Sunday 10 July 2011

Review: Eighth Doctor Audio - Sisters Of The Flame


The richest man in the galaxy has just bought a backwards planet with no obvious mineral wealth in the outer reaches of the universe. An obscure mystical sect has been revived after centuries of neglect. A new race of aliens are hunting for prey. Why?

As the Doctor and Lucie attempt to discover the answer, it becomes clear that someone is attempting to resurrect the past - and they need a Time Lord to help them achieve it.


So What's Good With It? Lots actually. I should start out by saying this is the first part of a two part finale for the second series of of the New EDA's. Nicholas Briggs is the writer on this one and you have to hand it to the guy, he knows his Who. There are lots of subtle little references to the past that will excite fans of the classics without alienating people who havent seen them. The story takes off at breakneck speed and keeps a brilliant pace throughout with some excellent story concepts and even better dialogue between the cast. Sheridan Smith gets a chance to shine as Lucie once again as she carries most of the story (it's quite Doctor Lite), and she more than handles it. The story itself is nice and dark but also plenty of fun and the twists and turns draw you in and hook you so you can't wait to get to the end to find out whats going on. The Majority of the cast are on excellent form and you can tell they are having a lot of fun with the script, which is nice to listen to

But What's Wrong With It? Ok, so first things first. That cover has to be one of the worst BF covers to date! Just needed to get that out of the way. The Sisters Of The Flame from the title, who were previously seen in the TV story The Brain Of Morbius, get less airtime than I personally would have liked and little is done to explain them and who they are so if you aren't familiar with their TV appearance you may feel a tiny bit lost. While most of the supporting characters are on excellent form, some just don't cut it. Nikolas Grace who stars as Straxus pretty much overacts every line he is given and Alexander Siddig (who many of you may know as Dr Bashir from DS9), who works in this story as a sort of companion to the companion, puts in one of the most bizarre performances of any audios I have heard. While it works at times, his random speech pattern quickly gets annoying.

Final Verdict: Overall a great story and well worth a listen.

Sisters Of The Flame gets 4/5 TARDIS's


Extra Info: 60 minutes long on 1 disc. Bonus features include interviews with the cast. It can be purchased from Amazon for £7.69

Thanks to Peri-Peri for this review. For more news and reviews head over to The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

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