The Shadow of the Scourge

On behalf of the Time Lords, I offer you the unconditional surrender of the planet Earth.

The Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and… the summoning of the scourge.

The Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that’s come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host, and a threat from another universe that’s ready for every trick the Doctor’s got up his sleeve.

This time, has the Doctor gone too far?

Review

The Shadow of the Scourge is a story that resonates with me at a stronger level than some people who will listen to it, as it is set in Kent, the county in which I was born and lived during my childhood, teenage years and some part of my early adulthood. It’s the small things that make a story stand out to you, for instance, the Third Doctor serial The Mutants was filmed in Bluewater Caves, which is now home to the Bluewater Shopping Centre, where I spent what feels like quite a lot of time growing up. It’s odd things that stand out to me in some Doctor Who stories – it might be an actor who I have loved in something else cropping up in a guest role, or simply a choice of location.

This isn’t supposed to happen in Kent!

Michael Pembroke

I quite enjoyed this story, but I think I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second half. There are some interesting elements that are brought into the first two parts. The three main members of the guest cast put in good performances and it sets up the elements of the occult and the scientific experiment well to set up the intrigue. I think the story lost me slightly when it starts dealing with the astral plane and the idea of the Doctor surrendering the Earth felt like a step too far for the Doctor, especially when it is revealed quite how out of his depth he is. I still enjoyed it quite a lot, and the subplots with Michael and Annie work well. There is some nice humour injected by Paul Cornell, and it is certainly a solid story which could have been made great with a few alterations.

One of the biggest problems with The Shadow of the Scourge is the fact that the cliffhangers do not feel like they are at the most logical point. The story seems to go past what I would think would be the ‘logical’ cliffhanger, and the actual cliffhanger is weaker than that moment. A few times I was sure that the credits were about to roll, only to be surprised that the story continued for a few minutes. I think that the first one, where the Doctor offers up the unconditional surrender of the Earth, works better than what I would have considered to be the logical break point, but the other two don’t work nearly as well. The story really taps into the body horror behind the Scourge, converting a character who is pregnant and also relishing in the sounds of bones cracking and crunching.

I quite like the idea behind the Scourge, an alien foe who are able to transcend dimensions and prey on feelings of human guilt and fear to lull the human race into compliance. They are a parasitic foe, who prey on the sorrow of lesser races in order to subjugate them. Whilst the vocal effects are good, they can get a bit wearing over time, especially in prolonged dialogue scenes, the performance of Peter Trapani as the Scourge Leader is strong. One thing that did frustrate me about the Scourge is that they have a hive mind, so stopping one of them stops all of them. They are, however, truly sadistic, seen later setting the humans on each other, making them tear apart the weakest of the humans in the hotel.

As seen in the pretty awful-looking cover, we have two companions here, in the shape of Bernice Summerfield and Ace. This allows the characters to be split between the three different groups who are using the function rooms at the Pinehill Crest Hotel, the spiritual channelers, the experiment and the cross stitchers in the early part. It also later gives Ace and Benny someone to talk to whilst the Doctor is incapacitated by the Scourge, and also means that the narrative can progress inside and outside the Doctor’s mind when Benny enters to help the Doctor.

You see, I set myself up as a slayer of monsters, someone who battles with demons and to do that, on needs a certain authority. What gives me the right to walk into situations like this and juggle with the fate of planets? Who gives me permission to stand up?

Who does?

My friends do. You putting me through all this soul-searching only served to remind me of that. And there’s something else. That I’m the Doctor. You said you read many texts concerning me. That the central feature of them was my desire for freedom. Surely you noticed something else.

What?

That I always beat the monsters.

The Seventh Doctor and Scourge Leader

It’s a nice touch having the Doctor’s past incarnations appearing at a distance in the Doctor’s mind, along with the Eighth Doctor. The distance serves to reinforce just how different the Seventh Doctor is from his other selves. There are some stories that you could easily exchange the incarnation of the Doctor, but this is one where this would feel out of character for any other Doctor than the Seventh. This incarnation schemes and plans, and this is a story where a lot of his plans seemingly backfire on him. Ultimately, the Doctor emerges triumphant, trapping the Leader of Scourge based on human emotions of joy when Michael learns that Annie is pregnant with his child, which sows seeds of doubt in the Scourge Leader. McCoy feels as though he is firmly back in the groove with his Doctor and portrays him really well, in a story that sees his Doctor perhaps bite off more than he could chew.

Verdict: The Shadow of the Scourge is a story that starts well and becomes increasingly generic. It is an effective story though. 7/10

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield), Holly King (Annie Carpenter), Caroline Burns-Cook (Mary Hughes), Lennox Greaves (Brian Hughes), Michael Piccarilli (Michael Pembroke), Nigel Fairs (Gary Williams) & Peter Trapani (Scourge Leader).

Writer: Paul Cornell

Director: Gary Russell

Producer: Jason Haigh-Ellery and Gary Russell

Composer: Alistair Lock

Parts: 4

Monthly Range Number: 13

Behind the Scenes

• This story marks the first time that Lisa Bowerman has appeared in a Doctor Who audio as Bernice Summerfield.

Cast Notes

• Lisa Bowerman had previously appeared in Survival. She had started playing the role of Bernice Summerfield for Big Finish before they acquired the rights for Doctor Who.
• Holly King has also appeared in Neverland and Kingdom of Silver.

Best Quote

It’s one of the eternal mysteries of the universe; why does tea made in a hotel bedroom taste worse than tea made under any other circumstances?

That’s what I like about you, Doctor, your sense of priorities.

The Seventh Doctor and Bernice Summerfield

Previous Seventh Doctor review: The Fires of Vulcan

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