For thousands of years, it has drifted through space, unimpeded, forgotten, seemingly lifeless. Now, finally, it has been discovered.
Responding to a distress call from the mysterious hulk, the Doctor and his companion, space pilot Mathew Sharpe, walk into a desperate situation. The multi-tentacled semibionic Makara were tasked with renovating the abandoned craft, but now they’ve begun murdering their employers.
The Doctor soon realises that the Makara have been programmed to kill, but by whom, and for what reason? Finding out the truth will mean uncovering a secret that threatens the entire Universe.
THE LURE OF THE NOMAD
I’m not sure what’s going on with “The Lure of the Nomad” by Matthew J. Elliott. It’s a random Colin Baker story dropped into the middle of the schedule, it introduces a new companion, it’s surprisingly unimaginative despite its subject matter, and it’s abominably written and acted. So, I suppose I actually do know what’s going on with this story: it’s terrible.
The central problem, which is sadly common with this author, is the script. There are some genuinely fascinating ideas here: I think the “cuckoo” companion is a great idea still waiting for a great story, I love Elliott’s depiction of the time bubble, I think the Makara are fantastic, and I even think the villains have legitimate potential. Unfortunately, none of it is borne out in a competent manner. The dialogue is uncomfortably clunky. I feel sorry for Matthew Holness, who portrayed greedy businessman Eric Drazen, because he quite audibly has no idea if his character is supposed to be satirical. The plot takes Drazen seriously, but his banter with the other characters feels uncertain: are we supposed to be laughing with him or at him? The only actor who succeeds with this dialogue is Colin Baker himself, and that’s largely because he’s naturally the sort of person to use ten words when one would suffice. Even so, Elliott characterizes the Doctor as a grammar pedant, which feels out of character and drags scenes to a halt every time he corrects another character.
The main attraction of this story is new companion Mathew Sharpe (George Sear), who feels the need to introduce himself to everyone in the world as “Mathew with one ‘t,’ Sharpe with an ‘e.’” It’s meant to be endearing, but it immediately underscores the unnatural, atonal dialogue. Naturally, the listener will wonder who Mathew is – this is a new companion, after all, yet one who has apparently shared many adventures with the Doctor. It’s easy to see why they travel together, as Sear and Baker share an easy chemistry and Mathew’s quirks are mostly charming. But it’s also the most obvious thing in the world that something isn’t right, and sure enough we’re soon heading down the road of Mathew being a fake companion, someone who has traveled with the Doctor simply to engineer his cooperation in a scheme of universal domination. Dramatically, this doesn’t work: the audience will naturally take time to warm up to a new character, and without seeing his previous adventures with the Doctor we’re just constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. I can’t imagine anyone actually being surprised by the revelation of Mathew’s true nature, and Elliott isn’t good enough to make us feel the impact of his betrayal, so it just falls flat. Also, while Sear is quite good as Mathew, he’s not good at all as the Myriad.
I would have enjoyed the “stereotypically evil businessman sacrifices himself to save the day” plot a lot more if I hadn’t literally just heard it in Elliott’s Tenth Doctor Chronicle “Backtrack.” I know writers often reuse effective ideas, but not this unimaginatively and not in adjacent scripts. Still, that story worked because it lacked a conventional villain; “The Lure of the Nomad” is the opposite, with the Myriad wanting to (gasp) destroy the entire universe. It’s a bit of a unique spin on the idea – they’re from the universe after this one and they want to end this one to hasten their own creation – but it’s still cackling maniacs trying to blow everything up, which we’ve seen once or twice before in Doctor Who.
The production isn’t bad: Steve Foxon’s sound design is quite effective and I like how John Ainsworth directs, bringing an energetic pace to an uninspired script. Overall, though, “The Lure of the Nomad” is a failure, a bad script further undermined by confused performances. The script is everything in audio drama, and one this poor should not have been produced.
3/10