Essentially this story explores the
consequences of space time tourism. The Doctor arrives in a temporal tourist
hot spot (Ancient Athens) at a time of unrest. This is a pseudo-historical. No
alien megalomaniacs planning to conquer the Earth with a gigantic bomb or
devious under Gods from the dawn of time planning to crack the planet open like
an egg. No just The Doctor, Ace and Hector landing in Ancient Athens and experiencing
the problems at hand.
The story
kicks off when they discover another alien tourist who has this mysterious
alien mask. This alien mask however soon is lost and as a result Athens is
brought into further chaos. As a result of not so complicated plot, the
characters are given a bit more time, which is necessary for the major
character development and revelations that occur at the end of the story,
leading it directly into Signs and Wonders.
Acting wise
this is a very strong story, all the cast are on top form and some great guest
performances. Unfortunately I find this story to not have much to it. There is
a plot, but it feels very much like some of the early Doctor Who historical stories,
lackluster. It seems a bit strange to be saying this as at the same time there is an
alien beetle in the
sky, plague zombies and a God descending to Earth. The way these are
connected is good but unfortunately means that the story does feel somewhat
empty after that. The story does not drag like The Brood of Erys earlier in the
year which I really did not like but it did not have enough there, leaving me somewhat disappointed.
I am looking
forward however to seeing where this final Hex arc ends up with in Signs and
Wonders as having listened to the trailer, seen the cover and read the
synopsis, it looks to be an absolute cracker. This is what we have needed from the Doctor
Who Main Range this year. There have been a few good stories (Moonflesh, Tomb
Ship, Revenge of the Storm - but none of these were particularly special) and
some very poor ones (Brood of Erys, Masquerade) then there are stories like
this which I have just found totally lackluster. I do not believe it is Big Finish as the
stories in the other ranges like the Fourth Doctor Range, The Early Adventures and Dark Eyes Two have
been amazing but it seems like we are now in desperate need of a great
story (like the Assassination Games last
year). I do hope that the following release lives up to my expectations.
6/10