Vyx is having nightmares – can the Doctor help?

Stewart Pringle and Lauren Mooney pen the first of the Travel in Hope box set of Ninth Doctor Adventures, and it’s a spooky tale that you may well want to have a fresh listen to at Halloween – not that there’s anything particular related to that season about it but the atmosphere that director Helen Goldwyn, sound designer Iain Meadows, composer Howard Carter and the cast create is chilling. The sense of isolation is one that you’d have hoped might be present in elements of Flux on TV; this shows how it can be done.

Christopher Eccleston has shown a real flair for this side to his Doctor, trying to help but refusing to be fobbed off by excuses when he knows that he’s not being told the whole story. Kelly Adams’ Vyx doesn’t dare reveal all that she knows, at least initially, and the dance between the two of them is at the heart of the tale. The Doctor and we as listeners are aware that a catastrophe is possible, but the timing of it and what can be done become clear gradually – but beyond that lie spoilers and you don’t want those for this story.

Verdict: A well-created tale. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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