A Sting in the Tale [AUDIO/2009.12.3]

★★★★☆

  Possibly the most haunting of the Hornets' Nest boxset, A Sting in the Tale brings us yet another tale of thrills and beautiful images, while showing us just how terrifying these Hornets can be. Their horror comes not from great physical mass or terrible mutilations, but rather their ability to stoke the fires of paranoia inside anyone (including the listeners). They're small and they are legion, for they are many; they can be everywhere, and there's no telling who is under their thrall until it's too late. 

  The story wastes no time in delivering fantastic, atmospheric locations, a staple of the series by now. Ice cold, windy patches of snowy land, a medieval castle of mysterious nuns, the decadent canals of Venice — everywhere is brought to life so expertly by the sound design and Simon Power's score. There's also an entire sequence within the winding halls of the TARDIS, the Doctor chasing Hornets and Hornets chasing the Doctor... and in probably the most chilling moment yet, the Swarm infiltrates the Doctor's mind and he gets a sense of their true power. It's one of those scary moments we occasionally see in Doctor Who, when our usually infallible Time Lord shows signs of weakness and hopelessness. It seems to be Paul Magrs' mission statement not just for this installment but for the entire Hornets' Nest — to show another side of the Doctor, to show that he too can become vulnerable when the odds are stacked so highly against him. He faces a dangerous enemy he has no real clue how to defeat, and in another chilling moment, he realizes the fate of Antonio (the man from The Circus of Doom who recounted seeing a blue box emerge and bring Hornets within it) was his own doing. That's the strength of interconnected stories, I think: the ability to conjure up giant revelations based on factoids from previous stories.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  The stakes have never been higher, and Tom Baker is absolutely on fire, delivering wonderful line after wonderful line. It's like reading a poem, the mind wandering through delightfully written lines while forming the most beautiful worlds on its own. I'm having such a time of it, and I have no problem calling A Sting in the Tale another very strong installment from Magrs and the Nest Cottage chronicles.