Doctor Who Audio Review: "Hexagora"
Well, after the last adventure, fighting a dalek who decided to be a high priest, we find our crew in need of some rest and relaxation.
rating: 3
Well, after the last adventure, fighting a dalek who decided to be a high priest, we find our crew in need of some rest and relaxation. They go to Brisbane, Australia, hometown to Tegan (Janet Fielding), in order to unwind. This gives Tegan the chance to meet up with old friends, gives the Doctor (Peter Davison), the chance to take in some cricket, and gives Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) the chance to be basically baffled. Everyone seems to be having a good time. This of course cannot last. Tegan hears that a reporter shes friends with (Toby Hadoke), has gone missing, and hes one of many who have. The Doctor does some investigations and soon the team is off to an alien planet. Or are they? When they arrive, they notice the world looks exactly like London during the days of the Tudors. They even spot familiar landmarks, like London Bridge, and they notice that all the people appear to be completely human, though several have rather alien names. They soon get captured (this is a Doctor Who story, after all), and find themselves in the presence of Queen Zafira (Jacqueline Pearce). She takes a liking to the Doctor and starts spending a lot of time around him. Nyssa, due to her background as a noble on Traken, also gets the royal treatment, while poor Tegan basically gets kicked to the curb. Fed up with her treatment, Tegan escapes out to the city, and runs into a man who looks exactly like her friend. Except this man has an English accent and has no idea who she is. He also doesnt remember any past in Australia. Eventually the Doctor learns that this area has been built as a replica of Tudor London and that the beings who inhabit it are actually alien insects who are using human bodies. It seems that their world is about to experience a long-term chill, and their insect forms cant deal with it. So theyve been kidnapping and using humans in order to survive. This gives the Doctor a major quandary, and things begin to get even more complicated for him when the Queen decides shes going to marry him, much to the consternation of one of her other husbands, who has plans of his own and designs on the throne This is another of the lost stories of Doctor Who. I can see why, because it would have been extremely difficult to film the insect aliens in any kind of a convincing fashion on the budget the show had in the 1980s. As for the story itself, it was ok. Nothing great. It was an interesting enough setup and I did enjoy some of the conflicts and characters, especially a scientist/bishop who turns up to exposit the problems at the Doctor. But at no point did the story really grip me. I found my attention wandering more often than not, which is a shame, because the basic premise is fine. As usual, all the non-story elements are completely top-notch, with excellent acting by all, especially Pearce, who I remember mostly for her role in the rather unfortunate Sixth and Second Doctor story, The Two Doctors, which, like this, had an excellent premise but just didnt quite work out. This isnt a bad story or a bad audio adventure, but it isnt one that Id go out of my way to listen to. The previous story, The Elite, had a lot more going for it, and I liked that much more than I did this one. This story is a decent way to kill some time, but not any great shakes in the Doctor Who canon. Buy it here at Big Finish Audio.