Night of the Vashta Nerada

Classic Doctors, New Monsters #2.1

Released: 27 July 2017

Listened: 2/19/22

This is the Fourth Doctor’s first appearance (in produciton order) in the “Classic Doctors, New Monsters” line, and he’s paired up with the Vashta Nerada, which at this point he’s only ever heard of, but hasn’t seen. The story connects to “Day of the Vashta Nerada,” the Eighth Doctor story later in the set, but there’s no indication of that here. The Doctor has come to Funworld, a whole planet that’s a fun-fair, because he wants to…have fun. However, it’s closed because something killed the original staff, so the owner has turned up with a bunch of hunters to clear it out. It’s very Jurassic Park, except the raptors are microscopic. The Doctor spends an inordinate amount of time shouting at people, trying to get them to leave, but they’re stubborn and won’t go. Which makes it remarkably like “Silence in the Library,” except there’s no River Song. John Dorney is the writer, but there’s nothing twisty here; it’s just straight-up sci-fi horror. The Vashta Nerada are kind of tricky to do on audio, since they don’t speak and hide in shadows that listeners can’t see, but Dorney does a nice job piling up the tension, especially using the “two shadows” trick. It’s atmospheric, but feels like half a story…because it is.