‘A STING IN THE TALE’
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Tilling Abbey in Northumbria 1039 and a Chase in the TARDIS with the Fourth Doctor
This is where the dots start to come together in the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ audio series of ‘Doctor Who’! 🙂
It’s time for ‘A Sting in the Tale’. No, not the ‘Soldiers of Love’ episode. 😀 I mean, the fourth episode in ‘Hornets’ Nest’, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Richard Franklin as Mike Yates. I’ve said as much as I can about how I feel about the Fourth Doctor BBC audios in the previous reviews. 🙂
With that said, it’s interesting how Paul Magrs has crafted this audio series of ‘Doctor Who’ episodes, by having it start off with Mike Yates reuniting with the Fourth Doctor before the Fourth Doctor relates his encounters with the alien hornets and how he appears to be responsible for them.
There isn’t a clear indication given as to where the alien hornets came from and how they happen to have intelligent minds that want to take control of humanity. Maybe it’s accounted for in ‘Hive of Horror’ next time, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard that audio story and I don’t recall much of it.
It’s also intriguing how the Fourth Doctor is encountering the alien hornets backwards in time in Earth’s past. It started from 2010, going back to 1932, going back to 1832 and now we have a story where the Doctor encounters the hornets first in 1039 before going forth in time to the year 1768. 🙂
One thing I’ll give credit to the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ series so far is how each episode keeps you up-to-date with a recap of the previous episodes before the main feature starts. It was the case in ‘The Dead Shoes’ as well as ‘The Circus of Doom’ and here, which is very significant, in ‘A Sting In The Tale’.
In this episode, the Fourth Doctor relates to Mike how he encountered the alien hornets again for a fourth time when he visited Tilling Abbey in Northumbria in 1039. I couldn’t help being reminded of ‘The Time Meddler’, which took place in Northumbria, albeit in the year 1066 – about 27 years later.
The Doctor finds himself in a bleak English midwinter. Not all is as it seems in the Dark Ages, as the Doctor finds there are wild wolf-like dogs who have besieged the local Tilling Abbey every night. The Doctor is given shelter by the sisters of the abbey, who are in great fear of the wild dogs attacking. 😐
Begging an audience with the Mother Superior, the Doctor sees that the sisters are fiercely protecting her from the wild dogs outside. When the Doctor does meet the Mother Superior, it turns out to be…a pig. I’m not making that up. A pig happens to be the Mother Superior at Tilling Abbey. 😐
I’m not sure what made Paul Magrs come up with that idea in the episode, but it’s absurd and nonsensical. It could easily have been the space pig that appeared in ‘Aliens of London’ with the Ninth Doctor. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Slitheen were behind the hornets’ presence on Earth. 😀
But there’s more to this than meets the eye. Apparently, the Mother Superior pig is possessed by the alien hornets. Very soon, the alien hornets leave the pig and they get into one of the wild wolf-dogs. The Doctor retreats and draws the enemy into the TARDIS where he’s soon chased by the hornets. 😦
Throughout the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ series, Tom Baker is a very good narrator when he plays the Fourth Doctor. If you’re a fan of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, I’ve no doubt you’ll enjoy these BBC audios. He’s certainly someone who can tell bedtime stories to children, which he has done himself on TV. 🙂
Mind you, I found it a challenge to keep up with the many TARDIS scenes when the Doctor is being chased by the swarm of alien hornets. He soon has the wolf-dog for company when the hornets come out of him. Incidentally, the dog ends up being called Captain as in ‘The Stuff of Nightmares’. 🙂
Ah, so that’s where Tom’s Doctor acquired Captain as his pet in Nest Cottage. I wonder if Captain will appear in ‘Hive of Horror’ next time, since he was fighting off the stuffed animals being possessed by the hornets at Nest Cottage. I guess he will appear, but whether as a long-lasting pet, I don’t know.
Tom Baker and Richard Franklin in ‘A Sting In The Tale’.
As well as Tom Baker, the cast also includes Clare Corbett as a Nun at Tilling Abbey. Previously, Clare Corbett played Ernestina Stott in ‘The Dead Shoes’. I did wonder if there was a connection between the Nun character and Ernestina in this ‘Hornets’ Nest’ audio episode, but there didn’t seem to be. 😐
There’s also Susie Riddell as one of the Sisters at Tilling Abbey. Previously, Susie Riddell played Sally in ‘The Circus of Doom’. Again, I wondered whether there was a connection between the Sister and Sally in this ‘Hornets’ Nest’ audio episode. I’m so surprised Paul Magrs didn’t take advantage of that.
There could have been a moment where Tom’s Doctor recognised the Nun and Sister characters from somewhere and said they had similar physical traits to Ernestina and Sally. I mean, the Nun and the Sister could have been Ernestina and Sally’s ancestors in the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ saga. Just a thought.
The episode also features Rula Lenska voicing the Swarm or the Queen of the alien hornets. For ‘Doctor Who’ fans, Rula Lenska played Styles in ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’. She also played Lintilla and the Hitchhiker’s Guide Version 2.0 in ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ radio series. 🙂
From hearing the Swarm/Queen in the episode, she doesn’t sound like Rula Lenska as I heard her talking in ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’. Then again, her voice is distorted when the Doctor confronts the hornets in the TARDIS corridors. She can be quite menacing when she’s being threatening in this.
There are a variety of rooms that the Doctor and the wolf-dog Captain pass by when being chased by the Swarm. This includes the swimming pool, a tennis court and a library, I believe. I’m not sure if this story helped inspire the writing of ‘Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS’ by Stephen Thompson. 😐
I liked the mentions to other malevolent alien races that the Doctor’s come across in his travels, including the Zygons, the Axons, the Nestene Consciousness, the Kraals, the Pescatons, the Krynoids and the Trods of all monsters. The Trods have only appeared in the TV Comic ‘Doctor Who’ stories. 🙂
The Doctor also recollects how the TARDIS had been compromised by the Mandragora Helix in ‘The Masque of Mandragora’ as well as by Sutekh in ‘Pyramids of Mars’. Again, I have to wonder if Paul Magrs was inspired by the macabre aspects of Philip Hinchcliffe’s era rather than Graham Williams’.
Not that I mind that, as most people find the Philip Hinchcliffe era more captivating than the Graham Williams era, and it is considered a popular era. But it goes to show how darker the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ stories are getting, especially when you consider how the alien hornets take possession of people. 😦
There’s the gruesome moment where Antonio ends up having hornets entering his mouth, as described by Tom Baker’s Doctor via narration. Yeah. This is when the Doctor witnesses the hornets’ possession of Antonio as a boy when the TARDIS ends up in Venice in 1768, as directed by the hornets.
It’s interesting how things tie up together with the hornets’ fulfilling their places in Earth’s history for the other ‘Hornets’ Nest’ episodes that took place already from the Doctor’s point of view. The Doctor could have found a way to change things and prevent the hornets’ from controlling Earth’s history. 😐
Sadly, the hornets’ influence on the Doctor when they took control of him in the TARDIS is too much for him to resist. This is how the TARDIS ended up in Venice in 1768 to fulfil how Antonio ended up in becoming the circus ringmaster in ‘The Circus of Doom’. 😦 The Doctor is dismayed by the outcome. 😦
There is a moment in the episode where the Doctor gets to sing ‘Good King Wenceslas’, which is often sung at Christmas time. Since ‘A Sting In The Tale’ was released in November 2010, a month before Christmas in December 2010, I wonder if Paul Magrs wanted us to get into the festive spirit. 🙂
The episode concludes with the Fourth Doctor finishing with telling his story to Mike Yates, just as a new day is about to dawn. Susan Jameson as Mrs. Wibbsey calls to the Doctor and Mike in the cellar from upstairs, telling them that breakfast is ready. For the most part, Mrs. Wibbsey has been absent.
It’ll be interesting to find out what Mrs. Wibbsey’s part in the next episode ‘Hive of Horror’ will be like, whether it’d be good or bad. As the Doctor and Mike Yates make their way up the stairs to exit the cellar, they open the door and find the vicious animals controlled by the hornets about to attack.
Thus, the episode ends on a cliffhanger. ‘A Sting In The Tale’ has been interesting to listen to, especially with the Fourth Doctor relating his adventure on how he visited Northumbria in the Dark Ages before the alien hornets chased him inside the TARDIS before he ended up in Venice in 1768. 🙂
It’s fascinating how the dots are connected together in this episode, especially with tie-ins to ‘The Stuff of Nightmares’, ‘The Dead Shoes’ and ‘The Circus of Doom’. Like all the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ episodes as well as ‘The Nest Cottage Chronicles’, I wish this was more full-cast audio drama than narration. 😦
With that said, I’m intrigued as to how things will turn out in ‘Hive of Horror’ and whether the Fourth Doctor and Mike Yates will be able to thwart the alien hornets, with or without Mrs. Wibbsey’s help. Will there be more full-cast audio than narration in the final ‘Hornets’ Nest’ episode? Well, we’ll see. 🙂
‘A Sting In The Tale’ rating – 7.5/10
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