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Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles #10.01
The Sleeping Blood
Written by Martin Day
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Published: June 2015
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Episode 1: "The Sleeping Blood"
The Sleeping Blood is the first story in The First Doctor - Volume One, a boxset from Big Finish and a revival of the Companion Chronicles. To say that I was pleased that Big Finish was going to continue releasing stories under this banner is an understatement. It is an absolutely fantastic range with very few clunkers, at least that I've heard. So, downloading it upon release was a no-brainer, but unfortunately I hadn't had time to listen until today.
When it comes to a new stories that I haven't seen or heard before, I like to go in blind, not reading the cover blurbs, listen to trailers or read reviews so that I can get the full effect of the story. Just from the title, The Sleeping Blood, I was expecting some kind of variation on a vampire or werewolf story. What we got during episode one, "The Sleeping Blood", was not so fantastical as that, but hit a little closer to home.
The basic premise is that the Doctor seriously ill after being infected by a plant on an inhabited alien world, he and his granddaughter hop from planet to planet in the hopes of finding antibiotics to treat the Doctor as he falls deeper and deeper into deliriousness. They eventually arrive on an inhabited planet named Ruah, and with the Doctor unconscious, it is up to Susan to venture outside and search for the drugs to help her grandfather.
This was a storyline that I hoped would form the background of a story somewhere. I know the series briefly dealt with a character falling ill in the TARDIS in the past (or the future for us) with Barbara in Planet of Giants and Steven in The Myth Makers and The Daleks' Masterplan, but wasn't a major plot point. Which is a shame, as it's so terrifying! Imagine if you were travelling with the Doctor in these earliest days when he has no control of the TARDIS, you fall ill or are attacked and wounded. There is little or no medical help aboard the TARDIS, and the only option is to keep hopping from planet to planet looking for medicine. On some planets, you find no signs of civilization, on others you are treated with fear and suspicion. Of course, this story goes one step further, and have the Doctor himself struck down! The only one that can (apparently) fly the TARDIS!
Listening to this story at 9:30PM on a dark and rainy Autumn night, the creepiness as Susan walks around the abandoned medical research centre, really gave me the chills. That was soon remedied by Susan having a chat with the centre's computer, echoing what was going on with Susan herself. Her chat with the computer dealt with an issue that we are facing in the very real present on Earth, and perhaps serves as a cautionary tale. Antibiotics were abandoned centuries ago as diseases grew resistant to them, forcing humanity to look to other ways to fight of diseases, including nanotechnology.
As a Star Trek fan, nanobots and the like instantly set my hackles rising as I have images of the Borg with technology augmenting their bodies, their mottled grey skin. Terrifying. However, what Martin Day has done with this story has come up with something equally as terrifying. The nanobots themselves are harmless, they're injected into the bloodstream, deal with whatever ailment the patient has and then lay dormant until needed again. Enter the Butcher: A hacker and terrorist who has somehow got control of every nanobot and has used them to kill many of Ruah's leaders and has the power of life and death of the planet's inhabitants.
As episode one ends, we have Susan working with a commando team who's primary mission is to deal with the Butcher by any means necessary. I can't wait.
When it comes to a new stories that I haven't seen or heard before, I like to go in blind, not reading the cover blurbs, listen to trailers or read reviews so that I can get the full effect of the story. Just from the title, The Sleeping Blood, I was expecting some kind of variation on a vampire or werewolf story. What we got during episode one, "The Sleeping Blood", was not so fantastical as that, but hit a little closer to home.
The basic premise is that the Doctor seriously ill after being infected by a plant on an inhabited alien world, he and his granddaughter hop from planet to planet in the hopes of finding antibiotics to treat the Doctor as he falls deeper and deeper into deliriousness. They eventually arrive on an inhabited planet named Ruah, and with the Doctor unconscious, it is up to Susan to venture outside and search for the drugs to help her grandfather.
This was a storyline that I hoped would form the background of a story somewhere. I know the series briefly dealt with a character falling ill in the TARDIS in the past (or the future for us) with Barbara in Planet of Giants and Steven in The Myth Makers and The Daleks' Masterplan, but wasn't a major plot point. Which is a shame, as it's so terrifying! Imagine if you were travelling with the Doctor in these earliest days when he has no control of the TARDIS, you fall ill or are attacked and wounded. There is little or no medical help aboard the TARDIS, and the only option is to keep hopping from planet to planet looking for medicine. On some planets, you find no signs of civilization, on others you are treated with fear and suspicion. Of course, this story goes one step further, and have the Doctor himself struck down! The only one that can (apparently) fly the TARDIS!
Listening to this story at 9:30PM on a dark and rainy Autumn night, the creepiness as Susan walks around the abandoned medical research centre, really gave me the chills. That was soon remedied by Susan having a chat with the centre's computer, echoing what was going on with Susan herself. Her chat with the computer dealt with an issue that we are facing in the very real present on Earth, and perhaps serves as a cautionary tale. Antibiotics were abandoned centuries ago as diseases grew resistant to them, forcing humanity to look to other ways to fight of diseases, including nanotechnology.
As a Star Trek fan, nanobots and the like instantly set my hackles rising as I have images of the Borg with technology augmenting their bodies, their mottled grey skin. Terrifying. However, what Martin Day has done with this story has come up with something equally as terrifying. The nanobots themselves are harmless, they're injected into the bloodstream, deal with whatever ailment the patient has and then lay dormant until needed again. Enter the Butcher: A hacker and terrorist who has somehow got control of every nanobot and has used them to kill many of Ruah's leaders and has the power of life and death of the planet's inhabitants.
As episode one ends, we have Susan working with a commando team who's primary mission is to deal with the Butcher by any means necessary. I can't wait.
Episode 2: "The Butcher's Citadel"
While the timing at the atmosphere was absolutely perfect for listening to "The Sleeping Blood", I'm afraid it wasn't quite perfect for listening to this final installment of the serial, "The Butcher's Citadel": 10:30 on a bright and sunny Autumn morning.When we left our intrepid heroes, the Doctor was lying unconscious in the TARDIS after contracting a fever from a nasty plant, while Susan had set off into an abandoned medical research facility on the planet Ruah in search of antibiotics for her ailing grandfather. Naturally, it's not as easy as collecting a prescription, and the young Time Lady has fallen in with an elite commando unit who are in search for "The Butcher", a hacker and bio-terrorist who is holding the planet's inhabitants to ransom as he controls the nanobots that are within all of their bodies.
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| The Sleeping Blood |
With that build-up, I was expecting an action packed finale that would make any Hollywood blockbuster proud. We didn't get that though, what we got was a rather thought provoking ending, with a bit of a twist. I don't want to reveal too much information and spoil someone too much, as that is something I've become conscious of as I've written these reviews. However, I will say that this story seems to take a thinly veiled assault on various governments and the power of pharmaceutical companies. While my mind immediately went to the United States, but let's be honest, it's exactly the same in the United Kingdom.
In closing then, one of the best things that the Companion Chronicles does is give the companions a chance to shine in a way that modern companions do, as well as get their perspective on things. Susan especially has benefited from this, in that she has moved behind the silly child screaming and twisting her ankle, and use the fact that she is an intelligent child of Gallifrey with knowledge far beyond Earth. In The Sleeping Blood, it is Susan that drives the story forward and is critical to the resolution of the story. Such a shame we didn't see more of this Susan on television.
Continuity Corner:
- Some time has passed since The Beginning as Susan states that the TARDIS is starting to feel like home. Probably after The Alchemists as well, as she and the Doctor have visited Earth and have had enough contact with humanity to be aware of Human customs and sayings.
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