The Scapegoat

Eighth Doctor Adventures #3.5

Released: 2 May 2009

Listened: 10/16/21

You could be forgiven for thinking the title of this one is metaphorical, and it kind of is, but there are also actual goats. Lucie wants to visit the Moulin Rouge in the late 1800s, hoping to meet Ewan McGregor (somehow), but they land in Nazi-occupied Paris instead, which is something of a disappointment. They still get to go to the theater, but a horrible Grand-Guignol style of show where a man is executed live on stage. Which is where the alien goats come into it, but that’s better experienced by listening. Author Pat Mills is most famous for writing some of the best Fourth Doctor comic strips back in the day, and here he’s produced another very visual story, which mostly succeeds. Like the others this season, though, it’s a bit on the compact side, with a plot that sort of fizzles out rather than a climax. Look out for Samantha Bond as the leader of the goats. In addition to playing Moneypenny in several James Bond films, she was also Mrs. Wormwood in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Amusing if only for Lucie enthusiastically slaughtering the French language.