Story: The Haunting of Villa Diodati
Written By: Maxine Alderton
Length: 50 Minutes
Year: 2020
Mary Shelley and the Doctor have a history. Sort of. In the world of spin-off media, Mary Shelley met and briefly traveled with the Eighth Doctor. In his first audio adventure with Big Finish (Storm Warning), The Eighth Doctor makes mention of the fact that he had been there when Byron suggested they each write a Ghost story. And mentions of Mary Shelley were not uncommon in the early days of Paul McGann on audio. Eventually, Big Finish did a mini-series in which we learned that Shelley briefly joined the Eighth Doctor on his travels.
You can argue that this episode completely contradicts that past story, but the truth is the universe has had a massive Time War and has been rebooted at least once since then, and since there are so many time traveling beings within this universe...eh. Not worth getting wrapped up in that kind of continuity inconsistencies.
Anyhow, the Doctor and friends decide to witness this momentous occasion themselves, the night that Frankenstein is created. But when they get there things aren't quite right. For one, Percy Shelley (Mary's husband) is somehow absent. And soon they find that the house is changing, with characters finding themselves going up stairs and finding themselves exactly where they were, or leaving a room and walking right back into the same room. And then a Cyberman shows up. Alone. You know...like Captain Jack's warning?
This episode is very much the set up of our upcoming two-part finale. Ultimately, the Doctor is given a rock and a hard place choice. Either she not give the Cyberman what he wants, or Percy Shelley dies, and then a lot of human history is re-written. It could sacrifice not only the future her friends come from, but their very existences as well. She decides to not heed Jack's warning. She gives the Cyberman the device (which had embedded itself within Shelley) it can use to reignite the Cyber Wars. And now she has to head to the future and undo what she just did. Things are heating up!
I quite enjoyed this one. It had a spooky atmosphere, some good characterization for the Thirteenth Doctor, one of the creepiest and nastiest Cybermen we've ever had, and it offered up some decent payoff for the Jack warning and set up for the big finale. I think this was a strong one. I know everyone seemed to be jazzed after the Jo Martin Doctor reveal, but I think overall I enjoyed this episode more. But I'm probably a weirdo.
NEXT TIME: The Cyber Wars
Written By: Maxine Alderton
Length: 50 Minutes
Year: 2020
Mary Shelley and the Doctor have a history. Sort of. In the world of spin-off media, Mary Shelley met and briefly traveled with the Eighth Doctor. In his first audio adventure with Big Finish (Storm Warning), The Eighth Doctor makes mention of the fact that he had been there when Byron suggested they each write a Ghost story. And mentions of Mary Shelley were not uncommon in the early days of Paul McGann on audio. Eventually, Big Finish did a mini-series in which we learned that Shelley briefly joined the Eighth Doctor on his travels.
Anyhow, the Doctor and friends decide to witness this momentous occasion themselves, the night that Frankenstein is created. But when they get there things aren't quite right. For one, Percy Shelley (Mary's husband) is somehow absent. And soon they find that the house is changing, with characters finding themselves going up stairs and finding themselves exactly where they were, or leaving a room and walking right back into the same room. And then a Cyberman shows up. Alone. You know...like Captain Jack's warning?
This episode is very much the set up of our upcoming two-part finale. Ultimately, the Doctor is given a rock and a hard place choice. Either she not give the Cyberman what he wants, or Percy Shelley dies, and then a lot of human history is re-written. It could sacrifice not only the future her friends come from, but their very existences as well. She decides to not heed Jack's warning. She gives the Cyberman the device (which had embedded itself within Shelley) it can use to reignite the Cyber Wars. And now she has to head to the future and undo what she just did. Things are heating up!
I quite enjoyed this one. It had a spooky atmosphere, some good characterization for the Thirteenth Doctor, one of the creepiest and nastiest Cybermen we've ever had, and it offered up some decent payoff for the Jack warning and set up for the big finale. I think this was a strong one. I know everyone seemed to be jazzed after the Jo Martin Doctor reveal, but I think overall I enjoyed this episode more. But I'm probably a weirdo.
NEXT TIME: The Cyber Wars
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