This is the first story to feature a companion from beyond the fourth Doctor era. I am surprised it has taken so long but quite glad that they have done it. It also nice that they chose the best companion from the Fifth Doctor’s era to read this story. I don’t quite know whether using stories featuring the fifth Doctor onwards is a good idea. The companions used are ones that we hear once or twice a year (or more) and that has occurred for the last ten years. Sarah Sutton gives a good performance as Nyssa. Sarah Sutton played Nyssa from January 31st 1981 in The Keeper of Traken to February 23 1983 in Terminus. Originally she was only intended to appear in The Keeper of Traken but due to the need of more companions with the departure of Tom Baker’s Doctor in the next story it was decided to keep Nyssa on as a full-time companion. Nyssa is my favourite companion because she is rationale and doesn’t fit the normal stereotype of the female companion. Another thing that I liked about Sutton’s performance is the voices that she does (or doesn’t do). Her Tegan voice was the best and they seemed the easiest thing to do, the tone that she used for Adric was spot on and the Doctor was not memorable.
The use of death is not the cheeriest of subjects due to its dark and often negative images. The Dar-Traders morbid descriptions in this story help make them the sort of alien that despite having no malice you would not want anything to do with them. The return of the Dar-Traders was a good one because I think that there is a lot of potential for this creature. The idea that the Doctor and his companions all have death signatures makes sense because they have all dealt with death. The Doctor has died four times at this point, Tegan has felt the death of her Aunt (in Logopolis), Nyssa lost her father and others (in The Keeper of Traken) and Adric lost his brother (Full Circle) and would die in Earthshock.
Stewart Sheargold wrote a strong story because of the descriptions that he gives creates a very dark and miserable idea of what the spaceship was like. A series like the companion chronicles depends on the descriptions of the writers and thanks to Sheargold this story works. The bits that he sticks in are valid points, what I mean by that is the line that Adric makes that just because we don’t understand a races rituals or beliefs then that doesn’t mean that it’s wrong which makes sense. When you look at the Dar-Traders then you would think that they have a morbid fascination with death except to them it’s probably perfectly normal. A new word seems to have been created especially for this story because I had never heard of it before Trakenite. That is something that seems obvious to Nyssa but it just seems to have been plucked out of thin air. Ken Bentley is directing his first Companion Chronicles even though he has directed a regular story this is a different discipline but does really well. The story has some really good moments which are important to the story and work and that’s thanks to Bentley.
The best thing about this story is the return of the Dar-Traders. I really liked the Dar-Traders when they last appeared in The Death Collectors. They sound superb and it’s a shame that they are used in audio because they would be brilliant on TV. The cliffhanger was also very good in this story and totally came out of the blue. It genuinely led me to wonder how it was going to conclude because we all know he dies in Earthshock. The conclusion was not a disappointment and it was the second part of this story that was the better half. The introduction of Damasin Hyde helped move the story along and added a threat to the companions. I think it would have been better if another actor played Hyde instead of using Sutton. It did slightly devalue the character no matter how much it added to the story.
Overall this was an enjoyable story, its does have its faults but the use of Nyssa was a good idea and the story was sound.
The use of death is not the cheeriest of subjects due to its dark and often negative images. The Dar-Traders morbid descriptions in this story help make them the sort of alien that despite having no malice you would not want anything to do with them. The return of the Dar-Traders was a good one because I think that there is a lot of potential for this creature. The idea that the Doctor and his companions all have death signatures makes sense because they have all dealt with death. The Doctor has died four times at this point, Tegan has felt the death of her Aunt (in Logopolis), Nyssa lost her father and others (in The Keeper of Traken) and Adric lost his brother (Full Circle) and would die in Earthshock.
Stewart Sheargold wrote a strong story because of the descriptions that he gives creates a very dark and miserable idea of what the spaceship was like. A series like the companion chronicles depends on the descriptions of the writers and thanks to Sheargold this story works. The bits that he sticks in are valid points, what I mean by that is the line that Adric makes that just because we don’t understand a races rituals or beliefs then that doesn’t mean that it’s wrong which makes sense. When you look at the Dar-Traders then you would think that they have a morbid fascination with death except to them it’s probably perfectly normal. A new word seems to have been created especially for this story because I had never heard of it before Trakenite. That is something that seems obvious to Nyssa but it just seems to have been plucked out of thin air. Ken Bentley is directing his first Companion Chronicles even though he has directed a regular story this is a different discipline but does really well. The story has some really good moments which are important to the story and work and that’s thanks to Bentley.
The best thing about this story is the return of the Dar-Traders. I really liked the Dar-Traders when they last appeared in The Death Collectors. They sound superb and it’s a shame that they are used in audio because they would be brilliant on TV. The cliffhanger was also very good in this story and totally came out of the blue. It genuinely led me to wonder how it was going to conclude because we all know he dies in Earthshock. The conclusion was not a disappointment and it was the second part of this story that was the better half. The introduction of Damasin Hyde helped move the story along and added a threat to the companions. I think it would have been better if another actor played Hyde instead of using Sutton. It did slightly devalue the character no matter how much it added to the story.
Overall this was an enjoyable story, its does have its faults but the use of Nyssa was a good idea and the story was sound.
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