Eldrad Must Die! (2013)

The first story of the Fifth Doctor series sees the return of Eldrad. Having only been used once in Classic Doctor Who would have been a reason not to use him now but Big Finish have a very good track record of making one hit wonders work on audio. The story takes in the seemingly idyllic resort of Ambermouth where everyone seems like they have stepped out of a 1980 country drama. In fact the early part of this story was quite soothing and there was almost a possibility of not wanting the story to continue as I was enjoying the surroundings.

This seemed like Turlough’s story which was totally unexpected (even though I had seen the cover) and it was nice because it seemed like we were getting to see a bit more of Turlough to go with what we had in ‘Kiss of Death’.  The characters that Turlough meets in the dreams sequences where Turlough is talking to people from school are obviously Davison, Sutton and Fielding but they are still believeable. We also get to meet someone from Turlough’s days at school but I was a little disappointed it wasn’t Ibbotson but it’s a nice tie-in and works well. As the story progresses, Turlough’s involvement becomes more and more integral and Strickson plays the character brilliantly in what might be his best performance since Kiss of Death.

Peter Davison shows why he won the Toms Tardis Best Doctor award last year. He is very good in this story and revels in dealing with a classic era villain. I think that Davison’s Doctor really have developed nicely over the last couple of years. I think the writing has gotten better for his character and I just hope it continues.  As the Best Companion, Sarah Sutton gets the short straw as at one point she gets left by the Doctor. She suffers from the only real problem in these series and that’s too many characters and a plot which doesn’t really have time to allow any other plot strands to keep the companions busy. Being as good as she is, she does the best with what she is given but she does suffer in this story. Janet Fielding plays Grand Theft Auto in this as she steals a car to try and help Turlough. I thought that when Tegan reveals that she has been infected was a well handled moment and played brilliantly by Fielding.

It was great that they managed to get Stephen Thorne to reprise his role as Eldrad. I think that it was a brave thing to leave Eldrad out for as long as they did so that when Thorne does get to make an appearance its even more enjoyable. Thorne was impressive as Eldrad and its at this point that I felt like this story was complete and I became glad that they had bought back Eldrad.

I did enjoy Eldrad Must Die! I could have done without the extremely repetitive ELDRAD MUST DIE line but aside from that it was good to have our very own fab four back where they belong and the most enjoyable main range story of the year. Most Marc Platt scripts tend to verge on the cryptic side but every so often, he produces something which puts all that complexity  to one side and just tell a standard Doctor Who story that still manages to draw you in and I’m relieved that Big Finish have made this story work.