Review: Caerdroia

The Doctor's adventures in the mysterious Divergent Universe start to draw to a close with Caerdroia, an Eighth Doctor audio adventure written by Lloyd Rose.

After a battle of minds between the Doctor and the Kro'ka - another example of Big Finish excelling with a scene that would, quite frankly, look pants on television - he and his companions are thrown into a mysterious and confusing environment of giant rotating rabbits, endless offices filled with unhelpful Welshmen, and huge cuckoo-clocks without hands. That's arguably more than enough weirdness already, but then there's the added problem of the Doctor being split into three separate people, each representing a different side of his personality . . .

Caerdroia is, all in all, a huge success. The plot is exciting and very visual, with vivid settings and bold adventure combining to form a play that leaps out and pulls the listener in. The characterisations - especially some lovely Kro'ka-teasing by Charley and C'rizz, whose interactions as fellow companions are quite brilliant across the four episodes - are fantastic, with India Fisher and Conrad Westmaas both performing brilliantly.

Recurring guest star Stephen Perring also shines, tackling the wonderfully-cheesy dialogue with skill, adding true malice to every screech of "DOC-TOR!" and working effectively as a villian.

But best of all is Lloyd Rose's use of the Doctor, and particularly Paul McGann's performance. McGann is by far the true star of the CDs, portraying three different versions of his character, all recognisably the Doctor but all distinctly individual. The petty bickering between these facets of his personality recalls The Three Doctors, but the context means it works much better than multi-Doctor TV episodes ever have. It's testament to his familiarity with (and dedication to) his role that he is able to pull this off - Caerdroia is perhaps his strongest performance yet.

A fantastic and well-written story, enhanced beyond measure by brilliant performances from the four leads. Marvellous.