Moonflesh (#185)

   Big Finish Main Range

 

The story beings with the Doctor and Nyssa landing in Suffolk, England and finding an elephant nearby, which does seem a bit mysterious in itself. They end up at the home of Nathaniel Witlock and his daughter Phoebe, at what is expected to be a big game hunting expedition on the grounds of his home. Things get distracted by the moonflesh stone and the entity contained inside of it. So there is chaos and people being possessed and mysticism from the Souix hunter, Silver Crow. And it all comes out in the end, naturally.

Though I rather enjoyed this story, the alien creature, Batuus (?), has this power to possess people yet is limited in its imagination on how to use this absorbsion power. The Doctor is rightly suspicious but for once doesn’t express it to anyone, just uses his judgment to trick Batuus. Usually there’s a bit of a “struggle” with the companion, who objects and runs off to get into more trouble, before the Doctor can implement his plan. Perhaps Mark Morris didn’t use this particular trope because it’s Nyssa, whose been with the Doctor for awhile, though she does object to the hunt vociferously. It’s a good, fun story that includes mysticism usually found in the 7th Doctor stories (The Dreaming, anyone?).


Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Tim Bentinck, Rosanna Miles, John Banks, Francesca Hunt, Hugh Fraser, Geoffrey Breton

Writer: Mark Morris

Director: Ken Bentley

Release: April 2014

© Laura Vilensky 2019