Retrieval

UNIT #4.3

Released: 23 May 2017

Listened: 4/11/23

No classic characters this time around. The hybrid creatures from last story are heading toward London (this is apparently just a UK problem, not a global one), and Kate and Osgood are hoping to find a solution from the Silurians’ own technology. So they visit a Silurian R&D facility to look for one, which they both admit is a long shot, but they’re out of options. By sheer bad luck, a Silurian named Tryska is also visiting the base, in order to find a weapon that stimulates primate fear-centers. She’s played by Neve McIntosh, which doesn’t cause any continuity problems because it’s already been established that many Silurian warriors look and sound like Neve McIntosh. And Tryska is very, very angry and bloodthirsty, so she’s an awful lot like Restac from “Cold Blood.” Except I’m so used to hearing her as Vastra that it’s rather jarring. It feels like Vastra is having an incredibly bad day. Osgood and Kate are a good pairing, and Kate gets a chance to show off her science chops, although she’s a bit snotty about it. Both women end up debilitated, Kate by venom, and Osgood by the fear weapon, which means it’s Sam to the rescue. Which isn’t a great look, but Kate gets to do a lot of teeth-gritted determined-while-poisoned acting. Osgood gets to panic a lot. And considering that Osgood is nervous at the best of times, she has to reach pretty high to get to panic. And once again, anybody whose name isn’t in the main credits isn’t making it out. Which is a small thing, but it’s starting to become irritating. We’ve now had three standalones in a row, and this is probably the weakest of them.