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Big Finish: Monthly Range #148
Doctor Who: Rat Trap
1983: as the country goes to the polls, two 'Urban Explorers', together with a freelance journalist, break into the long-defunct Cadogan Tunnels, once a secret wartime facility... and later, so rumour has it, the site of an experimental laboratory with a nasty sideline in vivisection.
What they find, in its twisting underground corridors, is something the most cynical conspiracy theorist could never have imagined: a highly-evolved society of questing, intelligent creatures, living right under humanity's nose for decades.
But there's no way out of the tunnels — as the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough are about to discover when the TARDIS brings them, too, into the complex. It's a rat trap — and they've all been caught!
What they find, in its twisting underground corridors, is something the most cynical conspiracy theorist could never have imagined: a highly-evolved society of questing, intelligent creatures, living right under humanity's nose for decades.
But there's no way out of the tunnels — as the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough are about to discover when the TARDIS brings them, too, into the complex. It's a rat trap — and they've all been caught!
Audio CD
First published June 30, 2011
1 person is currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Tony Lee
520 books47 followersA New York Times Best-selling Graphic Novelist, Tony Lee was born in West London, UK in 1970. Informed by a teacher that he had a comic book style of writing, (a comment meant more as an insult), Tony decided that one day he would write for comics.
Tony has written for a variety of mediums including Radio 4, The BBC, commerical television in both the UK and US, magazines and both local and national newspapers. He has also written several award winning local radio campaigns. In 1991 he wrote for a small press comics publisher, of which only one project, The Cost of Miracles in Comic Speculator News was ever printed, and remains his first printed commercial comic work.
Moving away from comics, he went back into trade journalism and media marketing/creation. His small press magazine Burnt Offerings was a minor seller on both sides of the Atlantic, and was the first esoteric magazine to interview mainstream creators like Terry Pratchett and Pat Mills.
Since returning to comics in 2002, he has written for a variety of publishers including Marvel Comics, DC Comics/Zuda, Games Workshop, Panini Comics, Titan Publishing, AAM/Markosia Enterprises, Rebellion/2000ad and IDW Publishing amongst others, writing a variety of creator owned titles and licenses that include X-Men, Spider Man, Doctor Who, Starship Troopers, Wallace & Gromit and Shrek.
He is the writer of the ongoing Doctor Who series of comics from IDW, beginning in July 2009, and his award nominated, creator-owned miniseries Hope Falls was collected by AAM/Markosia in May 2009. His next book with them, From The Pages Of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula': Harker, was released in November 2009 to critical acclaim.
Added to this, Tony adapted Pride & Prejudice & Zombies into a graphic novel for Del Rey Publishing, with art by Cliff Richards - this was a New York Times #1 Bestselling Paperback Graphic Novel for May 2010 - he is also adapting Anthony Horowitz's Power of Five series into graphic format for Walker Books, the first - Raven's Gate is due out in late 2010, and he has adapted four Horowitz Horror books with Dan Boultwood for Hachette Children's Books.
His other book with Walker Books, Outlaw: The Legend Of Robin Hood (drawn by Sam Hart) was released in 2009 and has already been awarded a Junior Library Guild: Fall 2009 Selection, and 'best for 2010' awards from both the American Library Association and the New York Public Library in the USA, among others. In March 2010 it was announced that it was also a finalist for the Children's Choice Book Awards. The next in the 'Heroes & Heroines' series, Excalibur: The Legend Of King Arthur by Tony Lee & Sam Hart is scheduled for March 2011.
Outside of comics he is writing several books for children.
Tony is represented by Julian Friedmann of the Blake Friedmann Literary, TV and Film Agency.
Tony is also an accomplished Bard and performer, and has held the High Bard chair of the East Sussex Broomstick Rally on several occasions. His lecture Creating Gods for fun and Profit and his series of lectures on Bards and Ritual Magic were received to critical acclaim, and he still lectures occasionally in London, the Midlands and Sussex. As a Covent Garden Street Performer in the 90's, he performed 'The Scarlet Blade' Street Theatre show at the Edinburgh Festival and at locations across the UK, convincing members of the public to act out an insane pantomime for his amusement.
Added to this Tony is an accomplished storyteller and lecturer on writing, and has performed at libraries, events and schools around the world including the 2009 Edinburgh International Book Festival, a 2009 tour of India for the British Council, and in 2003 around the Wadi Rum bedouin campfire in Jordan.
Tony currently lives in London with his fiancée, Tracy.
from: http://www.tonylee.co.uk
Tony has written for a variety of mediums including Radio 4, The BBC, commerical television in both the UK and US, magazines and both local and national newspapers. He has also written several award winning local radio campaigns. In 1991 he wrote for a small press comics publisher, of which only one project, The Cost of Miracles in Comic Speculator News was ever printed, and remains his first printed commercial comic work.
Moving away from comics, he went back into trade journalism and media marketing/creation. His small press magazine Burnt Offerings was a minor seller on both sides of the Atlantic, and was the first esoteric magazine to interview mainstream creators like Terry Pratchett and Pat Mills.
Since returning to comics in 2002, he has written for a variety of publishers including Marvel Comics, DC Comics/Zuda, Games Workshop, Panini Comics, Titan Publishing, AAM/Markosia Enterprises, Rebellion/2000ad and IDW Publishing amongst others, writing a variety of creator owned titles and licenses that include X-Men, Spider Man, Doctor Who, Starship Troopers, Wallace & Gromit and Shrek.
He is the writer of the ongoing Doctor Who series of comics from IDW, beginning in July 2009, and his award nominated, creator-owned miniseries Hope Falls was collected by AAM/Markosia in May 2009. His next book with them, From The Pages Of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula': Harker, was released in November 2009 to critical acclaim.
Added to this, Tony adapted Pride & Prejudice & Zombies into a graphic novel for Del Rey Publishing, with art by Cliff Richards - this was a New York Times #1 Bestselling Paperback Graphic Novel for May 2010 - he is also adapting Anthony Horowitz's Power of Five series into graphic format for Walker Books, the first - Raven's Gate is due out in late 2010, and he has adapted four Horowitz Horror books with Dan Boultwood for Hachette Children's Books.
His other book with Walker Books, Outlaw: The Legend Of Robin Hood (drawn by Sam Hart) was released in 2009 and has already been awarded a Junior Library Guild: Fall 2009 Selection, and 'best for 2010' awards from both the American Library Association and the New York Public Library in the USA, among others. In March 2010 it was announced that it was also a finalist for the Children's Choice Book Awards. The next in the 'Heroes & Heroines' series, Excalibur: The Legend Of King Arthur by Tony Lee & Sam Hart is scheduled for March 2011.
Outside of comics he is writing several books for children.
Tony is represented by Julian Friedmann of the Blake Friedmann Literary, TV and Film Agency.
Tony is also an accomplished Bard and performer, and has held the High Bard chair of the East Sussex Broomstick Rally on several occasions. His lecture Creating Gods for fun and Profit and his series of lectures on Bards and Ritual Magic were received to critical acclaim, and he still lectures occasionally in London, the Midlands and Sussex. As a Covent Garden Street Performer in the 90's, he performed 'The Scarlet Blade' Street Theatre show at the Edinburgh Festival and at locations across the UK, convincing members of the public to act out an insane pantomime for his amusement.
Added to this Tony is an accomplished storyteller and lecturer on writing, and has performed at libraries, events and schools around the world including the 2009 Edinburgh International Book Festival, a 2009 tour of India for the British Council, and in 2003 around the Wadi Rum bedouin campfire in Jordan.
Tony currently lives in London with his fiancée, Tracy.
from: http://www.tonylee.co.uk
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 9, 2012
I very much enjoyed Tony Lee's Rat Trap. Lee has written some excellent Who comic strips, but I think this may have been his first audio script, and I hope it will not be his last. It's a claustrophobic tale of Five, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough exploring tunnels under an English fortress, and encountering two rival groups of humans and for added excitement some superevolved intelligent telepathic rats. The plot is decent enough but what really makes the audio is the sound design, which superbly conveys the inhumanity of the rats (brilliantly brought to life by former Davros Terry Molloy) without making them incomprehensible. A great example of what audios can do.
June 26, 2017
On the day of Margaret Thatcher's landslide second electoral victory, the TARDIS crew find themselves trapped in the tunnels beneath a Welsh castle where sinister scientific experiments have been taking place. There are, as the title of the story indicates, rather a lot of rats in it - giant, intelligent rats, no less - although with little in the way of normal rat sound-effects and no visuals, I suspect you'd have to be really quite phobic about the animals to find this overly disturbing.
The guest cast is larger than usual, but gets whittled down fairly rapidly in the early parts of the story. Once that's out of the way, though, Nyssa and Tegan, in particular, get quite a bit to do, both of them playing to their strengths, and providing differing perspectives on events in the tunnels. Yes, this does mean that they have to be split up early on, as is quite common in this particular set of 5th Doctor audios, but it's done more organically here than usual, and is used to good effect.
Lee has a good grasp of the Fifth Doctor, and keeps up both the action and the more emotional elements of the story. There's also a good guest turn from Terry Molloy - who more usually plays Davros, as he did in the TV series. All in all, it's an atmospheric story with a few twists and turns along the way, and a good use of the full TARDIS crew.
The guest cast is larger than usual, but gets whittled down fairly rapidly in the early parts of the story. Once that's out of the way, though, Nyssa and Tegan, in particular, get quite a bit to do, both of them playing to their strengths, and providing differing perspectives on events in the tunnels. Yes, this does mean that they have to be split up early on, as is quite common in this particular set of 5th Doctor audios, but it's done more organically here than usual, and is used to good effect.
Lee has a good grasp of the Fifth Doctor, and keeps up both the action and the more emotional elements of the story. There's also a good guest turn from Terry Molloy - who more usually plays Davros, as he did in the TV series. All in all, it's an atmospheric story with a few twists and turns along the way, and a good use of the full TARDIS crew.
February 2, 2023
I was worried about this one. For years it was hyped up and in a recent sale I bought this and the stories leading up to it. After listening to the other 5 stories it was time to listen to this and I was worried I wasn't going to like it.
So anyway this might genuinely be one of my favourite Big Finish audio dramas from the Main Range. The plot is so balanced. Every character has something to do, which is really surprising considering there are a lot of characters in this one.
It's like this massive puzzle box mystery, there are family dynamics with thought to be long-dead relatives, undercover agents, a secret experiment site relating back to the 60s Cold War, death, destruction and a lot of Rats.
Nyssa's plot basically continues that virus storyline from Cobwebs where the cure she had suddenly shows signs of not being as perfect as she once thought and her battle to try and find a new cure but failing (for now).
The ending is satisfying, it has emotional weight and it's madly dark. It shocks me that Rats who have been tested on are more threatening than anything, ever. Acting on pure revenge and hatred for humanity for giving them sentience.
Amazing story. I loved it.
So anyway this might genuinely be one of my favourite Big Finish audio dramas from the Main Range. The plot is so balanced. Every character has something to do, which is really surprising considering there are a lot of characters in this one.
It's like this massive puzzle box mystery, there are family dynamics with thought to be long-dead relatives, undercover agents, a secret experiment site relating back to the 60s Cold War, death, destruction and a lot of Rats.
Nyssa's plot basically continues that virus storyline from Cobwebs where the cure she had suddenly shows signs of not being as perfect as she once thought and her battle to try and find a new cure but failing (for now).
The ending is satisfying, it has emotional weight and it's madly dark. It shocks me that Rats who have been tested on are more threatening than anything, ever. Acting on pure revenge and hatred for humanity for giving them sentience.
Amazing story. I loved it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2024
"The time for talking is over." - said the talking rat.
I hate to rate low, but this one had a few too many issues. Telepathic, talking rats for one - which meant we had to listen to both the telepathic version (heavy whispering which I couldn't understand) - and the squeak-speak version which was accompanied by a chattering chorus of actual rat squeaks (what a headache).
That's three thumbs down already but I guess you could say that was the thematic stuff. I won't get into quoting some of the lacklustre lines but there were a few eye-roll moments for sure.
From the title and the cover, I was expecting a very silly story and fine with that. I think save for a few dull moments this could have been an interesting story about a government trying to weaponise a plague.
I hate to rate low, but this one had a few too many issues. Telepathic, talking rats for one - which meant we had to listen to both the telepathic version (heavy whispering which I couldn't understand) - and the squeak-speak version which was accompanied by a chattering chorus of actual rat squeaks (what a headache).
That's three thumbs down already but I guess you could say that was the thematic stuff. I won't get into quoting some of the lacklustre lines but there were a few eye-roll moments for sure.
From the title and the cover, I was expecting a very silly story and fine with that. I think save for a few dull moments this could have been an interesting story about a government trying to weaponise a plague.
March 18, 2024
I think the decision to throw the 5th doctor into alot of big finish darkest stories makes sense to me. This one has a great atmosphere, it also manages to make all the characters plot relevant which is impressive give the large size of the cast. I feel like it could have been 20 minutes shorter and it can feel a bit directionless. Also I'm not in love with them just stating the theme at the end. The rest is great.
May 24, 2020
Heavy-handed on the guest characterisation but a good story for the regulars (particularly the Doctor, Nyssa and Turlough). Although the ethics of animal experimentation provide a strong underpinning, this is rather destabilised by Big Finish’s penchant for rasping, borderline unintelligible monster voices.
April 9, 2022
I couldn't really eat while listening to this.
October 23, 2022
Rat Trap was an audio I had initially listened to a couple of years back and whilst I really enjoyed it I remember I was expecting something far more from its premise, but for Halloween, I've decided to go back and give it another shot!
Tony Lee has written a very disturbing, intelligently written horror story that's not for the faint of heart since it deals with animal experiments for war, and the consequences of it for the human race. This story is very dire and bleak. Set underground in a castle, The Doctor and co discover one of humanities darkest secrets as rat test subjects led by The Rat King prepare for their revenge on the human race.
Now, this is a story that on paper sounds utterly bizarre but in execution, it's an unforgiving horror story with gruesome and haunting imagery, don't eat anything whilst listening to this audio because it might turn your stomach. The cast are absolutely fantastic in this and Tony Lee has really proven himself to be a great find for the company, it's too bad he didn't write much more after this.
Overall: It's a very underrated story that doesn't get all that much love, but it really deserves it. If you love the darkness of the Gary Russell era, this story has it in spades! 10/10
Tony Lee has written a very disturbing, intelligently written horror story that's not for the faint of heart since it deals with animal experiments for war, and the consequences of it for the human race. This story is very dire and bleak. Set underground in a castle, The Doctor and co discover one of humanities darkest secrets as rat test subjects led by The Rat King prepare for their revenge on the human race.
Now, this is a story that on paper sounds utterly bizarre but in execution, it's an unforgiving horror story with gruesome and haunting imagery, don't eat anything whilst listening to this audio because it might turn your stomach. The cast are absolutely fantastic in this and Tony Lee has really proven himself to be a great find for the company, it's too bad he didn't write much more after this.
Overall: It's a very underrated story that doesn't get all that much love, but it really deserves it. If you love the darkness of the Gary Russell era, this story has it in spades! 10/10
August 12, 2012
I thought this was good solid fun, though not mind-blowing. I think it suffers a bit from having the regular cast get split up and paired off with various guest cast members, leaving a lot of separate threads to keep track of. Although on the flip side, it had some very strong guest characters, and some quite emotionally touching moments near the end.
The science does annoy me a bit - as in a lot of Doctor Who it's very hand wavy ("I made a cocktail of amino acids and proteins and synthetic strings that, when injected made a radical advancement in rat genetics.") and major breakthroughs happen implausibly fast. I should just let this stuff go, really, but I can't quite. But the setting is well-realized and the action is vivid.
The science does annoy me a bit - as in a lot of Doctor Who it's very hand wavy ("I made a cocktail of amino acids and proteins and synthetic strings that, when injected made a radical advancement in rat genetics.") and major breakthroughs happen implausibly fast. I should just let this stuff go, really, but I can't quite. But the setting is well-realized and the action is vivid.
January 21, 2016
The Doctor, Nyssa, Turlough and Teagan land in England in the 1980's for a vacation. They stumble on intelligent rats that want to wipe out the human race for experimenting on them. Can the Doctor stop them?
May 1, 2013
Wonderfully atmospheric, creepy story with an interesting take on the flip side of the coin in regard to animal experimentation. It's also a good look at human motivation, and a fast paced action story. I love this TARDIS team, they play off each other well.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews