‘THE HOUSE OF KINGDOM’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Mechanoids and Vargas with the Tenth Doctor, Anya and Mark

‘The House of Kingdom’ is the second story in the ‘Dalek Universe’ season of ‘Doctor Who’ audios with David Tennant. The episode is by Andrew Smith and I greatly enjoyed listening to it throughout.

Following on from ‘The Wrong Woman’, the Doctor is helped by Anya and Mark. They try to locate a scientist to help them out with the current crisis regarding the Sheldrake time tunnels and Daleks. 🙂

However, on a space station where they hope to commandeer a shuttle, an attack by space pirates occurs and it alters the Doctor and friends’ plans. The people on the station soon have a lust for killing.

Escaping in a shuttle, which soon becomes doomed in space, Mark sends out a distress call whilst the Doctor and Anya are out unconscious. They’re soon rescued by Anya’s granddad, Merrick Kingdom.

The Doctor, Anya and Mark find themselves on the planet Neptune, which is in the process of being terraformed. Kevin McNally guest stars as Merrick Kingdom in the episode. It was great to hear him.

‘Doctor Who’ fans will know Kevin McNally for guest starring in ‘The Twin Dilemma’ with Colin Baker as well as three episodes of ‘Flux’ with Jodie Whittaker. He’s also had his share of Big Finish audios. 🙂

I’ve also seen Kevin McNally in the 2019 remake of the three ‘Dad’s Army’ lost episodes from Series 2, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films and episodes of ‘Downton Abbey’. He’s a pretty good actor. 😀

It was interesting to hear him play Merrick Kingdom as Anya’s grandfather. Anya isn’t happy to see her grandfather, since he was involved in an incident that caused the death of her beloved mother. 😦

Merrick regrets the decision he made that ended up killing Anya’s mother, but Anya isn’t willing to forgive him. I like the scenes the Doctor has with Anya where he tries to make her see reason here. 🙂

David Tennant continues to be excellent throughout these ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventures. I easily forget he’s a new series Doctor in a Big Finish audio. He breezes through the stories very seamlessly.

He’s really into the character he plays in ‘Doctor Who’ and I like how he interacts with characters during the 41st century setting of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’. It showcases how great a Doctor he is. 🙂

Jane Slavin is equally good as Anya Kingdom in the audio adventure. She seems to get on well with David Tennant’s Doctor by this point and she isn’t manipulated like she was in ‘The Perfect Prisoners’.

It’s also intriguing to hear Anya’s backstory as a character and that Sara Kingdom and Bret Vyon were her aunt and uncle. The Doctor doesn’t reveal too many details on what happened to them. 😐

Joe Sims is very good as Mark Seven in the audio story. I like how Mark interacts with David Tennant’s Doctor. Both share an intellectual chemistry with each other when working out a mystery.

They discover the Varga plant laboratory in Merrick’s basement before they’re caught by Merrick himself. It becomes tense when the Doctor and Mark were in danger by the terraforming Mechanoids. 😐

Speaking of which, I enjoyed listening to the Mechanoids in this audio adventure. They’re voiced by Nicholas Briggs and come across as the loyal servants, despite still speaking in an incoherent language. 🙂

Hearing the Mechanoids brought back memories for me of when I first saw them in ‘The Chase’ and heard them in ‘The Juggernauts’. It’s nice that the Doctor united two Mechanoids by the story’s conclusion.

The story’s villain is Maria Teresa Creasey as Dr. Abigail Crane, who’s involved with the experiments to create Varga weapons. She’s very cold-hearted when wanting to get rid of the Doctor and friends.

In the end, Merrick self-sacrifices himself by injecting himself with a Varga plant in order to thwart Dr. Crane and allow Anya to escape. Anya gets saved by a Mechanoid reprogrammed by the Doctor.

As the Doctor, Anya and Mark leave Neptune in a stolen SSS spaceship, something unexpected occurs. Mark starts to behave quite strangely and he knocks the Doctor and Anya out unconscious.

I’m not sure where this is going to go, but I’m looking forward to finding out in the next instalment of ‘Dalek Universe’. ‘The House of Kingdom’ has been another engaging audio episode to listen to. 🙂

BONUS DISC – BEHIND-THE SCENES

Disc 4 of the first ‘Dalek Universe’ box set is a behind-the-scenes making-of documentary looking into the two stories ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ and ‘The House of Kingdom’. This was another enjoyable behind-the-scenes documentary which features many cast and crew interviews. 🙂

The documentary has producer David Richardson and writer/script editor John Dorney detailing the development of the ‘Dalek Universe’ series of audios and how they planned to bring back Anya Kingdom with the Tenth Doctor. There are also good interviews with David Tennant and Jane Slavin.

There’s also an interview with Joe Sims, and it was interesting to discover that he worked with David Tennant before in the ITV series ‘Broadchurch’. We delve more into the making of ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ and there’s a nice interview with Gemma Whelan who played the Nun. 🙂

There are also interviews with Mark Gatiss, Chris Jarman and Juliet Aubrey. It was interesting to hear from John Dorney on how the development of ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ came about and how he decided to introduce a female version of the Meddling Monk in Gemma Whelan as the Nun.

There’s then a look into ‘The House of Kingdom’ featuring interviews with writer Andrew Smith and guest cast members Kevin McNally and Maria Teresa Creasy. It was interesting to hear how the Mechanoids were reintroduced in ‘The Diary of River Song’ story ‘Queen of the Mechonoids’ with Anya and Mark.

There’s also an interview with sound designer/music composer Howard Carter, who talks about the challenges of putting together the first three ‘Dalek Universe’ episodes in post-production. There are also thoughts shared by cast and crew on making ‘Dalek Universe’ during the Covid-19 pandemic. 🙂

If you purchase the first ‘Dalek Universe’ box set on its own or the ‘Dalek Universe’ audios in a bundle via Big Finish, there’s an incidental music suite of the first ‘Dalek Universe’ box set to enjoy. I’m surprised this wasn’t included at the end of ‘The House of Kingdom’ or at the end of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ bonus disc for people to listen to. 😐

I’m pleased to have made a start on the ‘Dalek Universe’ season of ‘Doctor Who’ audios with David Tennant through its first box set. I’ve greatly enjoyed listening to ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ and ‘The House of Kingdom’. I’ve also enjoyed David Tennant, Jane Slavin and Joe Sims in the stories.

I’m intrigued where the ‘Dalek Universe’ season will go next in its second box set of audio adventures with David Tennant, Jane Slavin and Joe Sims. Will it be explained why Mark Seven is behaving strangely with the Doctor and Anya at the end of ‘The House of Kingdom’? I hope I’ll find out soon.

‘The House of Kingdom’ rating – 8/10

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The previous story For the Tenth Doctor was ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ (Audio) For Anya was ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ (Audio) For Mark Seven was ‘Buying Time’/’The Wrong Woman’ (Audio)	The next story For the Tenth Doctor is ‘Cycle of Destruction’ (Audio) For Anya is ‘Cycle of Destruction’ (Audio) For Mark Seven is ‘Cycle of Destruction’ (Audio)
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