The Isos Network

Early Adventures #2.4

Released: 13 January 2016

Listened: 10/4/20

This one is Nick Briggs’ attempt (as writer and director) to recreate as much as possible a story from Season 6, and...it kind of shows. Although Season 6 has some classic stories, they’ve got an awful lot of running around and shooting at things, without much high concept at all, and that’s what this story is. Some Cybermen have escaped after “The Invasion,” and the TARDIS crew tries to track them down on Isos II, a planet that was overwhelmed by Cybermen long ago and its entire population converted. There’s a ship full of space soldiers, but they don’t really contribute a whole lot; they don’t even particularly slow the Doctor down by failing to trust him. There are some giant slugs that can be ridden, which would make for an interesting visual if there were any. Because both Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines were proficient by the time they recorded this, they swap off the narration, with Wendy narrating Jamie’s scenes, and Frazer narrating Zoe’s, which is a switch from how these stories are usually done. The soundtrack, as well, is very of-the-era, with some rather jarring horns that jump in a lot. I think Nick Briggs achieved what he was looking for, but I don’t find a reproduction of that era to be terribly compelling, I’m afraid.