| SINGULARITY by James Swallow |
| Story 76 Synopsis: The Doctor detects a time disturbance, and lands the TARDIS in 21st century Moscow. He and Turlough are soon checking out the Somnus Tower, where the Somnus Foundation are undertaking strange experiments involving psychics. They eventually learn that the 'Sleepers' at the Foundation are actually refugees from the end of the universe, the last surviving humans, who bear a grudge against the Time Lords. By using the TARDIS, they will able to force the modern-day human race into one giant collective consciousness, a singularity of minds, and then they can bring their fellows back from the future. But Turlough causes a disturbance after he is transferred to the future, and the Doctor fosters dissent amongst the Sleepers, allowing him to use the distraction to wreck their machinery, and send the Sleepers back where they belong. Turlough thinks the TARDIS is destroyed when the Tower explodes, but the Doctor shows he is mistaken, and they can leave after all. |
| Review:- Turlough makes a rare return to Big Finish with a time & mind-bending encounter in Russia... There's no reason why Dr Who can't visit other countries besides the U.K. more often, and it seems no coincidence that Turlough's last run-out was Loups-Garoux, set in Brazil. This time, he's plunged into the cold, and an alien plot to manipulate humans with some psychic potential. The way in which Turlough and the Doctor stumble on someone who can help and give them clues to what's going on may feel a little cliched, but it works well enough. At times, Turlough shows some bottle for a change, and although he feels a little pushed around by the Doctor, he clearly respects what he's been taught, and passes the wisdom on. But the trouble with the Somnus Foundation is that its operators feel they have been abandoned by all, and thus only respect each other. This is a fatal mistake to make, in any circumstances. The knowledge that the aliens are in fact the last dregs of humanity causes the listener to free-associate it with Utopia, although of course that was made after this. Whilst the last humans are again trying to escape their doomed predicament by seeking a new beginning elsewhere, the Somnus sleepers are rather less positive in their outlook, and thus easier to take against. Curiously, the idea of artron energy overload and the end of the universe also turns up in one of the early NAs, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, again with a secretive group of clever-clogs with a superiority complex who view the masses as ignorant cattle. Their grudge against the Time Lords provides some novel distraction, and their use of the TARDIS brings a welcome surprise - these are not desperate losers, but dangerous fanatics. Turlough's time transfer ups the stakes a bit in part 3, but he proves to have reserves of steel that even he probably didn't realise he had. And he can rely on the Doctor causing trouble when the chance arises, as he divides the baddies to conquer, once again. Even though they know what he's doing, they still fall for it. Some people never learn... The basic idea of the singularity is a novel and interesting one, which always helps when bad guys have to be judged as serious or not. On the whole, this is a decent little story that moves with pace and verve, creating understandable characters whom it is easy to make judgements on. Even with the silly "oh but the TARDIS has been destroyed" padding at the end, it's still well worth listening to. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |