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The Early Adventures #4.4
Doctor Who: The Wreck of the World
Undergoing repairs in deep space, the TARDIS is caught in a collision with the huge, decaying wreck of a starship. Zoe, spacewalking, is separated from her companions in the crash, and the Doctor and Jamie wake to find the TARDIS fused to the side of the ship.
Venturing inside to rescue their friend, they discover that they are on board The World, the very first colony ship to leave Earth, lost mid-voyage under unknown circumstances.
And they are not alone. A terrible suspension chamber is filled with dead, withered human bodies, and a team of gun-toting astronauts are stalking the corridors. But a far greater threat lurks deep inside. The terrifying force responsible for the scuttling of the ship is active once more - and if it can’t be stopped, it won’t just be the end of this World. It’ll be the end of all of them.
Venturing inside to rescue their friend, they discover that they are on board The World, the very first colony ship to leave Earth, lost mid-voyage under unknown circumstances.
And they are not alone. A terrible suspension chamber is filled with dead, withered human bodies, and a team of gun-toting astronauts are stalking the corridors. But a far greater threat lurks deep inside. The terrifying force responsible for the scuttling of the ship is active once more - and if it can’t be stopped, it won’t just be the end of this World. It’ll be the end of all of them.
Audio CD
First published December 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 28, 2022
The Tardis crashes into a huge wreck of a spaceship. The crash separates the crew and while the doctor and Jamie stumble into some astronauts looking for something, Zoe is forced to explore this wreck all by herself. She comes across a robot and it tells her she needs to fix something. But what is it she needs to fix?
This story starts out strong and Zoe gets a lovely opportunity to shine here. It’s a gripping mystery and Zoe exploring the wreck of the spaceship in particular is really well done, very atmospheric. It might be a bit slow paced but it’s never boring. It’s actually a base under siege story done pretty well, with a lot of attention going to the setting and the characters.
This story starts out strong and Zoe gets a lovely opportunity to shine here. It’s a gripping mystery and Zoe exploring the wreck of the spaceship in particular is really well done, very atmospheric. It might be a bit slow paced but it’s never boring. It’s actually a base under siege story done pretty well, with a lot of attention going to the setting and the characters.
October 17, 2020
Skipping over the fifth TV season due to the passing of Deborah Watling, the Early Adventures series jumps to the final black-and-white season for a story featuring Zoe and narrated by Wendy Padbury. In fact, the narration is used rather better here than in the previous few releases, mostly being employed when there's a particularly neat visual to describe, enhancing the atmosphere rather than feeling like an unnecessary add-on.
The story series the TARDIS crew encountering the wreck of a vast colony ship in deep space, its human crew long dead. It's a horror story beginning with a slow-burn exploration of the abandoned hulk and with the 'monster' not turning up until the half-way mark. When it does, it's more supernatural than alien, which, while not inappropriate for Doctor Who in general, is less of a fit with the Second Doctor's era on TV. I'll also add that the nature of the spaceship's power supply is particularly implausible, although whether that dents your suspension of disbelief or not is likely a matter of taste.
The science fiction setting puts Zoe centre-stage, keeping her at least as active as the Doctor, although Jamie gets rather less to do. Atack plays up Zoe's unusual background and gives her plenty of chances for her to display her scientific and technical skills. There are even a couple of fun scenes where she's using technobabble to flirt with a similarly inclined character and a theme that fits in with her arc through the course of TV series (which was, to be honest, more implied than stated at the time, this being '60s TV). Her interactions with that computer specialist and with a diagnostic robot of limited vocabulary give the story heart that counterbalances the horror elements and make you care about what happens to them.
Speaking of which, there are twists and turns along the way, especially once the initial wandering-through-spooky-half-lit-corridors element is over. For me, these, and the strong use of Zoe more than made up for the few weaknesses mentioned above and kept the story going despite its relatively limited setting. This is a good story, especially for fans of Zoe, who has generally been well-used in the Big Finish audios.
The story series the TARDIS crew encountering the wreck of a vast colony ship in deep space, its human crew long dead. It's a horror story beginning with a slow-burn exploration of the abandoned hulk and with the 'monster' not turning up until the half-way mark. When it does, it's more supernatural than alien, which, while not inappropriate for Doctor Who in general, is less of a fit with the Second Doctor's era on TV. I'll also add that the nature of the spaceship's power supply is particularly implausible, although whether that dents your suspension of disbelief or not is likely a matter of taste.
The science fiction setting puts Zoe centre-stage, keeping her at least as active as the Doctor, although Jamie gets rather less to do. Atack plays up Zoe's unusual background and gives her plenty of chances for her to display her scientific and technical skills. There are even a couple of fun scenes where she's using technobabble to flirt with a similarly inclined character and a theme that fits in with her arc through the course of TV series (which was, to be honest, more implied than stated at the time, this being '60s TV). Her interactions with that computer specialist and with a diagnostic robot of limited vocabulary give the story heart that counterbalances the horror elements and make you care about what happens to them.
Speaking of which, there are twists and turns along the way, especially once the initial wandering-through-spooky-half-lit-corridors element is over. For me, these, and the strong use of Zoe more than made up for the few weaknesses mentioned above and kept the story going despite its relatively limited setting. This is a good story, especially for fans of Zoe, who has generally been well-used in the Big Finish audios.
December 8, 2023
MIGHT be better than Fear of the Daleks, but not as good as The Second Doctor: Volume Three.
September 12, 2021
Good, but not really my favorite from this range. Entertaining and enjoyable, set firmly in the context of the episodes from the last season featuring Patrick Troughton.
May 1, 2022
The Wreck of The World has always been an audio that's fascinated me from the Early Adventures range with it being praised by the Big Finish community and having won an award whilst also introducing Timothy X. Atack to the company who's written a number of fantastic stories during his tenure at the company and here's to more!
I fully understand the praise for this story, it's a gloomy, horrifying, atmospheric story with incredible ideas and concepts that again may be too ambitious for 60's television but having listened to a few of the interviews at the end of this release, I love that Timothy X. Atack envisioned this being an epic, spooky sixties who adventure that would be very evocative of that era and in this he succeeds with flying colors.
Again the sound design and score in this are brilliant, perfectly capturing the atmosphere required for this adventure whilst helping to provide some very scary and freaky moments. The cast in this were incredible, Frazer Hines' Troughton impression is at times quite uncanny, but for me, the highlight of this release is Zoe played by Wendy Padbury, she's not usually a companion I tend to warm to, but in this release, she was fantastically written by someone who greatly understands this character and her abilities compared to some other stories, she's very much the emotional and intelligent core to this story which is brilliant.
Overall: This series of Early Adventures has been nothing short of brilliant, it's a shame that Big Finish isn't doing anymore and instead heading off into producing boxsets but maybe someday they'll bring back this range and continue to produce bangers such as this! 10/10
I fully understand the praise for this story, it's a gloomy, horrifying, atmospheric story with incredible ideas and concepts that again may be too ambitious for 60's television but having listened to a few of the interviews at the end of this release, I love that Timothy X. Atack envisioned this being an epic, spooky sixties who adventure that would be very evocative of that era and in this he succeeds with flying colors.
Again the sound design and score in this are brilliant, perfectly capturing the atmosphere required for this adventure whilst helping to provide some very scary and freaky moments. The cast in this were incredible, Frazer Hines' Troughton impression is at times quite uncanny, but for me, the highlight of this release is Zoe played by Wendy Padbury, she's not usually a companion I tend to warm to, but in this release, she was fantastically written by someone who greatly understands this character and her abilities compared to some other stories, she's very much the emotional and intelligent core to this story which is brilliant.
Overall: This series of Early Adventures has been nothing short of brilliant, it's a shame that Big Finish isn't doing anymore and instead heading off into producing boxsets but maybe someday they'll bring back this range and continue to produce bangers such as this! 10/10
April 26, 2020
Personally speaking i found this is the weakest of the fourth season of Early Adventures. That's not to say it isn't without its merits. Performances are strong and the story interesting enough. Maybe it's just because I'm bit a fan of zombie horror but I just didn't find this story in keeping with the era... :/ enjoyable but just not as good as the others in the range.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2018
Excellent 2nd Doctor adventure that gives us deeper insight into Zoe.
July 6, 2018
Best story of the 2nd doctor 2nd season by big finish
September 28, 2018
The tardis crashes into a ship and an alien being is trying to eat people aboard.
April 26, 2024
Oscillates wildly from very good to very bad. But finishes strong. And I love the detail that Jamie learned how to make coffee.
December 28, 2017
Very good Second Doctor story and a good one to end Season 04 of The Early Adventures range.
This could of achieved a 9/10 (5 Stars) but I do have a few issues with it. Sometimes the flow could of been better, atmosphere is really great in some places but a section of music didn't fit the story at all. But the biggest problem I had is it's very predictable. I loved the creepy mystery aspect to it but the resolution to it all is quite predictable and the main twist is VERY predictable and I can find ways to improve that main twist to make it much less obvious.
The story feels and fits the 60s early perfectly. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are in the Tardis and are being pulled to an abandoned, isolated space ship called "World." This story really reminds me of 'The Ark' and 'The Ark in Space.
Part 01 sets up the story perfectly. It's mysterious and has this creepy space horror vibe to it. The sound design again is top notch. From machinery and the terrible structure of the ship is really captured and it's captivating.
Performances all well and good from the main cast and same with the supporting characters. The story does have some bits of humour; mainly from Porthinitus's character. The Nostic computer was pretty irritating but I think that was entirely the point because Zoe and Jamie bring it up to. The Commander was pretty good and Professor Blavatsky.
I won't say too much on supporting characters because it's best to find out for yourself the outcomes to these characters. There was one character in particular I had a feeling about to be the villain of the story and it turned out correct. The dialogue from this character and how it was portrayed made it feel way too predictable and I wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Things relax a bit in Episode 02. I've never really discussed negativity on Music before but in episode o2, there is this certain section of the music score I really feel doesn't work in the environment of the story. Part 01 builds it up to be a space horror type of story. When that certain section of music is introduced, it doesn't feel good to the environment and atmosphere of the story. Furthermore, not very 60s era to. Just a little nitpick.
Overall, A very good story that could of potentially achieved a 9/10. However, I think the story is too predictable and there could of been some minor changes/improvements to make the main twist less obvious. The dialogue from a particular character made it obvious to be he or she or computer or whoever I am on about made it too obvious and in the second half of the story I was not surprised at all. A pretty good story that could of been something fantastic but due to its very high predictability and a few of its problems, I rate it 7.5/10.
This could of achieved a 9/10 (5 Stars) but I do have a few issues with it. Sometimes the flow could of been better, atmosphere is really great in some places but a section of music didn't fit the story at all. But the biggest problem I had is it's very predictable. I loved the creepy mystery aspect to it but the resolution to it all is quite predictable and the main twist is VERY predictable and I can find ways to improve that main twist to make it much less obvious.
The story feels and fits the 60s early perfectly. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are in the Tardis and are being pulled to an abandoned, isolated space ship called "World." This story really reminds me of 'The Ark' and 'The Ark in Space.
Part 01 sets up the story perfectly. It's mysterious and has this creepy space horror vibe to it. The sound design again is top notch. From machinery and the terrible structure of the ship is really captured and it's captivating.
Performances all well and good from the main cast and same with the supporting characters. The story does have some bits of humour; mainly from Porthinitus's character. The Nostic computer was pretty irritating but I think that was entirely the point because Zoe and Jamie bring it up to. The Commander was pretty good and Professor Blavatsky.
I won't say too much on supporting characters because it's best to find out for yourself the outcomes to these characters. There was one character in particular I had a feeling about to be the villain of the story and it turned out correct. The dialogue from this character and how it was portrayed made it feel way too predictable and I wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Things relax a bit in Episode 02. I've never really discussed negativity on Music before but in episode o2, there is this certain section of the music score I really feel doesn't work in the environment of the story. Part 01 builds it up to be a space horror type of story. When that certain section of music is introduced, it doesn't feel good to the environment and atmosphere of the story. Furthermore, not very 60s era to. Just a little nitpick.
Overall, A very good story that could of potentially achieved a 9/10. However, I think the story is too predictable and there could of been some minor changes/improvements to make the main twist less obvious. The dialogue from a particular character made it obvious to be he or she or computer or whoever I am on about made it too obvious and in the second half of the story I was not surprised at all. A pretty good story that could of been something fantastic but due to its very high predictability and a few of its problems, I rate it 7.5/10.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews