Big Finish Productions The Brood of Erys

Written by	Andrew Smith
Format	Compact Disc
Released	2014

Starring Colin Baker

Synopsis: Space travellers are warned to keep away from the area of the planet Asphya and its unremarkable moon Erys. Not the best place to materialise the TARDIS, then --- as the Doctor discovers when his ship is raided by the imp-like Drachee, and his companion Flip is carried away... But the TARDIS isn't the only stricken vessel in the region. Aboard a nearby space yacht, the Doctor encounters a woman who holds in her head the secret of Erys, a secret suppressed by amnesia, or worse. Flip, too, is about to learn Erys' secret. But once you know Erys' secret, you can never escape.

• A Review by Thomas Tiley

A Review by Thomas Tiley 17/9/26

While recalibrating the TARDIS, the sixth Doctor and Flip notice the solar system they are in is surrounded by buoys sending out a warning message --- resulting in a bunch of pixie-like aliens called the Drachee kidnapping Flip and the Doctor rescuing an amnesiac called Sarra from a nearby spaceship.

This is for the most part a fun little story. The supporting cast are very good, especially Nicola Sian in her role of Sarra, who plays the role of a woman recovering her memories very well and Brian Shelly as Erys the living moon, who acts as the story's baddy, an interesting role as a gigantic living creature, who acts as a controlling and overprotective father to the Drachee that he/it gives birth due. Flip (Lisa Greenwood) gets plenty to do, getting kidnapped, escaping, getting into a spaceship she can't control and getting hurled into the void of space (very much like something that happens to her in her next story, Scavenger), rescued by a passing ship and then rescuing the Doctor. Colin Baker is good throughout, especially his scenes discussing letting your children go at the climax as he talks about Susan and his companions.

Author Andrew Smith is more famous for Full Circle, and this story uses some of his old script ideas: mainly the alien race the Drachee, little folk with a nasty streak and the ability to subject their victims to their worst nightmares with their telepathy. It's a fun story, starting with the mysterious warning, the reveal of the secret of Erys and then later the planet it orbits, Sarra recalling her past, the Drachee plotting to leave Erys behind by stealing a spaceship, etc.

Some elements are stereotypical (living worlds, telepathic aliens, minions plotting aginst their masters). Sarra's mystery is easy to see through (the various telepathic monsters, Erys and the Drachee can't read her mind, she has a secret comm link with a man giving her orders and she has a hidden picture of children on her person), so I found it easy to guess what was going on before the later reveal, and the ending was rushed, which was a shame (well, it was more a case of everything was rushing because it was the last episode, then it all slowed down/calmed down for the conclusion, which, as the pacing and events before the final episode were much easier-going, came across as very abrupt and odd). There is a bit involving the TARDIS crash-landing on Erys (providing a means of escape) and, well, it sounds nothing like something crashing into the ground would sound (other than that bit lacking, the sound design is all right). The final also reveals the reason for Erys's grumpiness/nastiness is down to an infection, which is a bit last minute (I would have preferred a a bit of foreshadowing although how you T-up a planet has a infection making it miserable and lashing out is something I wouldn't have the first clue how to do, and neither did the author). It is also super convenient that they had a surgeon specializing in nerves with them to help fix the damage and who happens to be Sarra's father. The ending comes up with a burst of continuity as well (although it serves the theme of family that the Doctor was using to persuade Erys) with Susan leaving in The Dalek Invasion of Earth brought up as well as the Doctor missing Peri leaving in Mindwarp (which explains the scene of Flip wondering about her in the next story Scavenger). The final also does the New Who thing of using emotions/family to save the day, this time with Sarra's love for her children that it is revealed she has come to rescue from Erys, helping to save the day in a less cringeworthy way than Closing Time or The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.

All in all a good story, well worth a 7 out of 10, it would have been a point or two higher if it didn't run of of steam in the last segment or foreshadowed the ending better.