Doctor Who Review: ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures: The Vengeance of Morbius’ (Audio)
By James Aggas
It’s the season finale for the ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures’ in ‘The Vengeance of Morbius’. The Eighth Doctor and Lucie are desperate to save the universe. But to do so, is the Doctor prepared to pay the ultimate price for it?
Continuing directly where Sisters of the Flame left off, The Vengeance of Morbius begins with letting us know exactly what’s been going on. There were a lot of questions left at the end of the previous episode. It’s fantastic that we get so many answers in just the first ten minutes, especially in such a concise way. This allows the plot to kick in at full throttle, with the Eighth Doctor and Lucie desperate to stop Morbius.
Speaking of which, one thing I really enjoyed about this episode was how it treated the titular villain. First, writer Nicholas Briggs does a great job of reintroducing him to a brand-new audience. Not only do we get a quick recap of The Brain of Morbius. We’re also given a very good impression of just how dangerous Morbius really is. Which is quite impressive, considering he had appeared in only one story on TV.
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
Even better is how this is further proven by Morbius himself in the story. Throughout Sisters of the Flame, we had a lot of foreshadowing over how terrible Morbius’s return could be. Once he’s resurrected, we see why. It’s a very different Morbius than the monster we saw in Brain. This time, Morbius gets a complete Time Lord body again. With nothing to stop him, he starts taking over the universe almost instantly.
I also have to mention how great Samuel West is as Morbius. He brings a lot of malevolence to the role and just oozes evil, but in a very quiet way. He’s not as insane as John Simm’s Master, but he comes across as calmer and much more dangerous, and West portrays that brilliantly.
A very packed finale
Although, now that I’ve mentioned the Master, there is one slight criticism I have to make about the episode. In some ways, The Vengeance of Morbius is reminiscent of the series 3 episodes The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. I don’t mean together with Sisters of the Flame. That was more along the lines of Turn Left. No, I mean The Vengeance of Morbius specifically feels like the last two episodes of series 3 combined.
The first twenty-five minutes focuses on Eight and Lucie trying to do everything they can to stop Morbius. The second half of the episode has Morbius taking over the universe before leading to a big reset ending (which I’ll get to in a moment).
If that sounds familiar, don’t worry. Like I said, the plot generally has some superficial similarities to the series 3 finale on TV.
In some ways, I do prefer The Vengeance of Morbius over Last of the Time Lords. But I still kind of wish that the plot had been given a little more room to breathe. As I said before, there’s a lot that this final episode crams in.
When we see the results of Morbius taking over the universe, there are some cool moments. For example, there’s a nice little image of the Statue of Liberty being on Karn at one point. But it’s rather rushed through, and it’s a shame. Nicholas Briggs does such a good job at setting all of this up, that I just wish he had been given an extra episode to explore this world a little better.
A massive cliffhanger
However, it all pays off by the end in a big way. Now, I mentioned that this episode has a reset ending, so you might be surprised by that. Certainly, the reset ending – one where terrible things are undone and everything is set back to normal – is one of my least favourite endings in general.
Generally speaking, when a big, major event happens in our stories, we want those events to have impact. We want them to have consequences. Most of the time, a reset ending prevents that.
Fortunately, that’s not true, in this case. Yes, the story of Sisters of the Flame/The Vengeance of Morbius is resolved very neatly. By the end, everything’s back to normal. At least, for most of the universe.
For the Doctor and Lucie, though? Things are changed in a big way. When the universe is saved this time, it comes with a terrible price, but a brilliant ending. Honestly, The Vengeance of Morbius has one of the greatest cliffhangers since Neverland.
I remember when I first listened to The Vengeance of Morbius almost a decade ago. The cliffhanger shocked me then, and honestly, it still shocks me now. It’s just a fantastic way to end the season.
The Vengeance of Morbius, while flawed, is still a very enjoyable finale. It has a nice mix of shocks, epic scale and emotion. It’s also a finale that changed the direction of the Eighth Doctor Adventures in a big way.
While The Night of the Doctor wasn’t exactly a direct sequel to this story, bringing the Eighth Doctor back to Karn for his death certainly felt like a big call back. A satisfying finale to a strong second season.
Next: Re-Watch: ‘The Tenth Planet’ (First Doctor regeneration story)