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When a naval cruiser sinks in mysterious circumstances,
all aboard are lost. Rose is saddened to learn that the brother
of her friend, Keisha, was among the dead - but then he appears
before them as a ghostly apparition. As the dead crew haunt
loved ones all over London, the Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Keisha
are drawn into a chilling mystery. What sinister force sank
the ship, and why...?
Rather strangely, this audio book, like its predecessor, Jacqueline
Rayner's The
Stone Rose,
is an Earth-based story featuring the recurring characters
of Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler. These characters don't usually
appear in consecutive stories, so there is a risk that the
series might be perceived as lacking variety. In both books,
the Doctor and Rose have already arrived as the story begins.
However, whereas the TARDIS crew spent relatively little time
in present-day London during The Stone Rose, here the
capital city is the primary location. It is possible, therefore,
that the Doctor and Rose immediately returned to the present
day following their trip to ancient Rome, perhaps to check
up on Rose's statue and to ensure that history had not been
affected by their adventure.
Jackie
and - in particular - Mickey play larger roles in this story
than they did in the previous one. In fact, Mickey seems well
on his way to becoming a full-blown companion, as he eventually
did in the television series. Did Cole and Rayner know that
Mickey was going to end up staying behind in a parallel universe?
Is that why they make maximum use of the character in these
books?
Another
major character is Keisha, who is introduced here as part
of a once close-knit gang comprising Rose, Keisha and Shareen.
Rose's best mate Shareen has been mentioned several times
on the television show, but presumably Cole has chosen to
invent a new friend (or the BBC insisted) rather than use
Shareen, in case the character should ever appear in a subsequent
episode that might contradict this story.
This
batch of audio books is clearly set after the episode New
Earth
- in which both Rose and the Doctor make frequent reference
to the Time Lord's new appearance and personality - and probably
also after Tooth
and Claw. In The Stone Rose, the Doctor
mentions an encounter with werewolves (though this might not
necessarily refer to Tooth and Claw), while in this
book Rose recalls the Doctor's comment about humans being
composed mostly of water.
Despite
the higher than usual word count of Cole's
original novel,
there are few noticeable omissions from this abridged reading.
Jacqueline Rayner, who condensed all three books in this batch,
is more ruthless in editing her own novel than she is with
Cole's or Justin Richards's. Here the only notable excision
is the revelation about Mickey and Keisha's "affair".
This
remains a relatively adult narrative. For example, one character,
Vida Swann, gives a two-fingered salute, while Cole's descriptions
of the bloated white faces of reanimated victims of drowning
- all luridly enunciated by David Tennant - are quite gruesome.
Tennant uses his own Scottish accent for the voice of Vida,
while the villainous Rear Admiral Crayshaw sounds remarkably
like Baron Silas Greenback from Danger Mouse. Unfortunately,
his attempts at black characters are slightly comical, which
is a particular shame because this book has three major ones:
Mickey, Keisha and Keisha's brother Jay.
Nevertheless,
the audio version of The Feast of the Drowned remains
substantial fodder for Who fans of all ages. Feast
your ears.
Richard
McGinlay
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