Nekromanteia [AUDIO/2003.2.?]

★★☆☆☆

  Do I completely agree with the masses in thinking that Nekromanteia is the worst thing Doctor Who's ever done? Not particularly, no... it may be a boring slog but it's not atrocious as a whole. You won't see me clamouring to defend it, though, not by a long shot; it's a generally unpleasant listen that squanders all its potential -- and you know how I feel about wasted potential. 

  The best thing about it has to be the concepts hinted throughout. I don't know about you, but space witches hijacking spaceships and slaughtering everyone onboard is a fascinating avenue for Doctor Who to explore (albeit one entirely out of its family-friendly comfort zone), and I remember first getting into this story with high hopes. There are... moments in which that potential is somewhat touched upon: the great big surprising beheading scene of you-know-who for one (for once, this spoiler-ridden blog is doing the right thing and not spoiling what may possibly be the most shocking and enjoyable thing about a story), and the trippy "afterlife" sequence that follows it. Shame, then, that these are pretty much all the times the space witchcraft aspect of Nekromanteia is given any serious thought. The rest of the four-parter is filled with the typical sci-fi corporate greed scenario, with soldier employees and employers vying for power by claiming an ancient artifact of these witches. I'd have had more fun with this aspect of Nekromanteia, had the execution been anywhere near interesting (spoiler alert: it isn't, and it's the most typical type of macho runaround you could imagine).

  I would also like to bring up the poor treatment of both Peri and Erimem. I watch schlock films from the 1970s, and I often see rape being a casual feature there. It's never easy to see, not even when done in a happy-go-lucky way (in which case I talk about it in a review somewhere, saying how misguided that was), and to see something like that worm its way into Doctor Who and happen on a companion was shocking on initial listen, to say the least. People point out how unnecessary the sexual assault scene was on Erimem and I agree wholeheartedly. The scene comes off as bad-natured, indulgent even, and it's one of the reasons I suspect Peter Davison asked Big Finish not to hire him again.

  The greatest crime of Nekromanteia? It's not that it portrays sexual assault, but rather that it ends up a pretty boring mess. I mean really boring. The four parts are a sludge to get through, none of the actors manage to bring up the quality of the listening experience, and the fascinating potential of space witches is brought up briefly before disappearing entirely from view. I'd ask Big Finish never to stoop this low again, but unfortunately it's about 20 years too late. They have, on several occasions. 

(artwork by Caroline Tankersley)