Shockwave.

1 episode. Approx. 63 minutes. Written by: James Swallow. Directed by: John Ainsworth. Produced by: John Ainsworth. Performed by: Sophie Aldred, Ian Brooker.

THE PLOT

The Doctor takes Ace to Tarsus Six, a colony world in the midst of an emergency evacuation. The star system's sun, Tarsus Ultra, is collapsing - releasing temporal energy that renders the hyperdrive of the fleeing ships useless. It does the same to the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor and his companion committed to their course of action all the way to its end.

Impersonating Earth officials, the Doctor secures passage for himself and Ace on the Obscura, a giant space liner captained by the dutiful Oh-One (Ian Brooker). The Obscura is the last ship to leave, carrying the final mass of escaping colonists. The Doctor lends his aid to the escape, but that isn't his real reason for bringing them here. As he tells Ace, he is here to "break into a bank vault," a secured storage container that holds the Voice of Stone, a Gallifreyan artifact whose only confirmed position in Time and Space is aboard the Obscura during this flight.

The Doctor is able to break into the vault easily enough, with Ace's assistance in distracting security. But what he finds is the case for the Voice of Stone - already opened, and already empty. The time travelers barely have a chance to absorb this before the Obscura's engines fail. There is a saboteur on board - Ninejay, a girl who was transmatted on board at the final moment by Ace herself!

CHARACTERS

The Doctor: This incarnation of the Doctor is more comfortable with deception than most of his predecessors. Captain Oh-One is a good man, and the Doctor recognizes him as such right away, but he only admits (some of) the truth to him when he is left with no other choice. In this case, this Doctor's closed nature likely complicates his task, as his deception alienates Oh-One and makes him and Ace into suspects when honesty might have avoided both complications. He takes a while to admit the truth to Ace, as well, a pointless deception that only serves to leave her in the dark until the last possible moment.  In the obligatory Eleventh Doctor cameo, his future self rather amusingly chides him to "be nicer to Ace."

Ace: Writer James Swallow centers his story very much on her. She clearly loves traveling with the Doctor, drinking in how different each day is from the next. She also takes on board the things he says to her, even when she doesn't seem to. Early in the story, she tries to convince the Seekers, a cult that believes they will be transformed by the shockwave into pure energy, to escape on the Obscura. The Doctor tells her that they can't force their will onto others - words Ace later echoes to Ninejay to convince her that her sabotage of the Obscura was wrong.

THOUGHTS

Shockwave is another solid, engaging story in the reliably solid, engaging Destiny of the Doctor range. It isn't the best of the range (both the 5th and 6th Doctor stories were better, in my opinion), but it is entertaining, a well-structured story that is very well-told.

James Swallow's writing captures the characters of the Seventh Doctor and Ace perfectly, and Sophie Aldred's reading is excellent. She slows down and lets us summon up in our minds the awesome spectacle of the shockwave, then speeds up when narrating an action scene involving Ace dodging security drones while the Doctor breaks into a vault. She clearly differentiates her voices: one for the narration, one for Ace's dialogue, and one for Ninejay (though it should be said that her Ninejay voice sounds suspiciously similar to Luna Lovegood's in the Harry Potter movies). I remain unsold on her Seventh Doctor voice, but it's at least good enough to avoid harming the story. A pity Sylvester McCoy couldn't have lent his own voice to the Doctor's dialogue, though.

The story is well-constructed and well-paced. The opening scenes, of the chaotic evacuation of Tarsus Six, grab the listener's attention right off the bat. The situation is established briskly, as the Doctor secures a place for himself, Ace, and the TARDIS aboard the Obscura, then makes himself useful during the ship's escape. Ace's rescue of Ninejay provides the story's complication, and we can tell as soon as Ace lets her aboard that this will lead to trouble.

With the situation established, the Doctor throws his curve ball: The reason he and Ace are here to begin with. Focus then shifts to trying to retrieve the Voice of Stone. Both plots come together as the time travelers are arrested by Oh-One, who feels betrayed at the Doctor's deception, only to learn that the ship has now been sabotaged by the same person who stole the artifact. The story's ultimate solution can be seen coming, but it works well enough to be a satisfying wrap-up... Though it is somewhat oversold in an epilogue that tilts ever so slightly toward melodrama.

Despite a few niggles with that epilogue, the story kept me entertained throughout its briskly-paced, 63-minute run. Definitely a good one, if well short of being a great one.

Overall Rating: 7/10.

Search Amazon.com for Doctor Who



7th Doctor Television Review Index

7th Doctor Audio Review Index