Harvest of the Sycorax

Classic Doctors, New Monsters #1.3

Released: 28 July 2016

Listened: 3/20/21

In the first “Classic Doctors, New Monsters” boxed set, this is the story trying hardest to be a new-series story that happens to have the Seventh Doctor dropped into it, so credit to James Goss for that. It takes place in the future, when humanity is overdependent on pharmalogicals, even to the point of giving themselves designer viruses, which disgusts the Doctor enough that he keeps commenting on it, much like the Tenth Doctor would. The temporary companion for this story is Zanzibar Hashtag, which is such a Russell T Davies name I can’t get over it, and one that causes the Doctor to remark that he’s in one of humanity’s sillier eras. She’s played by Nisha Nayar, who was an uncredited Kang in “Paradise Towers” and had a larger role in “Bad Wolf” in the new series, making her one of the few actors to appear in both. The story also hits every point about the Sycorax that we know from “The Christmas Invasion,” from the vicious mocking to the guttural language to the honor duels to the blood control. And yes, the blood control is very much key to the story. We even get to see the Doctor affected by it, which he isn’t in “Christmas Invasion.” Once again, this older Doctor seems to breeze through much of the story without the Sycorax offering much opposition, but the rest of the story is enough fun that it doesn’t really matter. This is possibly my favorite of these stories, not because of the monsters, but because it captures the new series vibe so well.