Doctor Who review: Ravenous 2 (Eighth Doctor audio)

The Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen face the robots of death, the dark side of Christmas, and a very spooky TARDIS, in the second volume of the Doctor Who audio series, Ravenous.

As I’ve mentioned before, while I wasn’t too keen on the previous volume, I’ve been really looking forward to Ravenous 2. The more I read about it, the more it promised to be better than the first volume. Which wasn’t bad, but felt like quite a step down after how brilliant previous Doctor Who audio series Doom Coalition was, especially in its last two box sets.

When Ravenous 2 begins, the Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen have only recently been reunited, after Helen went missing at the end of Doom Coalition 4. Naturally, their reunion involved an epic adventure in saving a world from the Eleven and the Kandyman.

So naturally, the Doctor decides to give them a bit of a break. A place where they won’t get in danger or have to face a huge amount of death, and instead just take a nice opportunity to relax.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

On Liv’s homeworld of Kaldor, Robots are suddenly attacking humans in Escape from Kaldor.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Escape from Kaldor

Escape from Kaldor gets Ravenous 2 off to a terrific start. While the premise of killer robots owes a lot to The Robots of Death – even featuring the exact same kind of robots – Escape from Kaldor takes a very different approach to the original story.

For one thing, it’s features less atmosphere and mystery and focuses more on being fast-paced and action packed. There are still a number of horrific moments in this story, but it ultimately ends up going in a very different direction compared to the original. The best way I can describe it is that The Robots of Death was essentially Alien, while Escape from Kaldor is much closer to Aliens.

However, it’s not just thrills and chills that this episode features. Because this is Liv’s home world, and as a result, things get personal for her.

An unwanted reunion

After the huge events of Ravenous 1 and finally being reunited with their friend Helen, the Doctor has decided to give his two friends a holiday. Of course, being the Doctor, he can’t help but plan for a little more than that, as Liv is reunited with someone she didn’t really want to see again.

Matt Fitton has written a very strong script with Escape from Kaldor. It’s a fast paced story that mixes action and horror. But it’s also light enough to include some really great drama for good measure, too.

The ending was particularly surprising, as Liv decides to make a choice. One that many companions have made before. However, there’s a twist given to the old formula that clearly sets things up to be explored at a later point. For now, however, Escape from Kaldor is a very strong opening episode that stands well on its own.

A couple of weeks before Christmas, and Salzburg is celebrating the dark side of Christmas, the Krampus. But the Krampus isn’t real. Is it?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Better Watch Out

With Halloween at the end of the month and Christmas just two months away, this is the perfect opportunity for John Dorney to combine the best of both worlds with his story Better Watch Out. What’s particularly great about this episode is that it’s the first half of a two-part story, so the characters and the atmosphere are given plenty of room to breathe.

What instantly leaps out about this one is how much of a fairy tale quality it has. (Which is unsurprising, considering the title of the next episode.) It focuses on the Krampus, the monster who’s the “dark side of Christmas”, as the Doctor describes it.

Throughout the episode, we hear two people telling stories of what happens one day in Salzburg. When the old, dark fable of the Krampus becomes horrifyingly true…

Different kinds of monsters

Like Escape from Kaldor, there’s a mixture of horror and high stakes in this episode, although it certainly seems to have a darker edge. Not just with the Krampus itself, but with the Imps who precede it, who come across as incredibly creepy.

Shafranek is perhaps even more of a monstrous character, however. A man lacking any compassion whatsoever, he’s an absolutely loathsome figure that you just want the worst to happen to. Jamie Newall does a great job of bringing this character to life.

The added narration also works well for the story. Particularly as it only helps to enhance the fairy tale quality that this story has, even as you’re left to guess why these stories are being told, and to whom.

Even better is that Paul McGann’s Doctor is doing the narrating for one of the stories. McGann has always had a perfect voice for narration, something proven by his role in the cult classic Withnail & I. So any excuse to give him some narrating duties is a perfect excuse.

Overall, Better Watch Out is a great first half to a dark Christmas story. But what of the second half?

As the Krampus rises and the way to Hell is opened, can the Doctor and his friends hope for a Christmas miracle?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Fairytale of Salzburg

For the second half of his story, John Dorney really shakes things up. He took the story of Better Watch Out, and from the very start, adds some really great twists to it. Particularly with non-linear storytelling, by providing another perspective to some of the events from the first episode.

For the Krampus, we’re given a rather more interesting and different explanation for it than from what we’d normally expect from Doctor Who. Usually, (and this is something that’s actually acknowledged in the story,) the show’s explanation for mythical monsters is “aliens”.

But Dorney’s explanation is more refreshing than that. It’s also something that completely suits the title of the episode completely.

Because this is a fairy tale. This was true with the first episode, but it’s even moreso with the second. The first part focused on atmosphere, horror and a huge spectacle.

The second part, however? This story is filled with a great deal more emotion, and has some extreme ups and downs, in the best possible way.

Dorney also makes his Christmas influences far, far clearer with this episode. I won’t say what they are, as naming even one of them would spoil the fun. But you’ll be hard pressed not to be in a bit of a Christmas mood by the time you finish listening to it.

Overall, Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg is a really great story. John Dorney has always been a consistently brilliant Doctor Who writer, and this just might be one of his best. A tale that combines horror and magic almost seamlessly, this captures the dark modern fairy tale feel of stories such as Pan’s Labyrinth or The Nightmare Before Christmas. A real highlight of the box set, and indeed, for Ravenous as a whole so far.

On a dying TARDIS, the Doctor and his friends once again meet their old foe, the Eleven. But something worse lurks on this dying ship: the Ravenous…

Seizure

Ravenous 2 has been a very strong box set so far. Escape from Kaldor, Better Watch Out and Fairytale of Salzburg were all fantastic episodes. So how well does it end on with its final episode, Seizure?

Overall, really well. Guy Adams, another strong and dependable writer from Big Finish, rounds the box set off in a very satisfying way.

The previous three episodes have had a strong horror influence, and Seizure is no exception. In fact, it just might be the scariest episode of the whole box set.

From the very beginning, when the Doctor and his companions arrive on a dying TARDIS, Guy Adams lets his influences be very clear. Because this isn’t the kind of TARDIS that we’re used to.

Through both the writing and excellent sound design, we’re introduced to a TARDIS that’s even more gothic than Eight’s, and a great deal spookier. The Doctor even directly references The Haunting of Hill House, which should let you know exactly what kind of story we’re in for!

The Eleven returns once again, but this time, he’s asking for the Doctor’s help. Can the Doctor and his friends trust him? (No, no they can’t. That’s not even remotely a spoiler: this is the Eleven we’re talking about, after all.)

Once again, Mark Bonnar plays all of his many, many personalities brilliantly. But despite hearing so many sides from all of his many characters over the past couple of years, here, we get to hear one that we’ve never really heard before: fear.

Because something else is on the dying ship with them. Something that’s hungry. Something that every Time Lord fears. Something called…the Ravenous.

The Ravenous

Yes, you read that right. Eight episodes in, halfway through the series, in fact, and we finally find out what the title actually refers to. So has it been worth the wait?

If I’m honest, not quite. It’s not that the Ravenous is a bad monster. It’s actually a pretty interesting idea. But when you’ve got a four volume series named after the main threat, then you have pretty high expectations when it comes to that monster. And unfortunately, it doesn’t quite meet them, at least not yet.

It doesn’t help that the previous main villains in both Dark Eyes and Doom Coalition have been absolutely brilliant. The Dalek Time Controller, Alex Macqueen’s Master, the Eminence, the Eleven, even the leader of the doom coalition. All of these have been very distinctive and memorable foes, for a variety of reasons. The Ravenous doesn’t quite live up to those high standards just yet.

However, on the whole, that’s the only disappointing thing about this story. Indeed, if the Ravenous weren’t the title villain of the series, they’d be a perfectly acceptable monster. On the whole, Seizure is a gorgeously atmospheric and scary story, and rounds off Ravenous 2 in a very satisfying way.

The opening volume in the Ravenous series got things off to a bit of a shaky start. Does the second volume improve on things?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Summary

On the whole, Ravenous 2 is a huge improvement from the first volume. With the previous box set, the writers and producers wanted to create more of a mix between arc stories and almost completely standalone episodes.

However, considering that box set had to continue from such an incredibly important cliffhanger, trying to make standalone stories didn’t quite work, at least, not initially.

More from Winter is Coming

With the second volume, however, the balance is far, far better. The status quo of the Eighth Doctor, Helen and Liv travelling together has been restored, and this allowed standalone stories to be more easily told.

More than that, however, the writers have also helped to ensure that both standalone stories of this set had a strong personal or emotional edge to them, which still allows them to leave a real impact on the listener.

Even better is that all the episodes have such a strong horror influence on them, making this a perfect release for Halloween. Even the single arc episode of the box set is more focused on telling a horror story than a high-stakes finale.

With strong episodes, a tighter flow, and a great balance between standalone stories and the arc narrative, Ravenous 2 is not only a great deal stronger than the previous volume. It also might be one of the best Doctor Who releases this year. Highly recommended.

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Will you be listening to Ravenous 2? If you’ve checked the box set out already, which was your favorite story? And which Doctor Who stories will you be watching or listening to this Halloween? Let us know in the comments below.

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