Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions
Written By: Jonathan Morris
RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)
Release Date: August 2014
Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online
Review Posted: 15th August 2014
“The Doctor thought he had defeated the microscopic Nucleus of the Swarm in his fourth incarnation. He was wrong. It survived within the TARDIS, and now it has brought it back to Titan Base, back to the point of its own creation. It has a plan that spans centuries, a plan which will result in the Nucleus becoming more powerful – and larger – than ever before.
To defeat it, the Doctor, Ace and Hex must confront the Nucleus within its new domain - the computer-world of the Hypernet, the information network crucial to the survival of the human empire. But if the Doctor is to save the day, he has to risk everything and everyone he holds dear...”
***
Did you ever see Tron: Legacy? It came out a few years ago. It was, as you can probably guess from the name, a sequel to the film Tron from many years earlier and on paper at least, was fan pleasing and moved things on whilst revisiting some old friends. Well, Revenge of the Swarm is very much Tron: Legacy to The Invisible Enemy's Tron: old settings and old scenes, done bigger and with the different technologies at their disposal and with enough new bits and bobs in between the set pieces to keep you engaged. We travelled into a body before, so where to this time? We took over some people before, so how many now? The prawn got big before, so how much bigger can it go?
I suspect that a lot of people’s enjoyment, or lack thereof, with Revenge of the Swarm will relate to how much people enjoyed The Invisible Enemy. I must confess that it’s one of those stories which I have always really enjoyed: space shrimp! A cool catchphrase! Going into a brain! K-9! To my eyes at least, it’s always been an extremely enjoyable tale: a romp, if you will. Here, years on, we’re back with Jonathan Morris helming the shrimp (a phrase I like so much I’m going to use it again later, just you wait) and his own love for the weird adventure in space and the mind itself is there for all to see. This is as much a love letter to The Invisible Enemy as it is a story in its own right, but that’s no bad thing. Morris’s enthusiasm is infectious and with every twist and turn, you can almost imagine him smiling as he puts words into the mouths of the Doctor, Ace, Hex/Hector, and the aforementioned Nucleus of the Swarm.
I’m not going to dwell on Hex here. I’ve done so before and I fear becoming far too one-track and repetitive. In short though: should Hex have gone before now? Yes. He should have left in A Death in the Family, or if an extension was absolutely necessary then definitely in Gods and Monsters. This isn’t to say that I don’t like Hex (he’s fine) or some of the stories which came afterwards (Protect and Survive was wonderful), but… but the same old criticism I’ve done before, so let’s move on. Hex here is used rather well and given the set-up we now have with him not quite himself (A Hector is a Half-Formed Thing), Morris at least uses this to his advantage. He’s definitely… well, Hex in most ways and not pseudo-Hex, but I guess that was always the intention and it’s the little things which mark him out as different that count. I mean, they really are very little as you’ll be hard-pressed to notice them for the most part, but still. The ending of the play perhaps signifies more of this to come, so we shall see. It also addresses the somewhat odd attitude to death, or rather the lack of outwardly caring about it, which the Doctor and Ace sometimes show. This jars a bit though, given that a lot of Afterlife also covered this and had Ace making similar criticisms there to Hex’s here. Still, a bit of hypocrisy never hurt anyone.
Philip Olivier sounds like he’s enjoying the material he’s given, as do both Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. Indeed, I thought McCoy really sounded happy and at home throughout, something also apparent in the recent first box set of New Adventures with Bernice Summerfield. Whatever Big Finish are doing with him, they’re doing it right, as McCoy is on fire right now.
We’re also treated to John Lesson being wonderful in a role that is not K-9, which is forever a rare but much-treasured thing, and Morris has taken the time to really think about the logistics of the Swarm: when possessed, for example, why is it that no-one seems to be aware that other people are or are not possessed? Clearly, they lack the sort of mental link you’d expect with this sort of alien takeover and it’s more akin to being drafted into an army. Little things like this which Morris has taken time over which means a lot and adds up to a very satisfying play.
Am I dead excited for the second instalment in this trilogy of plays? Not as such, but not because of this play itself, simply due to the trilogy format. I long for a return to the days when every month, for the most part, gave us a different Doctor and companion(s) team as I just haven’t been invested at all in any of the recent arcs and how they resolve (again, partly because they almost never actually end!) but, all that said, I hope it’s as fun as this was, and I would definitely not say no to Jonathan Morris helming the shrimp one more time. (Told you so.)
