Babblesphere [AUDIO/2013.4.1]

★★★★☆

  For my money, this is when Destiny of the Doctor begins to kick gears and prove itself a very special series indeed. We had it all in 2013, didn't we? All those wonderful celebrations, celebratory releases... and in the midst of all this, AudioGO/BBC Audio and Big Finish's eleven-part collaboration that gifted us with such wonderful adventures as Babblesphere. Jonathan Morris needs no introduction by now, as his body of work speaks for itself, but this homage to Season 17 deserves quite a bit more praise. Listen to the colourful narration style, the delightfully funny and witty dialogue, the clever critique of social media of the story that's wrapped up in such an authentic late-1970s science fiction package. One could easily be convinced that this is a lost script from the Graham Williams era -- it's that authentic. Now, being authentic to a certain era isn't an automatic parameter for quality, you and I know that; however, when it comes to Jonathan Morris, the adventures he pens are usually very stellar. Babblesphere is no different, one of the towering examples of the Destiny of the Doctor range's penchant for good direction and storytelling.

  Lalla Ward sometimes has her off days on audio, but she's thankfully all fired up for Babblesphere. Coming from her mouth, this desolate world and the decadent palace in the middle is a haunting place where beauty and terror coincides, and silly moments are delivered with confidence. Romana and the Doctor are such a pleasant duo, and they traipse around like they own the place, inciting rebel forces and toppling down corrupt overlords. In the case of Babblesphere, it's the sentient intelligence controlling a sort of social media platform that has grabbed this world's entire population on a chokehold. Rooted in reality much? Morris is having such a fun time writing the script and coming up with the most ridiculously entertaining characters, and his grasp on the Fourth Doctor and Romana is second to none. If you want a clever Dr. Who adventure that never lets go of its fun factor, Babblesphere is what you should look out for. For me, this is still one of the best Fourth Doctor audios that Big Finish has ever released. Take that for an endorsement.