‘CAERDROIA’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

A Visit to Caerdroia with the Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’rizz vs. the Kro’ka

Could ‘The Divergent Universe’ season of ‘Doctor Who’ stories be coming to an end? 😀

‘Caerdroia’ is the seventh and penultimate audio adventure to be featured in ‘The Divergent Universe’ season, featuring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, India Fisher as Charley and Conrad Westmaas as C’rizz. I found this a fun romp of an adventure when hearing it on my android tablet. 🙂

Mind you, there are complexities towards the end of the story that got me confused, but overall this was enjoyable to listen to. I especially the interaction between three Eighth Doctors (yes, I said ‘three’ – more on this later), Charley and C’rizz as they tackle against the menace of the evil Kro’ka. 🙂

Essentially this is the ‘beginning of the end’ of ‘The Divergent Universe’ season in ‘Doctor Who’ with Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor. It was meant to last a bit longer than that, but we’ll get to that when we come to ‘The Next Life’ review. Significantly, the story has the Eighth Doctor get his TARDIS back.

For a long while, we’ve had to put without the Doctor’s TARDIS for the majority of ‘The Divergent Universe’ season since ‘Scherzo’. I wish we had the TARDIS featured more in ‘The Divergent Universe’ season, but again, I’ll be coming to that a bit more when we reach ‘The Next Life’ review. 🙂

Comparing ‘Caerdroia’ to ‘Scherzo’, this story features a very small cast. Except rather than be a two-hander, the story is arguably a four-hander between Paul McGann, India Fisher, Conrad Westmaas and Stephen Perring who guest stars as the Kro’ka and two other characters in this audio adventure.

There’s also the brief appearance of Don Warrington as Rassilon towards the end of the adventure, tying in nicely to his next appearance in ‘The Next Life’. The revelations that go on in this adventure are meant to excite the listener into what’s going to happen in the prominently epic six-part finale. 🙂

‘Caerdroia’ is a four-part adventure by Lloyd Rose. So far, this story has the distinction of being the only full-length ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventure to be authored by an American woman. I had no idea this was the case. A shame really as I enjoyed Lloyd Rose’s writing for the Eighth Doctor TARDIS trio.

Lloyd Rose has written a few ‘Doctor Who’ books over the years. She wrote ‘The City of the Dead’ and ‘Camera Obscura’ for the BBC’s ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures’ series and she wrote ‘The Algebra of Ice’ for the BBC’s ‘Past Doctor Adventures’ series. I’ve still yet to check out those BBC book stories. 🙂

She has also contributed to the reference book ‘Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It’. I found the concepts featured in this story by Lloyd Rose fascinating to listen to, especially involving labyrinths and minotaur-like monsters in an attempt to find the TARDIS.

The story has the Kro’ka confronting the Doctor directly when he’s being threatened and becomes desperate. The Doctor also tries to work out what the motives behind his manipulators – the Divergence – are. The Doctor, Charley and C’rizz pay a visit to Caerdroia to find out these answers. 🙂

The world of Caerdroia happens to be a maze or a labyrinth of a strange world which also contains a cuckoo clock with no hands and a Garden of Curiosities which will reveal something that the Doctor has never seen before. Also the Doctor becomes divided into three people when he visits Caerdroia.

Interesting fun fact! The word ‘Caerdroia’ happens to be a Welsh phrase for ‘the fortress of many turnings’. That was interesting to discover in the audio adventure. The Doctor also finds it curious that the Divergence know such a word and wonders whether they have ever visited Wales or not. 😐

Paul McGann continues to be excellent as the Doctor – or rather three Doctors in this audio adventure. It’s very unusual for that to happen and I believe the TARDIS is responsible for this. The three Doctors have different personalities. 🙂 Each aspect of the Doctor is separated from each other.

We have our prime Doctor and then we have the additional Doctors referred to by Charley as ‘Tigger’ and ‘Eeyore’ from ‘Winnie the Pooh’. 😀 Sometimes it was a challenge to identify which Doctor was which in the tale, but when one was accompanying Charley and C’rizz, it became easier. 🙂

India Fisher is equally good as Charley in the adventure. I enjoyed the interaction she had with the ‘Eeyore’ Doctor, whom she found irritating when they had to discover the cuckoo clock with no hands to it. I think Charley would have preferred accompanying the ‘Tigger’ Doctor than ‘Eeyore’. 😀

It was intriguing to hear Charley’s interaction with C’rizz. The two have become good friends during the adventures they’ve had since ‘The Creed of the Kromon’. They also support the Doctor who’s tackling against the mental powers of the Kro’ka. Will their friendship get reflected in the final story?

Conrad Westmaas is equally good as C’rizz in the adventure. C’rizz gets to spend time with the ‘Tigger’ Doctor when they’re visiting the Garden of Curiosities, I believe. C’rizz can be quite annoyed by the ‘Tigger’ Doctor’s ‘happy-go-lucky’ attitude to life and he copes with Charley’s human eccentricities.

For a while, C’rizz has been on a journey to learn more about the universe he’s lived in his whole life. Admittedly, it’s a flawed journey but it’s been interesting to learn more about C’rizz as a character in these audios. I think the Doctor and Charley’s reckless spirit has rubbed off on C’rizz in these stories.

Stephen Perris as the Kro’ka gets to stand out more as the villain of this tale. It was intriguing to learn his motivations as a villain and how he might not be in control of the game he plays with the Doctor, Charley and C’rizz. This is especially as the Divergence and Rassilon look over his shoulder. 😐

As well as the Kro’ka, Stephen Perring plays Evans and Wayland who happen to be the Kro’ka’s constructs in the world of Caerdroia. The ‘Tigger’ Doctor does try to appeal to the Kro’ka’s better nature at the end of ‘Part Three’, but the Kro’ka ends up torturing the Doctor quite mercilessly here.

It’s a battle of wits and mind over matter between the Doctor(s) and the Kro’ka when they confront each other in this tale. The Kro’ka is easily annoyed by the Doctor’s innate babblings, especially in ‘Part Four’ of the story. Amazing that the Doctor was able to outwit the Kro’ka during the final act! 🙂

I did like the minotaur and labyrinth aspects of the story, echoing previous ‘Doctor Who’ stories that utilised the minotaur legend including ‘The Mind Robber’ and ‘The Time Monster’. I’m surprised the Nimon from ‘The Horns of Nimon’ and ‘Seasons of Fear’ weren’t mentioned during the adventure. 😐

Apparently, C’rizz’s home of Eutermes has a very dangerous wild animal called an ‘obelat’ which might be similar to the minotaur. It’s intriguing how Caerdroia takes aspects of the Doctor, Charley and C’rizz’s memories of these creatures, inserting them into this maze/labyrinth for them to tackle.

I like how the ‘Tigger’ Doctor makes references to previous audio adventures in ‘The Divergent Universe’ when he surmises how the Divergence are putting their plans into action. The references allude to Light City from ‘The Natural History of Fear’ as well as Setarus from ‘The Twilight Kingdom’.

The three Doctors aspect also alludes to Major Koth from ‘The Twilight Kingdom’. I’m surprised that Eutermes from ‘The Creed of the Kromon’, the Multihaven from ‘Faith Stealer’ and Bortresoye from ‘The Last’ weren’t mentioned. I’m not sure if we’re still on Bortrestoye or whether we have left it. 😐

The story concludes with the three Eighth Doctors, Charley and C’rizz having found the TARDIS. The three Doctors recombine as one once entering the TARDIS. This is the first time that C’rizz has entered the TARDIS in the series. The TARDIS trio soon plan to defeat the Divergence as they leave. 🙂

‘Caerdroia’ has been another very enjoyable ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventure in ‘The Divergent Universe’ series of stories with the Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’rizz. I’m glad they were able to thwart the Kro’ka in his plans and recover the TARDIS which I’ve wanted to happen for a long time. 😀

I’m looking forward to hearing more stories with the Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’rizz travelling in the TARDIS within the Divergent Universe…oh wait! There’s just one story left in ‘The Divergent Universe’ season. Hmm. Well, it has to be something worthwhile especially as a six-part finale, right?

What has become of the Kro’ka as Rassilon tortured him at the end? Will he continue to serve him?

‘Caerdroia’ rating – 8/10

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The previous story For the Eighth Doctor was ‘The Last’ (Audio) For Charley was ‘The Last’ (Audio) For C’rizz was ‘The Last’ (Audio)	The next story For the Eighth Doctor is ‘The Next Life’ (Audio) For Charley is ‘The Next Life’ (Audio) For C’rizz is ‘The Next Life’ (Audio)
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