Rating: 5 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment