★★★★☆
The Divergent Universe arc gets a concentrated shot of colour and imagination, as Caerdroia makes a sharp left turn from the grim and gritty portent of doom that The Last was and points towards a narrative of clockwork, labyrinths (or is it 'mazes'?) and spinning rabbits. Given how popular her two Eighth Doctor Adventures novels are, it's no surprise that the incredibly talented Lloyd Rose is responsible for bringing us this layered and exciting Eighth Doctor story. She does what nobody else thought of doing, splitting the Doctor up into three, the main middle and the two extremes (hence Tigger and Eeyore)... and my, Paul McGann surely steps up to the challenge. He sounds incredibly engaged, as if he's ready to break free from his (somewhat necessary, considering the Divergent Universe arc) moody shackles and become an enthusiastic adventurer again. How fitting is it that this is where he is reunited with his TARDIS?
Really, the most impressive thing about Caerdroia (and there are quite a few things about Caerdroia that impress me) is that it doesn't feel rushed at all, that I can feel the oozing sense of bursting imagination and care for its crazy story and its characters. The Divergent Universe series was infamously cut short after its initial bad reception, so it mustn't have been easy for Rose to incorporate all those disparate elements into her own four-part story. You'd never guess the troubled production, though — this is the most confident Eighth Doctor monthly range release since its previous series' The Natural History of Fear, and everything from the deliberately quirky atmosphere to the sound design and performances reinforce that notion.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ
Just what everyone needed after the similarly amazing but incredibly bleak The Last, Caerdroia not so much untangles the hanging threads of the Divergent Universe arc as it spins them all into huge balls and starts juggling. The Eighth Doctor reaches his height once again, with Paul McGann's enthusiasm and Lloyd Rose's unparalleled understanding and love of the character creating a perfect symphony of comedy, reflection and deeply hidden cruelty. There are many stories out there that examine who the Doctor is, but Caerdroia has almost every single one of them beat in terms of how fun that examination is. What do you mean the Doctor, Charley and C'rizz are a glum bunch to hang out with? They're having the most off-kilter time of their lives here, and every actor nails the mood of the piece. Creativity is the key to my heart, I'm beginning to suspect.
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