The Lure of the Nomad review [Matthew J Elliott]

For thousands of years, it has drifted through space, unimpeded, forgotten, seemingly lifeless. Now, finally, it has been discovered.

Responding to a distress call from the mysterious hulk, the Doctor and his companion, space pilot Mathew Sharpe, walk into a desperate situation. The multi-tentacled semibionic Makara were tasked with renovating the abandoned craft, but now they’ve begun murdering their employers.

The Doctor soon realises that the Makara have been programmed to kill, but by whom, and for what reason? Finding out the truth will mean uncovering a secret that threatens the entire Universe.

When and Where: A spacefaring vessel in the 32nd century. The Doctor knows about the carrot juice diet but isn't travelling with Mel, meaning that one of the following is the case. Either he and Mel are taking a break during the later days of his life and he is remembering actually being on the diet, or this is at some point after he travelled with Evelyn (his first companion post-Trial as implied in The Wrong Doctors) and he's simply remembering what he saw of the future in Terror of the Vervoids. Given that he's resigned himself to travelling alone, the latter option is probably the correct one - he's travelled with Evelyn but not yet with Mel.

The Doctor's Case:

• A Good Quotation:
• "I just feel so sorry for that parrot." / "What?" / "Well, nobody seemed to care what it died of. I'm worried it might have been neglect."
• "Please be aware that we have no wish to kill you. We simply have no choice in the matter. We hope that you will accept our sincere apologies for your murder."
• "No, Peri. If that's your idea of a three-point turn you're forbidden from piloting the TARDIS ever again."
• "Good grief! It's bigger on the ins-" / "Yes, yes, yes."
• "Octopodes." / "Both octopi and octopodes are acceptable. There's no need to be so insufferable."
• I love a good cold open and it's a device that the Main Range so rarely use, in keeping with its rare use in the classic series. Whilst the one in this story isn't the most exciting, it's a refreshing way to begin the story.
• Like Mrs Clarke before him in The End of the Line or the short-lived Sheena in The Starship of Theseus, we first meet companion Mathew Sharpe without an introductory story. It's a funny introduction with him finding no humour in Monty Python's famous parrot sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus (which the Doctor apparently named), which the Doctor has apparently shown to a number of his previous companions without his response. He's from 2715 and was promised one trip (which apparently involved the Quarks), which became several and it's now time for him to go home. We get a flashback later to how they met and later learn that he's the Myriad, the antagonist of the story.
• The Sixth Doctor hasn't had much in the way of moral ambiguity since his travels with Peri, so it comes completely out of the blue when he leaves Mathew to die and then embarks on solo adventures. Big Finish made the right decision of softening the Sixth Doctor but it means that sometimes he feels just... nice. Seeing a darker side of him after all this time is refreshing.
• A woman of vapour wearing a transparent body suit evokes images of the glass people of Testimony. It's a great idea.
• When the Doctor makes tea, he puts the milk in first. Finally someone agrees with me.

The Valeyard's Case:

• A plot burdened by continuity is one thing, then there's a script burdened by an overabundance of references to previous adventures and characters.
• George Sear hasn't been credited for the next two Sixth Doctor releases, so the cliff-hanger of part 1 where it seems he could die is one that I almost bought. Then I remembered that he hasn't delivered the line "Mathew with one T, Sharpe with an E" from the trailer yet so he couldn't possibly be dead.
• The Myriad aren't a particularly interesting antagonist, not having much of an M.O. and being similar to the Eminence.
• Mathew Sharpe turns out to be the Myriad. It's a shame given that the Sixth Doctor's never had a male companion before (aside from Thomas in three releases) and it would have been nice to have a new dynamic in the TARDIS.

This Reminds Me...:

• The way the Doctor and Mathew met is similar to how the Eighth Doctor would later meet Cass in The Night of the Doctor.
• The Doctor travelled with a space pilot from the future before: Steven Taylor.
• The Makara going rogue is similar to what happened with the Ood in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.
• Erebus has been mentioned a number of times in the main Torchwood range, beginning with The Conspiracy.
• Mathew and the Doctor have had adventures involving the Quarks, the Mermadons and a Chronosaurus.
• Capitalism will later be abolished after the Chasm Forge incident in Oxygen. If you can believe the Doctor's almost throwaway line at the end.
• The Doctor mentions his first visit to Skaro in The Daleks. He later mentions the mutants themselves.
• The Doctor mentions carrot juice, a diet we first saw him on in Terror of the Vervoids.
• Curls are a hairstyle that the Doctor keeps coming back to, he says, referencing the Fourth Doctor.
• Willoway recalls hearing of a prettier Doctor, who he surmises to be his fifth incarnation.
• The Doctor fought the Terileptils in The Visitation.
• The Doctor's companions have a habit of twisting their ankles. Susan did this frequently.
• Drazen mentions the Ogrons, who first appeared in Day of the Daleks.
• Harry Sullivan is mentioned by the Doctor. He first appeared in Robot.
• The Rani and the Second Doctor held Stattenheim remote controls in The Mark of the Rani and The Two Doctors respectively.
• The Doctor wishes he still had his sonic screwdriver, which was destroyed in The Visitation by the Terileptils.
• Esther mentions the Orient Express, which we visit in Mummy on the Orient Express. A space version, anyway.
• The Doctor mentions the Zero Room, seen and removed in Castrovalva.
• The Doctor tells the Myriad that they will have to go the long way round. This is a phrase used first by the Eleventh Doctor in The Day of the Doctor, and then multiple times by the Twelfth Doctor and once by Clara in Hell Bent.

The Inquisitor's Judgement: Quarks, Peri, carrot juice, Skaro, the Fourth Doctor, the Fifth Doctor, Terileptils, Daleks, ankle-twisting companions, Ogrons, Harry Sullivan, Stattenheim remote controls, the Zero Room... The Lure of the Nomad is inundated by an unnecessary amount of continuity references and not a whole lot of plot. The Makara are decent enough monsters and Mathew being a bad guy is a good and unforeseen twist - he's the best thing about this story - but the Makara disappear to be replaced as the villains by the Myriad, who are rather dull. They like to wage war or something: it's not too engaging. Fortunately Colin Baker and George Sear are so good. Ultimately, this story is below average, and that earns it a D.

The Main Range

The Helliax Rift  |  The Lure of the Nomad  |  Iron Bright

The Sixth Doctor - The Main Range

Static  |  The Lure of the Nomad  |  Iron Bright