The First Son [AUDIO/2021.10.13]

★★☆☆☆

  No, not particularly keen on this one. I'm going to be honest, I harbour no ill will towards Lizzie Hopley -- I'm sure she's a wonderful person -- but maybe her style of writing isn't particularly up my alley? Sometimes I'm wondering what her 'angle' is, as in what gives her a kick as a writer, what genuinely excites her... scripts like The First Son are so devoid of what I usually consider fun, and it becomes a bit of a chore to sit out. The opening installment of any series/boxset has a pretty important role in hooking the audience's interest (unless you're a freak like me who thrives on experiencing things out of chronological order -- and even I listened to Dalek Universe in order), and this one failed to pique my interest in continuing the saga. Nonetheless, I did, but that's hardly the point -- this is a pretty bad opener in my opinion, and I suppose that's all you need to take away from this rather long paragraph.

  The Movellans are fine villains -- I find their design fun and all -- but I don't think this audio drama does them any real justice. Are they interesting here? Not really. Do I find any particularly new or fascinating angles on them here? Hmm, can't say. Does David Tennant sound particularly interested? He gives his most 'overzealons jumped-up Series 2-esque hyperactive Tenth Doctor' performance, which I'm noticing a lot more in the Dalek Universe series. It has to do with how he's written, mostly, but it does seem like he slips back to that by default whenever nothing else is given to the character... and for a story that has an all-but-brainwashed River Song, he sure doesn't get to do an awful lot here. It says something about The First Son and my opinion of it when the two major plot elements of this installment, the great Movellan scientist child and the oddly-behaving River Song, fall flat for me. It has no drive, no passion behind it -- and so I cannot give it a higher score.