The Alchemists (#8.02)

  Big Finish, Companion Chronicles

 

This story starts out creepy and interesting enough but then it begins to meander a bit. Susan and the Doctor land in pre-WWII Germany and cash in some gold in order to be able to make their way around Berlin. They meet up with famous scientists then the Doctor is kidnapped, ostensibly to discover the new method for creating gold from sea water. So Susan is on her own in Berlin, roaming the streets with spies after her as well as dealing with the pre-war Hitler youth.

There is one scene where Pollitt, a British spy, interrogates Susan for 6 hours. The scene starts with him yelling at her and dissolves into a very brief description of her interrogation. Not that I wanted to hear details but I thought wow, that could’ve been a very dramatic scene that instead, just became a little exposition on how nasty Pollitt could be. And there was music throughout the entire audio, which is a rarity on a companion chronicle. I wish it was just cut out! Why do I need to hear music while Carol Ann Ford is talking? It gets quite loud sometimes and definitely took me out of the story at times. Strangely enough, when she’s in a club, there is no music. This story just seems uneven and the ending made me want to throw my hands up in disgust. At least Susan gets to use her brains to defeat Pollitt. Twice even! But I just didn’t like the story all that much. Meh.


Carol Ann Ford (Susan Foreman) and Wayne Forester (Pollitt)

Writer: Ian Potter

Director: Lisa Bowerman

Release: Aug 2013

© Laura Vilensky 2019