Intercepting a distress call, the TARDIS is drawn to a Shinto shrine in medieval Japan, where the Doctor and Amy meet village elder Shijô Sada. He explains that the ogre-like mannequins surrounding the holy site are harmless guardians, called Otoroshi. At the heart of the temple is an ancient jade pyramid, so sacred that only the monks may look at it. But the Shogun, the ruler of Japan, wants to possess the pyramid and has ordered seven samurai and a band of soldiers to come and seize it. While the Doctor is tracked by a ninja assassin, Amy discovers what happens to trespassers at the shrine. Soon the secrets of the jade pyramid - and the towering Otoroshi - will be known...

There are hints of the Patrick Troughton serial The Abominable Snowmen in this audio exclusive, which features an interesting, low-tech, historical setting; a clash of mindsets between the spiritual and the warlike; and of course giant hairy beasties that menace the Doctor and his Scottish companion. However, the specific political aspects of the period and location (such as the Shogun’s crippling taxation of the village, a disgraced samurai and deadly ninjas) lend a different direction to the plot.

As with The Runaway Train, the running time of this single-disc release (70 minutes), seems to constrain the author, in this case Martin Day, whose plot never fully spreads its wings. However, he does find time for some lovely descriptions of the Eleventh Doctor from the point of view of Shijô Sada, including this one: “...he sounded at first as young as his companion, but the more Shijô listened, the more he wondered if the gentle smoothness of his voice was that of a pebble dropped into the sea, and polished and rounded by centuries of time and tide.”

Reader Matt Smith’s impersonation of Karen Gillan has improved somewhat since The Runaway Train, though the character does still sometimes sound American rather than Scottish. This, though, is more than compensated for by the pleasure of hearing Eleventh Doctor dialogue delivered by the man himself.

Musician Steven Jones further evokes the television series by including traces of Murray Gold’s ominous theme for the cracks in the universe.

The Jade Pyramid is enjoyable while it lasts, but it seems to be over too soon. Also, despite having listened to it twice, I’m still not sure what actually happens to the pyramid itself.

6

Richard McGinlay