The Acheron Pulse
Following on from the Burning
Prince would be difficult. After such a promising start and great set up, the
trilogy looked set to be a winner. The Acheron Pulse probably had the most
difficult job of the three, to continue the good work without letting the
momentum slip. Unfortunately, compared to last times extravaganza, it just
doesn’t follow pace.
The Burning Prince had everything going for it; gripping storyline, explosive action and a shocking ending to boot (something that would normally be set for a series finale). Trying to follow on from this was no mean feat, and writer Rick Briggs seemed to draw the short straw. The Doctor finally gets round to delivering the royal carcanet to its rightful owner, but arrives far out of the Drashani Empire’s homeworld. Instead he lands on Cawdor, a primitive planet within the empire which has suddenly become the battleground for its next war, this time with the Wrath and their secretive leader.
The sudden change to a pre-industrial planet is far to jarring for me. Seeing what technology the Empire had before gave it a grand scale, something which could really conquer the stars. But here, this is reduced to a stereotypical bunch of marauders and a few Drashani mechanics. It really puts a dent in the idea of the Empire. Sure it’s entirely reasonable that this sort of planet would be out there, but it doesn’t show an interesting side to such a detail society. It just makes it… normal and therefore undermines everything that the two houses showed in the previous tale.
Another problem of following a great story, is that everyone you cared about is now dead. Before, the sympathy lied with house Sorsha through Prince Kilo. But they were killed (I think, this seemed to contradict itself a few times here), and we are left with the house that butchered the other. Now granted they aren’t all bad but it was a nagging sense in my head that this atrocity happened, and suddenly I am far less sympathetic to these new characters, no matter how innocent they are. The Empress Cheni, cousin to Princess Aliona, is also played by Kirsty Besterman. Whilst this does lend a recognisable tone, allowing the keen eared to hear the relation between the two, the same problem occurs. Given that I know her family’s past, I don’t care about her future, which ruins the more dramatic moments. In fact, the only character to have survived the Succession of Blood, (SPOILERS) Prince Kilo, is twisted into the villain here. It does make a good reveal and a strong link between episodes, it means that every character here is either serving a murderer (however indirectly) or been twisted into one. And with that, any hope of engaging with the characters is murdered as well.
Where this does work is the new enemy, the Wrath. The next logical step in the Igris’s story, they are a good enemy. The transformation into one is notably horrific; the (not quite) dying screams painting a gory image of what is occurring. I was left in mind of the scene from Dragonfire, where Kane’s face melts away. There was only one downside. Having heard The Shadow Heart before this re-listen, the change between the voices is made so much more apparent. New effects are added onto the latter story for obvious reasons later, but once changed, they were so much more remarkable and recognisable. Here, they could just be any creature, the voice interchangeable with any other Big Finish creature. It’s a shame, and whilst it doesn’t ruin the story, it just helps it to stay even more unremarkable.
On the positive side, it is full of great ideas. Tenebris’s past is a nice addition, and is the effect of the Acheron Pulse. It’s rare you get to see the effect of a weapon on Doctor Who, normally it’s fire, there’s a puff of smoke and a corpse on the ground, but to see something which doesn’t quite kill the victim is inspired, and does add to the redeeming qualities.
On the whole, The Acheron Pulse isn’t an awful tale. It had the misfortune to follow a great setup, leaving fans expecting more. Not every story can be my cup of tea, and, sadly, this one is added to that list.
The Burning Prince had everything going for it; gripping storyline, explosive action and a shocking ending to boot (something that would normally be set for a series finale). Trying to follow on from this was no mean feat, and writer Rick Briggs seemed to draw the short straw. The Doctor finally gets round to delivering the royal carcanet to its rightful owner, but arrives far out of the Drashani Empire’s homeworld. Instead he lands on Cawdor, a primitive planet within the empire which has suddenly become the battleground for its next war, this time with the Wrath and their secretive leader.
The sudden change to a pre-industrial planet is far to jarring for me. Seeing what technology the Empire had before gave it a grand scale, something which could really conquer the stars. But here, this is reduced to a stereotypical bunch of marauders and a few Drashani mechanics. It really puts a dent in the idea of the Empire. Sure it’s entirely reasonable that this sort of planet would be out there, but it doesn’t show an interesting side to such a detail society. It just makes it… normal and therefore undermines everything that the two houses showed in the previous tale.
Another problem of following a great story, is that everyone you cared about is now dead. Before, the sympathy lied with house Sorsha through Prince Kilo. But they were killed (I think, this seemed to contradict itself a few times here), and we are left with the house that butchered the other. Now granted they aren’t all bad but it was a nagging sense in my head that this atrocity happened, and suddenly I am far less sympathetic to these new characters, no matter how innocent they are. The Empress Cheni, cousin to Princess Aliona, is also played by Kirsty Besterman. Whilst this does lend a recognisable tone, allowing the keen eared to hear the relation between the two, the same problem occurs. Given that I know her family’s past, I don’t care about her future, which ruins the more dramatic moments. In fact, the only character to have survived the Succession of Blood, (SPOILERS) Prince Kilo, is twisted into the villain here. It does make a good reveal and a strong link between episodes, it means that every character here is either serving a murderer (however indirectly) or been twisted into one. And with that, any hope of engaging with the characters is murdered as well.
Where this does work is the new enemy, the Wrath. The next logical step in the Igris’s story, they are a good enemy. The transformation into one is notably horrific; the (not quite) dying screams painting a gory image of what is occurring. I was left in mind of the scene from Dragonfire, where Kane’s face melts away. There was only one downside. Having heard The Shadow Heart before this re-listen, the change between the voices is made so much more apparent. New effects are added onto the latter story for obvious reasons later, but once changed, they were so much more remarkable and recognisable. Here, they could just be any creature, the voice interchangeable with any other Big Finish creature. It’s a shame, and whilst it doesn’t ruin the story, it just helps it to stay even more unremarkable.
On the positive side, it is full of great ideas. Tenebris’s past is a nice addition, and is the effect of the Acheron Pulse. It’s rare you get to see the effect of a weapon on Doctor Who, normally it’s fire, there’s a puff of smoke and a corpse on the ground, but to see something which doesn’t quite kill the victim is inspired, and does add to the redeeming qualities.
On the whole, The Acheron Pulse isn’t an awful tale. It had the misfortune to follow a great setup, leaving fans expecting more. Not every story can be my cup of tea, and, sadly, this one is added to that list.