The TARDIS materialises in a pitch-dark tunnel, where the Doctor, Amy and Rory stumble on the dead body of a soldier. Questioned by his superior officer, Colonel Bowe, they learn that they're inside a British nuclear bunker, in the middle of an atomic war - in 1982. Amy and Rory weren't even born then, but they know the bomb didn't drop that year, and so does the Doctor. The friends also know they had nothing to do with the death of Sergeant Trott - so who, or what, was the killer? And why does the Doctor's psychic paper not work on the Colonel? The Doctor, Amy and Rory soon learn that something else is lurking in the shadows. Something deadly...
I have to admit that the 11th Doctor audio releases have been quite mixed recently, but this one more than lives up to some of the better ones.
I think the writers have something for giant insects at the moment! First giant Spiders (Darkstar Academy), and now giant c0ckroaches.
This audio is read by Arthur Darvill, who has a lovely voice to listen to. Of course his impersonation of Rory is brilliant, but also his voicing of the other characters is really good. His impression of Matt Smith’s Doctor is amazing, as well as his attempt’s at Amy’s Scottish accent. The story has a quick pace and Darvill is full of enthusiasm, which adds to the listening experience of this particular audio. One thing I am always weary of when listening to these audios read by the main cast is how easy is it to (with this as an example) distinguish between Darvill’s narration and Rory speaking, but Darvill does this really well and you don’t get confused at all.
In general the story is really good. The beginning is almost perfect, and it is one of the strongest Who audios which I’ve listened to in a long time.
If you close your eyes at certain points and get really in to it, some of the story is really detailed and actually really quite creepy. Freaked me out at times, but you can just imagine what it’s like to be trapped in a bunker in the dark… With giant c0ckroaches.
All in all a really good audio which I would highly recommend to anyone. Definitely worth the price, and well worth a listen!
