Doctor Who: Nekromanteia

Big Finish: Monthly Range #41

by Peter Davison, Peter Davison (Narrator), Nicola Bryant (Narrator)

In the depths of space a little known district harbours a terrible secret. Long known as a place of death, it claims thousands more lives as a great corporate space-fleet goes to war. As the fleet screams out in fear and pain, an irresistible voice calls out to three travellers and a macabre mind sets a deadly trap.

The Doctor, Peri and Erimem face the terrors of Talderun and the wrath of a corporate empire as they struggle to understand the hideous secret of the domain of the dead ­ a district known in legend as Nekromanteia.

Chronological Placement
This story takes place between the television adventures, Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani and after the Big Finish audio adventure No Place Like Home.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, British Literature, Media Tie In, Time Travel

2 pages, Audio CD

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Peter Davison (born Peter Moffett) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who.

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fifth Doctor adventure with Peri Brown and Erimem as the companions and is #41 in the Big Finish main range.

There are some clever ideas here, notably that of a cult of necromantic witches that possess incredibly advanced technology and use it to fight off an invading war fleet coming to steal the central artifact that the witches worship. Unfortunately everyone involved is pretty awful, from the witches themselves who are otherwise cackling stereotypes, to even more stereotypes in the murderous corporation head and his ruthless lackeys, to the archeologist that befriends the TARDIS team. The TARDIS team themselves seem mostly peripheral to the action and the ultimate conclusion is a deus ex machina.

It's also another example of some very adult unpleasant material showing up in audios. It's one thing when Rob Shearman does it; he's very much a dark fantasist master. Here, we have Peri nearly raped, and a supporting cast member getting his tongue cut out "on camera" and it's all very gratuitous.

Even for completists, this is one to avoid.

[Kelly McCubbin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear Big Finish,
We do not trivialize rape... ever.

[Michael Goleniewski · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story comes with a strong reputation as one of the worst Doctor Who stories that Big Finish has ever produced. It's one that I was curious about but mostly wanted to avoid in favor of other stories out there that deserved my listening attention. But naturally curiosity got the better of me and I turned this one on for a listen. Much to my surprise however, I wouldn't say it's one of the worst stories out there. Quite the contrary...it IS the worst Big Finish Doctor Who story out there at least from what I've heard in my listening journey by far.  The idea for a good story is certainly here. With the TARDIS team rapidly become jaded and frustrated with each other after so much time on board, the Fifth Doctor decides that it might best for the group to have some time apart and so they land in a intergalactic bazaar to separate and spend some time alone. After an excursion that brings the name of Nekromanteia to companion Erimem's mind as place to explore new cultures, they decide to travel to the Nekromanteian system themselves to investigate. But as they soon find out, this was an egregious mistake. For they have landed in the district of death full of corpses, blood sacrifice, witches, violence, and a corporate fleet aiming for war.....This is a dark and gritty tale in every sense of the word which is interesting but not in a fun way like "Son of the Dragon" from Big Finish or even some of the Fifth Doctor's TV stories from Season 21 of the Classic Series. From an uninteresting and frankly unpleasant to be around or even listen to side cast to some of the darkest moments I've ever heard in a Doctor Who story, there is no charm or fun to the darkness here and it's prevalent all the way through the story from moment to moment. Granted it's all done very realistically well which I guess is something to admire but there's nothing here to back it up or justify it especially as the main cast get put through hell in this one. Speaking of which, our TARDIS team is at their absolute weakest I've ever heard from them in a story. Nicola Bryant as Peri not only doesn't sound like she's trying very hard but she's almost neglected almost completely in the story with no real impact. And Peter....oh Peter. I think this is the first time I have ever heard a story where I actively disliked Peter Davison and the Fifth Doctor and can see where people are getting at with his flaws. In this story, he is not written well at all from being tedious with his overall tone to being outright stupid at times simply reacting to everything around him instead of taking action like he normally does. Not to mention that *SPOILERS* it's hard for me to listen to the Doctor get violently beheaded in a moment straight out of the worst and most violent cult films. The best performance from this story is Caroline Morris as Princess Erimem who fortunately keeps her personality intact. However even this is ruined by the the worst moment of the entire story: the sexual assault scene when one of the major side characters attempts to rape Erimem and beats her when she resists him. It’s really ugly and vile to listen to especially from Doctor Who and what's worse is that we never get to see the consequences of such a horrible moment. She picks herself up, gets on with it, and the moment is never mentioned again or dealt with in a future story as far as I know. That right represents the most damning aspects of this story: the darkness in this story just isn't done well. While the story does push the envelope with some interesting and dark ideas, it's not done in a reasonable way, feels inappropriate and pointless, and is just completely unpleasant. It reminds me of the very worst aspects of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and with none of the fun or cheer that that film would have in later scenes. Not to mention that the soundtrack is ear-screechingly bad with lots of screams and bad music, story convoluted with betrayals about in a 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' kind of way, and plot completely dull that has been done to death in other sci-fi stories before. But yet some ideas played with here sound so cool. A gang of witches taking on a fleet of spaceships.....how could this not be done well. But the more I listened, the more I ached for it to be all over so I could move on to something else which is not something I've ever felt with any audio story before now. Admittedly this one gets points for trying to take Doctor Who to new and gruesome places (albeit not very well) and for doing something different but that's literally it. Thankfully the writer for this one was never hired to write for Doctor Who again as Davison's request so we won't have to hear anything like this from Doctor Who or Big Finish ever again. Nekromanteia is gruesome, boring, unpleasant, confusing, not fun to listen to, and overall insulting to this TARDIS team as a whole. Stay far far away from this one......

[Avarill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want my 100 minutes back. This trainwreck starts out okay - the first two parts are disjointed but coherent and the plot was reminiscent of The Caves of Androzani, which indeed is a promising beginning. But as soon as the story geared up for the part 2 cliffhanger it went from mildly entertaining to offensive to tortuous in ten minutes or less. Mr. Atkinson simultaneously hits upon so many of the things that make for a bad Doctor Who tie-in:

1) I can handle a touch of misogyny from 1960's Who, but it is inexcusable in a current adventure. I'm not one to throw around that label willy-nilly -- but those who sit through this might give thought to what happens to all of the female characters, and get an inkling what I'm talking about.

2) Our heroes -- including the Doctor -- are mere pawns in everyone else's chess match. None of the regulars lifts a finger to move the plot forward. They're just victims.

3) Mr. Atkinson does a good job of world-building here. Problem is, for all the craft and careful planning that went into the backstory -- this didn't need to be a Doctor Who adventure at all. The Doctor, Peri and Erimem are superfluous. This should have been an episode of The Marr Show.

4) The plot crashed and burned in Part 3. That wasn't a plot twist, or a clever diversion, or even an entertaining interlude. It was just incomprehensible (and silly, don't forget silly).

There are good points here, for example parts 1 and most of part 2 are a good buildup of a story about a gritty corporate dystopia. The other part I really liked was when the supporting cast started getting killed off so I didn't have to listen to them anymore.

[Frank Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. I found the actual storyline less than meh, including some terrible content with Peri. But I really liked most of the characters we met and thought they carried it along in the whole. I particularly liked Five's interactions with an old acquaintance who seemed to me to imply that Five (or perhaps another incarnation of the Doctor) had on at least one occasion participated in an orgy. What! Anyway, it didn't seem as bad as its low rating suggested but I'm happy to move onto the next one.

[Taksya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uno dei più terribili audio della Big Finish, fino ad ora... non mi consola in fatto di non essere la sola a pensarlo.
Storia difficile da seguire, atmosfere cupe e eventi disturbanti che risultano ancora più fastidiosi dopo che vengono trattati quasi con superficialità. Personaggi principali assolutamente fuori carattere e quasi furoi contesto.
Fortunatamente l'autore non ha scritto altro per la Big Finish... peccato che abbiano prodotto questa.

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seeing that we’re moving into 2024, I figured I’d do another couple of reviews for some Big Finish audio dramas so as to not slip even further behind than I already am. As it stands, I am still 19 years out from today on these monthly “main line” adventures that ran from 1999 to 2021. I’m not sure that Doctor Who – Nekromanteia was the one that I should have jumped back into the line with because, frankly, it very well could be one of the worst I have listened to so far. It’s not so bad that it’s good, nor is it utterly baffling like a few previous installments. Doctor Who – Nekromanteia is simply just boring, has bad characters, and does some pretty questionable stuff with how it handles literally every character in the story.

I went into this blind and boy did I not realize how infamous this episode was. I did some further research and found out that Peter Davison’s personal hatred for this story caused him to request Big Finish never again hire Austen Atkinson to write more stories with him involved, threatening to walk if it happened again!

So where do we start with the questionable plot points? For starters, Peri has a somewhat sexualized nude scene somewhat early on. Considering that Doctor Who, in every incarnation, is supposed to be a franchise for families to enjoy, stuff like this where the writers attempt to make it edgy and mature is never my thing. This is the same trend I have disliked about some of the books and audios set in the timeline of the Virgin New Adventures series, a nineties book line starring the Seventh Doctor and Ace. That series tried to mature the franchise, usually resulting in bleak stories with nihilistic plots. At least that is my experience with what I have read with these. I’m sure my limited experience is not the experience others have had, but we all have our individual opinions and “canons” for the franchise.

There’s another scene, a cliffhanger, where The Doctor gets his head cut off and is eaten by a coven of witches. This happens literally, it’s not an illusion or anything, he legitimately dies. This insane moment is done almost entirely for shock value and is resolved by way of a convoluted mess of “timey-wimey” nonsense involving him making a time duplicate of himself. Something like that is way out of character for the tone of the franchise, and honestly was somewhat annoying to listen to as it unfolded. Other fun tidbits included The Doctor helping to commit a bank robbery, and Erimem almost getting sexually assaulted. Yay! Family listening! The whole thing is way too dark and somewhat mean-spirited. It’s almost like the author wanted to see how far he could push the envelope, and he largely did it too much.


I decided to look into whether Austen Atkinson ever contributed more to this series, perhaps to avoid his future stories or at least prepare myself, and it seems like this episode basically blacklisted him from working on Doctor Who audio dramas. He was a popular writer at the time and did some other work for Big Finish including a series of stories based on The Tomorrow People franchise. Ten years later he resurfaced and became the Director and Producer of the animated reconstructed episodes of The Reign of Terror.

So, what can I say about this audio drama – yeah, I’d skip it. It’s not well-written, has some serious plot issues, is way too dark for the franchise, and honestly doesn’t make much sense. I truthfully don’t know why I listened to the whole thing other than to say, “I did it” and do this review with a good conscience. Here’s hoping the next one is better because you honestly can’t get much worse!

For more check out Arcadia Pod

[Xander Toner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the controversial one. And, so, right off the bat, this story deals with some very intense moments and imagery, and does very little of it justice. I'm of the opinion that the world of Doctor Who, at least some aspects of it, can address said things - see the good parts of Torchwood, for example. However, I don't think that a story featuring the Fifth Doctor and Peri is quite the place for such heavy subject material, especially when dealt with as flippantly as in this story. Saying all that, I am okay with the thought of the witches eating the Doctor. That's the other thing this story gets criticised heavily for, and I don't find it heinous whatsoever.

The other fallings of Nekromanteia are from the rest of the story, sadly. Outside of its controversial moments, it doesn't really work on a basic plot level, I find. It's absolutely chock to the brim with what could be interesting ideas. The Doctor in the afterlife, space witches and ancient curses that are actually long-abandoned technology, corporate fleets waging war for profit; these are all good ideas but none of them have enough room to breathe, nor do they actually fit together in a satisfying and coherent way. It's a mishmash of ideas, as if Austen Atkinson (the writer) was trying to assemble three different jigsaw puzzles into one. The big conclusion to story, also, is wrapped in a bow that's a little too neat. It's established that a someone must sacrifice themselves for the galaxy-destroying machine to be nullified, so after both the Doctor and Erimem try to take the spotlight, Erimem's cat Antranak finally jumps in and dies for the sake of the story. Erimem seems briefly sad about this, before the story ends with a big joke about the Doctor buying her a new one. It seems so insignificant, to the point where I'm confused as to why introduce such high stakes in the first place.

Some of the side characters I found to be quite entertaining. The market trader at the beginning was good fun, as with the witches and some of the corporate overlords that feature throughout, but I found that there were far too many, to the point where it became difficult to track the various sprawling plotlines, especially when I didn't listen to episodes back-to-back. Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant give their usual, excellent performances, with this story giving Davison material for his classic breathless crunch-time performance. Despite his well-storied dislike of this story and writer, I quite enjoyed the Fifth Doctor and his dialogue here. I'm still not sold on Erimem though. Up until Erimem's introduction in The Eye of the Scorpion, Big Finish had a impressively good record with their audio-only companions. Charley Pollard and Evelyn Smythe are both stellar characters, and my favourite companions for their respective Doctors, so it's a shame that Erimem can't quite follow this path. She just hasn't really grabbed my interest in any of the stories I've heard her in, but I'm ready to get a story that she really clicks in.

[Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the downsides of listening to Big Finish's pre 2005 (the relaunch of the TV show) releases is that some of them take their cues from the New Adventures book series. These were much more adult orientated than the classic TV series and barely felt like Doctor who at best and were deeply unpleasant at worst. This falls into the latter category. Like Bang-bang-a-boom it has an interesting premise but is a bit of a mess. Notorious amongst fandom as one of BFs worse it has the Doctors head being ripped off, an attempted rape scene and peri in the nude. The witches are portrayed as cackling crones channeling the classic Oz witch "I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too" vibe that undermines a whole strand of the story. Save knowing what happens to Erimem's cat I'd skip this story altogether and it's almost tempting to tap the "hide this" but to on my BF account page.

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Part1

ドクターはペリとエリメムがマーケットでショッピングをしている間に旧友のシサニウスを訪ね、ターディスの修理につかう部品を格安で売ってもらう。合流した一同はエリメムがマーケットで興味をもった呪術師の星に行きたいといい、ネクロマンティア星系にある惑星テルクランドを訪ねることに。ターディスは神殿らしき建物の中に着地する。3人はそこで大量の遺体を発見。1人、生き残りを見つけるが、神殿に秘められたエネルギー資源を狙う資源開発会社の私設軍隊の兵士にエリメムが撃たれてしまう。

Part2

あわててターディスに戻ろうとするが、軍と魔術師の白兵戦にまきこまれてしまい、ペリが魔術師につかまってしまい、ドクターとエリメムは私設軍の指揮官ハーランに保護され、エリメムの傷の手当を受けられる。ペリは魔女によりシャーラーという神に身を捧げるよう暗示をっけられる。ドクターはペリ救出と魔術師が武器として使用しているエネルギーコンバーターを止めるために神殿に戻る。しかし、ペリは魔術師の実体をリサーチし伝説のシャーラの遺体を発掘しようとしていた歴史家ロムに助けられていた。

Part3

魔術師がエネルギーコンバーターで時空間を歪めたことでポール・アディソンと対面することになったドクター。ロムと行動していたペリはエリメムと合流できる。ドクターが死んだと思い込んだペリーとエリメムはロムを手伝うことにする。

Part4

ドクターはシャーラがエネルギー・コンバータで永遠に生きられる世界を作ろうととしているのを阻止しようとしていた。



感想

わかりにくい。争うどちら側もイタい人ばかり。エリメムが暴行を受ける展開も不快。登場人物全員も展開も全てがイヤすぎるので聴くのが苦痛でしかなかった。

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I for the most did not like it. I have always loved the 5th Doctor and Peri together and in this story they have additional companion in a young woman named Erimem. It was a darker story with a lot of violence and an attempted sexual assault which I really don’t expect from a Doctor Who story. I can handle a more grim story but this one wasn’t done well at all. I would recommend giving it a pass.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story is such a mess! I know Doctor Who can get dark, but the misogyny and attempted rape in this one seemed unnecessary. Add in constant cackling, too many plot twists, and Atkinson totally ignoring that the Doctor and his companions should be key ingredients in the story and the result is one to skip.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

A potentially mind-blowing SF concept that’s skirted around for too long and rushed through at the end. Atkinson manages some adept characterisation on a micro level, but this is undercut by cackling stereotypes and dolloped tropes of corporate greed, betrayal and comeuppance.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is an absolute mess. I listened to the synopsis and thought "shara" was "Shada," the prison planet. Too bad it wasn't actually about the doctor returning there, that probably would have made more sense.
.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly and unpleasantly dark for Doctor Who. (Spoiler: episode two's cliffhanger is that young female companion Erimem is about to be raped and the Doctor is apparently having his brains eaten by dead witches. Another chap gets his tongue and heart ripped out.)

[Samael Kovacs · Rating 1 out of 5]

I forgot to log this because I forgot that I had consumed this.

Look at me I'm so edgy wow.... Skip this one fella's. Everything that could be said about this one has been said about others already.

Part 1 showed promise, that's it.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cat!!!!! 😢😭

[Number Two · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to TvTropes, author of this story was, at Peter Davison's request, never hired to write for Doctor Who ever again. If it's true, I completely lost any respect for mr Davison :(

[Luke Bannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

The absolute nadir of the audios. It tries so hard to be like Caves of Androzani, but its efforts come across as try hard and unpleasant.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor AnTranak. And the doctor got his head cut off. typical.

[Moko Anggoro · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't understand most of the time what's happened and who said what. It's a convoluted story with too many secondary character without any unique traits.

[Amane Kabbaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t really follow what was happening

[Flora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhhh bad??? Who the hell thought Doctor Who would be better with rape in it?

[Stephen Higham · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently Peter Davison requested the writer never write for his doctor again after this

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

My attention really wandered with this one.

[Tabitha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really, REALLY didn't like this one, and I'm glad to see that according to the other reviews I wasn't the only one!

[Zach · Rating 1 out of 5]

A white woman playing an ancient Egyptian gets off screen SA'd (or implied that this "may" have happened). Also this is forgotten right after this happens.

[James Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

A poor version of previous Dr Who stories done much better and less horrific in the past. This remind me of other similar stories involving Planet - Corporations hybrids done much better

[Drew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. There's really nothing enjoyable about this story at all. If you're following the 5th Doctor sequence with Peri and Erimem as companions, then this one seems completely skippable. It's all about some strange power source that various factions are seeking, and it's guarded by a cult of witches that shriek and cackle throughout the story, which gets annoying. They also feast on the flesh of the dead, behead a character, and cut out the tongue and heart of another character. So it's not exactly a pleasant story.

Also annoying: Peri's characterization. Big Finish has done a lot to redeem Peri, who was little more than a whiny brat with boobs in the television series. But this feels like regression. Here she's all about sharing herbal face treatments with Erimem, and snarking things like "I've got trouble tattooed on my ass."

Also annoying: Attempted rape of Erimem. At least, I assume it was merely attempted, not completed. But she's beaten up quite a bit, and then carries on with seemingly no ill effects. There doesn't seem to be any point to it, except to highlight that the guy who beats her up is a jerk. Yet the plot also asks us to sympathize with him when his family is threatened. And then he escapes without suffering any consequences. Well, geez.

The high point of the whole thing -- if there is a high point -- is that Erimem's cat finally shuffles off this mortal coil. Good riddance. But there really isn't a high point. Only low points.

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I borrowed this one from the library. Normally I enjoy the Peri and Erimen stories but this one was just a mess. No one was acting like themselves, there was just a lot of cackling characters and the Doctor off in his dream world and the women helpless and confused. It just didn't make a lot of sense. I have to see why my friend told me to skip this one. Definitely not one of Big Finish's better efforts.