DOMAIN OF THE VOORD

The TARDIS lands on a sailing ship on an alien world that is mostly ocean, with one major land mass (this isn’t Marinus).  At first taken for stowaways, and then spies, and then sources of information, The Doctor, Barbara, Ian, and Susan become separated from the TARDIS when they’re taken to the Admiral’s flagship that’s leading a flotilla.  They’re told that they once inhabited the planet’s main landmass but, since being invaded with the survivors fleeing to whatever ship they can find, it’s taken a long time to bring together such a flotilla.

The ship they landed on is soon attacked and scuttled, leaving it sinking to the seabed, complete with the TARDIS stuck in the cargo hold.  Survivors that jump from the ship before it sinks are quickly pulled under by an unknown force.

When sonar picks up a contact, the Admiral orders a diving squad to investigate.  Concerned about the loss of the TARDIS, Ian volunteers to join them.  He’s soon suited up in a very “early years” deep sea diving suit with metal helmet and air pipe leading back up to the surface.

Underwater, the squad encounter bullet-shaped submersibles that attack the divers, one of which is dragged away.  Ian recognises the pilot of the submersible as a Voord.  On hearing that the Doctor and his friends have encountered, and defeated, the Voord before, the Admiral is quick to seek their help.

A large number of Voord submarines rise up from the ocean floor, and attack the flotilla, forcing the Admiral to drop depth charges and fire torpedoes even though his diving squad is still below the surface.

Ian is rammed by a submersible and is dragged away as his lifeline snaps.  The Admiral’s ship takes the brunt of the attack.  With the sonar operator knocked out, the Doctor takes his place and tries to contact Ian at the same time as operating the sonar.

Ian forces the submersible to surface, just before his lungs burst, and he quickly gets embroiled in a knife fight with the Voord pilot.  Ian wins the battle but, in the distance, he sees the Admiral’s ship sinking.

Barbara leaves Susan on one of the lifeboats and rushes back to the bridge to urge the Doctor that he must leave.  Before they can get out, their way is blocked by the destruction and they’re trapped.  Water is lapping up around the windows, and they have no way out as the ship sinks further below the surface…

An awful lot happens in this first episode of Domain of the Voord.  Admittedly, the alien menace could have been anyone and not necessarily the Voord, but I’m sure later episodes will expand on their inclusion.

The adventure is the first to come from Big Finish‘s The Early Adventures range, back in September 2014.  In production, it’s a cross between their full-cast main range adventures and their single narrator (with additional voice) Companion Chronicles range.  For this story the lead voices are William Russell, who performs the roles of the narrator, Ian Chesterton, and the Doctor whilst Carole Ann Ford performs as the narrator, Susan, and Barbara.  Other roles are taken by several other voice actors.

This approach both works and doesn’t work at the same time.  The narrated parts of the story are not told in First Person, so you end up having what sounds like Ian telling us what Ian is doing in third person.  Likewise with Susan.  It’s a little off-putting.

William Russell’s interpretation of William Hartnell’s First Doctor is an exaggerated clipped version of the First Doctor’s irascibility.  Carole Ann Ford doesn’t seem to be making any effort to make her version of Barbara sound any different to either her own voice, or her recapturing of the more youthful Susan.  Susan sounds just fractionally different from Carole Ann Ford’s regular voice, but her Barbara is indistinguishable – so there are times when you’re not sure who’s doing the talking.

Fortunately, the cliffhanger would suggest that both Barbara and the Doctor are going to be missing from a good chunk of the adventure so there shouldn’t be any more confusion over who’s talking.

What is also a little disconcerting is that you have what sounds like Susan telling us what’s happening in a scene where Susan isn’t present because, of course, now it’s Carole Ann Ford narrating the story to us.  William Russell, by contrast, has put some effort into making his more youthful Ian Chesterston suitably different from the “mature William Russell voice” by virtue of infusing his “young Chesterton” dialogue with a sense of energy and action.

All of that being said, I’m perhaps being slightly over-picky.  There’s plenty going on in this adventure and, once you start getting used to how the voices are being used, it’s a relatively easy listen.  I’m quite looking forward to the rest of this adventure.