Doctor Who Review: ‘Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 2: Day of the Vashta Nerada’

In the final story of ‘Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 2’, in the middle of the Time War, the Eighth Doctor faces the Vashta Nerada once more.

For the final story of Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 2, Big Finish have made another interesting choice. For the previous volume, they gave the Eighth Doctor an enemy that wasn’t technically “new”. Namely the Sontarans, but specifically from the New Series. I still enjoyed The Sontaran Ordeal, especially as it gave us a good glimpse of the Time War. But it did seem a rather odd choice for a box set where original New Series monsters were supposed to be the main theme.

Once again, Eight doesn’t technically get a New Series monster all of his own, but for a very good reason. This time, he’s actually sharing, specifically with the Fourth Doctor for the Vashta Nerada. I actually quite like having two stories with two separate Doctors that are linked, but not a two-parter. Where the later episode deals with the consequences of the earlier one. At the same time, it also aims to tell something new. And that’s exactly what we get in Day of the Vashta Nerada.

‘Jurassic Park’ (but with shadows)

There’s a lot that I enjoyed about this story. I particularly liked its approach to the monsters. Whereas Night of the Vashta Nerada had the Doctor encountering them for the first time, and so took the monster back to an even more basic form, Day of the Vashta Nerada deals with a genetically modified variant.

No, scratch that: many genetically modified variants. There’s an entire space station dedicated to finding creative ways of using Vashta Nerada for the greater good. Of course, the Doctor is horrified to learn about this, and warns that something is bound to go wrong and disaster will strike. The scientists on the station assure him that nothing can go wrong.

You can probably see where this is going.

Actually, that’s something else I really appreciated about this one: familiarity. Listening to it, I could sense more than a hint of influence from Jurassic Park. Scientists meddling with nature; a secure, self-contained environment; a horror that’s inevitably unleashed. I think Doctor Who can be pretty strong when it makes it’s references clear, particularly when its able to take the story in its own direction.

And of course, with flesh-eating shadows instead of dinosaurs, that’s exactly what Day of the Vashta Nerada does. More than that: it allows there to be many different forms of the original monster. I’m not going to spoil what they are – they’re far too brilliant for that. Just that the changes made are very simple and utter genius. You listen to them and you think, “Wow! Why didn’t they try these ideas for a TV episode?” Which is what the best Big Finish ideas usually tend to be, to be honest.

The Time War

Of course, there is a good reason why this story wasn’t done for the TV series, at least partially. The Time War setting isn’t just a throwaway mention. Even without the Daleks, it’s a pretty crucial part of the story. The Time Lords have arrived on Synthesis Station, and they want to the use the Vashta Nerada for their own ends.

Not just any Time Lord, in fact: Cardinal Ollistra herself has arrived.

For those of you who don’t know, Cardinal Ollistra has been a major character in the War Doctor audios. She’s also one of my favourite original characters that Big Finish have ever made. Not exactly an outright villain but far from heroic, she has only one aim: save Gallifrey and destroy the Daleks, no matter what the cost. She’s a product of the society that would eventually deem it a better option to wipe out the rest of time itself, rather than let themselves die.

Eight versus Ollistra

As I’ve mentioned, she was mainly created for the War Doctor series. However, this isn’t the first time that the Eighth Doctor has met her. Just a few months ago, he encountered an earlier incarnation before the Time War in Doom Coalition 4.

But it’s fantastic to hear McGann opposite Jacqueline Pearce, who usually plays her. She’s always magnificent in the role, and it’s great to hear McGann’s strongly moral Doctor continuingly arguing against her methods. It’s a wonderful little way of tying the Classic and New eras just a little bit more nicely, beyond the use of a great New Series monster.

Next: A Brief History of Moffat’s Best Villains

Day of the Vashta Nerada is such an effective final episode for another great box set. The second volume of Classic Doctors, New Monsters has continued to show us more ways of presenting fresh looks at such great monsters from the New Series. It was also nice to hear more tales of the Doctor encountering enemies for the first time, which the previous box set didn’t have. As ever, I’m excited to hear what Big Finish has next for the Classic and New eras.