The Cats of New Cairo

Tales from New Earth #4

Released: 6 March 2018

Listened: 10/29/22

It’s finale time, and we’ve got more guest stars in the form of Adjoa Andoh, who aside from Francine Jones, played one of the cat nuns in “New Earth,” and plays that same cat’s cousin here. Plus James Dreyfus (before he was the Master, and before he was not the Master) plays the “Exalted High Persian.” Because we’re going to New Cairo, which is kind of Cat HQ on New Earth, where all the orders are based. There aren’t any humans, so Devon encounters plenty of racism. Cats are still accustomed to being worshiped, it seems, and they’ve got a bunch of sentient camels to do that for them. They’re also willing to cut a deal with the Lux, because if there’s one thing these cats can do above all else, it’s look out for themselves. The Doctor doesn’t really appear much in this one, mostly because he’s locked out by the Lux, but a bunch of the characters we’ve met in the previous stories pitch in to help out. Because of course cooperation is what wins against the selfish. We never do learn much more about the Lux than we already knew. They’re a Big Bad, but exactly what they are and how they work remains a mystery. On the whole, the boxed set is coherent and decent storytelling, but not really required listening. It’s pretty good, and that’s it.