The Eleven [AUDIO/2015.10.12]

 

★★★★☆

  Doom Coalition 1 has a special place in my heart. I may not consider it an outright classic (there are far more innovative and riveting groups of stories in the boxset format), but it's still a solid starter boxset for a sprawling sixteen-part audio series. Plus, this was the first Eighth Doctor release of Big Finish that I enjoyed concurrently. I got into the audio dramas of Doctor Who around the time of the 50th anniversary, and I have been hooked since — and at the time, I was especially enamoured with Paul McGann's incarnation and his amazing adventures. With my being a little too late to enjoy Dark Eyes as a whole before its finale, I latched onto Doom Coalition immediately.

  And who can blame adolescent me? Matt Fitton's The Eleven still holds up to this day as a fantastic action thriller set in the decadent halls of Gallifrey, as well as an introduction to so many elements of this new series. Time Lord society is, yet again, shown as a shining metropolis hiding prejudiced old hands, and a security force less competent than they let on. It's of no little sense of irony that among all the people in Gallifrey at the time of this story, human Liv Chenka happens to be the most resourceful and level-headed (my God, I love Liv so much). The story advances in just the right amount, and the hour-long runtime fits perfectly with all the plot progression and action. Plus, Ken Bentley's direction is particularly good. It can't have been easy to figure out the sound mixing cues and general audio portrayal of a Time Lord with split personalities, but Mark Bonnar's the Eleven manages to work. The larger personalities he has to portray seem to be a strain on him, though. 

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Great stuff, really. Who would've thought that such an ominous and politically charged planet as Gallifrey could play host to a breakneck-pace action adventure? Stasers are fired, terrorist acts are engaged with centuries of planning, and the body count is high. The stakes are through the roof, and our lead actors Paul McGann and Nicola Walker are fully engaged; therefore, we the listeners are also whisked off our feet. The Eleven manages to be exciting and promising, a shining example of what a modernized spin on an archaic setting could bring to the table.

(Artwork by Daniel Kennedy)