Doctor Who: Tomb Ship

Big Finish: Monthly Range #186

by Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby, Peter Davison (Narrator)

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Nyssa to a vast pyramid, floating in space. A tomb ship – the last resting-place of the God-King of the Arrit, an incredibly advanced and incredibly ancient civilisation, long since extinct.

They’re not alone, however. Another old dynasty walks its twisted, trap-ridden passages – a family of tomb raiders led by a fanatical matriarch, whose many sons and daughters have been tutored in tales of the God-King’s lost treasure.

But those who seek the God-King will find death in their shadow. Death from below. Death from above. Death moving them back and forward, turning their own hearts against them.

Because only the dead will survive.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published May 1, 2014

About the author

Freelance writer for over 20 years – When he’s not being ungainfully employed as a BAFTA-nominated video games scriptwriter, he keeps himself busy writing comics, novels, screenplays and Doctor Who audio plays. Comics work includes Predator, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Missionary Man, Necronauts, Caballistics Inc and Absalom, and Dept. of Monsterology for Renegade.

Reviews

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves exploring a labyrinthine spaceship designed as the tomb for an alien God-King. For a story apparently inspired by a large number of sources, from Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones to Alien and Warhammer 40K, for the most part it brings across little of the excitement of any of them. This may be because navigating a maze full of traps is something that works better as a video game than it does as a story; something it's more interesting to try and do yourself than to watch somebody else attempting.

In fairness, there is more to the story than this, as a callous archaeologist pushes her own sons into danger to try and get to the treasure at the heart of the tomb, dogged by a mysterious stranger already trapped there. The characters are well-drawn and distinctive, and there's plenty of bickering between the brothers and general unpleasantness from the expedition leader, but it doesn't elevate the story as much as its clearly intended to. There are also giant insects in the corridors, but they don't do terribly much except got shot at and occasionally jump people - which would probably look cooler on video than it does to just listen to.

Things finally change in the last 30 minutes, with the tomb on the verge of destruction, and the conflict between the various characters finally coming out into the open. This part is quite dramatic and exciting, at least giving a pay-off to what has gone before, but up until then, the story, while competent, is merely average and not terribly memorable.

I did, however, like the surprise revelation near the end of part 3, and look forward to seeing what they do with its repercussions in the next story.

[Mike Rempel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pete Davidson

[Josh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rough. This is story 2/3 in the new companion Hannah trilogy. And she... is only in the last part of the story. The story? A padded mess that repeats itself and has too many unlikable characters.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea and the visual, but it ended up not doing a whole lot for me.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story concerns the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa arriving on a space station around some distant planet. There they find a woman, her sons, and another woman who are all trying to survive a massive set of death traps. Some do this fairly wisely, and others not so much. The story unfolds with a series of traps that are clever and interesting, and the eventual resolution is acceptable.

[Daniel Cork · Rating 1 out of 5]

A tomb raider type story that should work but kinda just flops instead unfortunately and the inclusion of a new companion Hannah Bartholomew feels like a last-minute addition which doesn't help with the fact I don't really like her all that much but hopefully, Stephen Cole improves the character for her final story. 2/10

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Dr Who meets tomb raider, with a few twists and turns. I really liked the fact that the answer to the traps wasn't expected, and that not everyone got out alive. Interesting group of very different characters.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor and Nyssa land on a tomb ship trying to help a tomb raider get the reward she is looking for.