The Doomwood Curse

Main Range #111

Released: August 2008

Listened: 7/16/20

Charley continues her charade with the Sixth Doctor, trying to go back to adventuring with him while not letting on how much she knows. In this case, they wind up in what appears to be a rather hammy Victorian drama based on the novel Rookwood. It gets a bit draggy in the middle while the Doctor figures out what’s going on, and the story also needs to explain its literary references for those who aren’t up on their early 1800s novels (which includes myself, mostly). However, with Charley being subsumed by fiction and separated from the Doctor for much of the story, she doesn’t need to worry about keeping her secret. This is one of those where there’s not so much a bad guy as a runaway phenomenon to be stopped, which makes it a little light on the drama. It also features a pre-Captain America Haley Atwell as a bride who turns up a bit later in the story but proves capable and heroic, perfect for the future Agent Carter. Your enjoyment of this will likely hinge on how much you enjoy the setting.