| WHISPERS OF TERROR by Justin Richards |
| Story 3 Synopsis: The TARDIS arrives in the Museum of Aural Antiquities, where the Doctor and Peri stumble on a body, and a woman fleeing the scene. They learn that speeches of the dead statesman Visteen Krane seem to have been altered. Peri accompanies the curator, Gantman, when they're attacked by some kind of sonic creature. The Doctor decides it must be a creature that lives as a soundwave, and can mimic other sounds. He orders the Museum be cut off from the outside world, to stop it escaping. Krane died the week before, and was believed to name Beth Pernell as his vice-president. He was a cert to win the election. The edited speeches seem to now favour Pernell more than they did before. When the Doctor learns Krane spent most of his time at the Museum, and even died there, he realises the soundwave is Krane. He manages to trap Krane on a disc, but Pernell gets hold of it. She tries to find out what it wants, but her torture sends it mad, and it wants to kill. Peri frees it by mistake, and the Doctor realises that Pernell's planned broadcast will allow Krane to duplicate himself many times over, travelling through the sound wave. He pleads with her not to broadcast, but she ignores the danger. Krane accepts the Doctor's plea not to take revenge. But the Doctor also thwarts the broadcast, thinking he has also cancelled out Krane's soundwave. Listening again to the recording of Krane's death, he realises that Krane didn't commit suicide - he was shot by Stengard, Pernell's right-hand man. Krane kills Stengard, and the Doctor learns that Krane is still alive, and restored to sanity. The Doctor lets Pernell have her broadcast, but though she expects it to show Krane endorsing her, as she planned, it now shows him condemning her. The Doctor also tricks her into admitting the plot against Krane. She escapes, her career finished, but Krane has downloaded his way into her vehicle, and causes it to crash, killing her. Krane gets to stay at the Museum, and the Doctor and Peri leave. |
| Review:- The prospect of sound-only adventures inspires a story very much about sounds. The Doctor and Peri appear here together for the first time since Mindwarp, and seem to still be in their spiky phase, the Doctor repeatedly putting her down for the way she talks, which is incredibly rude of him. Fortunately, they soon find a dead body, and tumble into the world of the late Visteen Krane, and his replacement as Presidential candidate, Beth Pernell. Whilst the idea of a sound drama about sound is, er, sound, and the concept of editing taped speeches to create a new meaning is pretty worthwhile, there are times when the 'pictures' aren't good enough. For a museum, it's pretty dull. If you've a grasp of what a studio might look like, you're alright, but otherwise it might as well be all taking place in one big room. The characters are pretty well written and acted, though. Lisa Bowerman makes a good villainness as Pernell, trying to manipulate her late employer for her own ends. Pernell's talk of the public needing specific leadership is hardly surprising stuff, but then these audios haven't the scope for political discussion. The other voice of note is Peter Miles as the blind curator, Gantman. His blindness allows for the subterfuge of Napton, whom he alone can 'see'. The Doctor and Peri are perhaps pretty averagely written and acted, but then there's little for them to do, except wait as the Doctor slowly deduces the true plot, and so on. It's a simple tale, told well. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |