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Big Finish: Monthly Range #138
Doctor Who: The Cradle of the Snake
"The Mara is in all of us, deep in our minds. In our darkest thoughts, that’s where it started. Some people call it a demon, but that’s too simple. It’s about temptation."
Tegan's nightmares have returned. Seeking to banish the snake-like Mara from his companion's psyche, the Doctor sets course for Manussa, the creature's point of origin. But the TARDIS arrives instead in the heyday of the Manussan Empire, where infotainment impresario Rick ausGarten is preparing to turn dreams into reality.
The sun is setting on the Manussan Empire... and it's all the Doctor's fault.
Tegan's nightmares have returned. Seeking to banish the snake-like Mara from his companion's psyche, the Doctor sets course for Manussa, the creature's point of origin. But the TARDIS arrives instead in the heyday of the Manussan Empire, where infotainment impresario Rick ausGarten is preparing to turn dreams into reality.
The sun is setting on the Manussan Empire... and it's all the Doctor's fault.
Audio CD
First published September 1, 2010
84 people want to read
About the author
Marc Platt
111 books48 followersMarc Platt is a British writer. He is most known for his work with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.
After studying catering at a technical college, Platt worked first for Trust House Forte, and then in administration for the BBC. He wrote the Doctor Who serial Ghost Light based on two proposals, one of which later became the novel Lungbarrow. That novel was greatly anticipated by fans as it was the culmination of the so-called "Cartmel Masterplan", revealing details of the Doctor's background and family.
After the original series' cancellation Platt wrote the script for the audio Doctor Who drama Spare Parts. The script was the inspiration for the 2006 Doctor Who television story "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel", for which Platt received a screen credit and a fee.
He lives in London.
After studying catering at a technical college, Platt worked first for Trust House Forte, and then in administration for the BBC. He wrote the Doctor Who serial Ghost Light based on two proposals, one of which later became the novel Lungbarrow. That novel was greatly anticipated by fans as it was the culmination of the so-called "Cartmel Masterplan", revealing details of the Doctor's background and family.
After the original series' cancellation Platt wrote the script for the audio Doctor Who drama Spare Parts. The script was the inspiration for the 2006 Doctor Who television story "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel", for which Platt received a screen credit and a fee.
He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 18, 2020
A good audio cd which I enjoyed, except for the ending, which I thought was quite rushed. A bit of a letdown. Good lockdown entertainment for these times.
July 17, 2023
Rarely listen to audiobooks but saw this one and decided to give it a try. Third time The Doctor encounters the Mahra. Cast does a very good production. Interview with the Director and the Screenwriter at the end was a great addition
January 28, 2023
I thought this one was decent. I wish I had a stronger liking to it as it is one of the few Mara stories and Kinda/Snakedance are some of my all-time favourites but this story just feels like it's missing something.
It plays with all the old beats from the two previously mentioned stories but the twist is that everyone in the TARDIS other than Tegan gets possessed by the Mara. They go to Manussa, the setting of Snakedance, but before the events of Snakedance in the planet's history. I think the problem I have with this story is that it has a lot of fun elements, characters out of character, etc but the overall plot with the Mara wanting control (but obviously they won't win) just being too basic and overdone by this point. I hope Big Finish come back to the Mara (since it is celebrating 40 years of existence) and tells a new story with it going from another angle. The Mara as a villain has so much more potential and I feel like they needed to expand upon the horror scenarios of the dream sequences from Kinda (that make minor appearances here).
It plays with all the old beats from the two previously mentioned stories but the twist is that everyone in the TARDIS other than Tegan gets possessed by the Mara. They go to Manussa, the setting of Snakedance, but before the events of Snakedance in the planet's history. I think the problem I have with this story is that it has a lot of fun elements, characters out of character, etc but the overall plot with the Mara wanting control (but obviously they won't win) just being too basic and overdone by this point. I hope Big Finish come back to the Mara (since it is celebrating 40 years of existence) and tells a new story with it going from another angle. The Mara as a villain has so much more potential and I feel like they needed to expand upon the horror scenarios of the dream sequences from Kinda (that make minor appearances here).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2014
Tegan hat erneut Albträume. Daraus lässt sich wohl schließen, dass man sich hier laut Wikipedia wohl auf Ereignisse einer Episode aus dem Jahr 1983 namens Snakedance. Tegan träumt jedenfalls von einem Wesen namens Mara, ein böser Geist, der Besitz von Personen übernimmt und sie böse, gierig und gemein macht. Der Doktor nimmt dem Kampf gegen den Mara in Tegan auf, verliert und wird übernommen. Das weiß der Mara aber gut zu verbergen, daher reisen die drei Companions und der Doktor 5 zu einem Psychologen auf dem Planeten Manussa, um sich Hilfe zu holen. Hier auf Manussa wird der Mara in ferner Zukunft entstehen und die komplette Zivilisation vernichten und er möchte das Ganze doch gerne ein wenig beschleunigen.
Diese Folge erzählt, wie der Mara erschaffen wird durch pure Dummheit oder Gier in Kombination mit Sensationsgier und Selbstüberschätzung der Wissenschaft die im Fernsehen Einschaltquoten jagt. Ein durchaus spannendes Thema und eine wirklich sehr gut gemachte Folge, die man auch ohne, dass man die Fernsehserie kennt gut nachverfolgen kann. Alle Infos, die absolut notwendig sind, um zu verstehen, was damals passiert ist oder passieren wird, werden in Dialogen vermittelt, so dass man zwar das Gefühl hat, dass man was verpasst hat, aber keine wirklichen Lücken auftreten, die das Verständnis einschränken würden.
Diese Folge erzählt, wie der Mara erschaffen wird durch pure Dummheit oder Gier in Kombination mit Sensationsgier und Selbstüberschätzung der Wissenschaft die im Fernsehen Einschaltquoten jagt. Ein durchaus spannendes Thema und eine wirklich sehr gut gemachte Folge, die man auch ohne, dass man die Fernsehserie kennt gut nachverfolgen kann. Alle Infos, die absolut notwendig sind, um zu verstehen, was damals passiert ist oder passieren wird, werden in Dialogen vermittelt, so dass man zwar das Gefühl hat, dass man was verpasst hat, aber keine wirklichen Lücken auftreten, die das Verständnis einschränken würden.
December 18, 2010
The Cradle of the Snake is the best of this month's audios. Marc Platt (who else?) brings back the Mara, with the Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa, and Turlough visiting Manussa (setting of Snakedance) to try and set Tegan straight after Nyssa and Turlough stupidly interrupt the Doctor's attempts to cure her of her snakey problems. I think the story is totally accessible to those who do not know either Kinda or Snakedance, or even much about Who; Peter Davison is called on to act well outside his usual comfort zone and succeeds; Platt is on form; the guest cast are good (including Vernon Dobtcheff, who was in The War Games over forty years ago, and Madeleine Potter, an American who seemed surprisingly at home in this rather British setting); and we are all set for another three stories (at least) with this particular Team Tardis next year.
November 24, 2010
"Kinda" and "Snakedance" have always been two of my favorite 5th Doctor stories, and this one is a worthy successor. Most notable is that the Mara gets a turn possessing other members of the TARDIS crew besides Tegan, giving Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton rare and welcome chances to show their dark sides. A great finale to this trilogy of stories, and I'm glad that we can expect to see more from this crew.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2016
The Mara comes back and the doctor is taken over. The team goes back to the world where is started to try to get rid of it but it starts to grow. Can the Mara be contained?
June 10, 2025
It was good to be back listening to a Big Finish Doctor Who audio and I liked several features of the story and performance, which just edges it out of the merely OK.
I like the Peter Davidson Doctor but he's used in an unusual way here, and I found the story confusing in an uninteresting way to start with. I enjoyed some of the quirky characters and their roles - the indigenous preacher, the contrast between the 'showman' and the 'scientist', the servant, the health and safety inspector.
I thought I wasn't terribly interested in the Mara but some of the conclusions are of real life significance. In other words, the struggle is real.
I like the Peter Davidson Doctor but he's used in an unusual way here, and I found the story confusing in an uninteresting way to start with. I enjoyed some of the quirky characters and their roles - the indigenous preacher, the contrast between the 'showman' and the 'scientist', the servant, the health and safety inspector.
I thought I wasn't terribly interested in the Mara but some of the conclusions are of real life significance. In other words, the struggle is real.
November 24, 2022
Well... this trilogy was a bit... ok. The overall story was less interesting but it was an enjoyable listen anyway. It was nice to have Davison voicing an evil Doctor, for something a bit different.
And that's about enough of binge-listening to these, for now. I'm off to go and binge-listen to a bunch of Star Trek for a while instead.
And that's about enough of binge-listening to these, for now. I'm off to go and binge-listen to a bunch of Star Trek for a while instead.
January 22, 2023
I LOVED IT!
Cast? Five in the TARDIS with Tegan, Turlough & Nyssa! All voiced to absolute perfection! Great cast! Just as I remember them. Fantastic!
Story? Return to the planet in Snakedance for more MARA!!! The story spends time teasing you … who has the Mara … then it’s all about how they get rid of it.
Fun romp with a familiar cast!!
5 stars for the cast alone.
Cast? Five in the TARDIS with Tegan, Turlough & Nyssa! All voiced to absolute perfection! Great cast! Just as I remember them. Fantastic!
Story? Return to the planet in Snakedance for more MARA!!! The story spends time teasing you … who has the Mara … then it’s all about how they get rid of it.
Fun romp with a familiar cast!!
5 stars for the cast alone.
January 27, 2023
A sequel to Snakedance, though I’m not really sure it completely justifies its existence.
March 10, 2022
Back in the 80s, during Peter Davison's run as the Doctor (1981-1984), there were two stories that featured the Mara, a creature that "dwelt in the Dark Places of the Inside" and in the final episode would manifest itself as a giant red snake. These stories, Kinda and Snakedance are considered some of the highlights of Davison's run by fans. Cradle of the Snake makes up the third part of a Mara trilogy.
At the end of the previous story Doctor Who: The Whispering Forest, Tegan feels the effects of the Mara again. After a trippy mindscape battle in Tegan's mind, the TARDIS crew arrives on Manussa a little over a hundred years before the height of the Mara's power. What follows is best experianced without spoilers. Let's just just say that all the leads get interesting things to do that expand and show their range as actors. Marc Platt crafts a really good story that's faithful to what came before while still bringing new ideas. If you enjoyed the TV Mara stories, then this is great sequel. Just be aware that this is the end of a new audio trilogy featuring an older Nyssa rejoining the TARDIS crew, so there will be references to that.
At the end of the previous story Doctor Who: The Whispering Forest, Tegan feels the effects of the Mara again. After a trippy mindscape battle in Tegan's mind, the TARDIS crew arrives on Manussa a little over a hundred years before the height of the Mara's power. What follows is best experianced without spoilers. Let's just just say that all the leads get interesting things to do that expand and show their range as actors. Marc Platt crafts a really good story that's faithful to what came before while still bringing new ideas. If you enjoyed the TV Mara stories, then this is great sequel. Just be aware that this is the end of a new audio trilogy featuring an older Nyssa rejoining the TARDIS crew, so there will be references to that.
January 18, 2026
This was written by Marc Platt, who’s 8th Doctor and Merry Shelly audio “The Silver Turk” I really enjoyed. And his other 5th Doctor audio “Spare Parts” while I don’t remember it very well, was still worth listening to. And when I heard the premise to this one, and that it had the Mara in it, I thought it would be a good one. But after listening to this one, I forgot why I wanted to listen to it in the first place.
It had an ok opening, continuing on from the snooze fest that was the Whispering Forest and having the Doctor go through Tegon's dreams which added some surrealism to the story. But once we get to Manerca, it then just following old grounds again from the two TV Mara stories which weren't that good to begin with. The only new thing that the story adds is that now the Doctor is the Mara’s new host but I feel that this was sort of a given if you wanted to do a third Mara story and it offered no tension as you could guess for yourself that he will be eventually saved from his possession. And the whole TV station angle was so pointless and forgetabul that it might as well not have been their. As for the evil 5th Doctor, this is something that Colin Baker specialised in, but I can see how that can get old after a while. But Peter Davidson’s performance as the evil Doctor was kind of weak. And the only real evil thing he did was just knock over a circus tent, other than that, he was just sort of there to act as the surreget for the Mara until it apeared proper. It seems weird to me that Big Finish did a Mara story and chose to basically do the same thing a third time. They could have shaped things up by having a different Doctor or companions. But again, the companions are Tegon and Nyssa, there’s Terlo as well but he really doesn’t add anything to the mix.
Over all, This was a by the numbers as you can get. If you liked Kinda or Snakedance and you really need more Mara action in your life, they this might just do it. But otherwise, just avoid this one.
It had an ok opening, continuing on from the snooze fest that was the Whispering Forest and having the Doctor go through Tegon's dreams which added some surrealism to the story. But once we get to Manerca, it then just following old grounds again from the two TV Mara stories which weren't that good to begin with. The only new thing that the story adds is that now the Doctor is the Mara’s new host but I feel that this was sort of a given if you wanted to do a third Mara story and it offered no tension as you could guess for yourself that he will be eventually saved from his possession. And the whole TV station angle was so pointless and forgetabul that it might as well not have been their. As for the evil 5th Doctor, this is something that Colin Baker specialised in, but I can see how that can get old after a while. But Peter Davidson’s performance as the evil Doctor was kind of weak. And the only real evil thing he did was just knock over a circus tent, other than that, he was just sort of there to act as the surreget for the Mara until it apeared proper. It seems weird to me that Big Finish did a Mara story and chose to basically do the same thing a third time. They could have shaped things up by having a different Doctor or companions. But again, the companions are Tegon and Nyssa, there’s Terlo as well but he really doesn’t add anything to the mix.
Over all, This was a by the numbers as you can get. If you liked Kinda or Snakedance and you really need more Mara action in your life, they this might just do it. But otherwise, just avoid this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2017
With Janet Fielding, playing Tegan, now a Big Finish regular, it was inevitable that one of the first stories BF would do would feature the return of the Mara. Here, the Doctor travels into Manussa's past (relative to the TV story Snakedance) to try and find a way to remove the Mara's influence. Which naturally doesn't go as well as he'd hoped.
The story doesn't expand terribly much on Manussa, which gives the impression of having been pretty much the same as 21st century Earth at this point in its history. The large central cast does also tend to edge out some of the guest stars - one imagines that Safety Officer Yoanna would have had a bigger part in a story with a smaller TARDIS crew, for instance. And, of the guest stars, the tribal shaman is more annoying than anything else, the actor having chosen a rather stilted form of delivery (or had it thrust on him by the director - who knows?)
These flaws are, to my mind, offset by the quality characterisation of the main cast, whose varying personalities are a key part of the story. The Mara itself also does well, unhindered by a purple sock puppet and getting to spread its influence rather further than usual. As with the other two stories in this loose 'trilogy' (and honestly, this is stand-alone), a lot of the joy comes from seeing the full cast back together again, and in how well that dynamic is written. But it probably helps if you already have some investment in, and knowledge of, the characters.
The story doesn't expand terribly much on Manussa, which gives the impression of having been pretty much the same as 21st century Earth at this point in its history. The large central cast does also tend to edge out some of the guest stars - one imagines that Safety Officer Yoanna would have had a bigger part in a story with a smaller TARDIS crew, for instance. And, of the guest stars, the tribal shaman is more annoying than anything else, the actor having chosen a rather stilted form of delivery (or had it thrust on him by the director - who knows?)
These flaws are, to my mind, offset by the quality characterisation of the main cast, whose varying personalities are a key part of the story. The Mara itself also does well, unhindered by a purple sock puppet and getting to spread its influence rather further than usual. As with the other two stories in this loose 'trilogy' (and honestly, this is stand-alone), a lot of the joy comes from seeing the full cast back together again, and in how well that dynamic is written. But it probably helps if you already have some investment in, and knowledge of, the characters.
August 1, 2020
The Mara stories on TV Who are some of my favorite. At first I was a little wary of having a third story with that particular entity, but Big Finish pulls it off beautifully here. The Doctor gets possessed by the Mara and it’s up to Tegan to save the day. All of the beats to a Mara story are here and it feels like everybody understands what made that character so scary and thrilling. Definitely one of my top 20 favorite Big Finish stories!
August 30, 2014
Tegan's nightmares about the Mara return, forcing the Doctor to confront the problem on its home world, Manussa.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews