“Ravenous 2” is a Doctor Who audio boxset from Big Finish Productions and stars Paul McGann alongside Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan, with Mark Bonnar returning as the extra crazy Time Lords known as the Eleven. There are four episodes which propels the Doctor into further encounters with legendary creatures and old adversaries. This is also first time the Doctor actually confronts the Ravenous for the first time. The Ravenous lives up to its or their name by always needing a snack. The favorite item on the menu is a Time Lord, of course.
Matt Fitton starts off this collection with “Escape From Kaldor” in which the Doctor brings his companions to Kaldor City where Nicola Walker’s Liv Chenka has a reunion with an estranged sister. Also, some very familiar automatons are on hand. The Robots of Death are back at it with their defying their programming and causing all kinds of mayhem. Hattie Morahan has rejoined the TARDIS crew as Helen Sinclair after she was rescued from the Eleven. Claire Rushbrook has a guest role as Liv’s sister, Tula Chenka and does well. It’s a pretty strong start for this set, but it gets better.
John Dorney writes a two part adventure starting with “Better Watch Out” where the Doctor brings his friends to Salzburg to celebrate Christmas, however as expected with the Doctor being on site, something else has other plans. People are suffering in spite of the holiday season, and the legendary Krampus has been unleashed. The Doctor and his companions get separated which leads into Dorney’s “Fairytale of Salzburg” where another legendary figure is found to oppose the will of the Krampus. This one has some great performances, however I was once again not all that clear as to what was going on during some of the action sequences. There are some interesting twists and revelations at the end though. McGann puts in his usual compelling performance. It was pretty fun to explore the Christmas legends and traditions of another culture as only Doctor Who can.
“Seizure” by Guy Adams concludes this particular piece of the audio journey. The Doctor and his two friends answer a distress call from everyone’s favorite psychotic and schizophrenic Time Lord known as the Eleven. The Eleven has the unique affliction of coping with all of his previous incarnations’ personalities at once. The Doctor find him aboard a crippled TARDIS on the verge of death. A ghostly presence is also lurking in the shadows. A much more corporeal and Ravenous presence also is there to greet the travelers. This is one of my favorite types of Who takes with the crew trapped in an isolated claustrophobic setting with a ruthlessly insatiable creature stalking our heroes. Although all four of the episodes got the job done, I think this final one for this set is my favorite.
I enjoyed this set well enough, but I expect that I will be anticipating the next volume more now that the Ravenous has been properly confronted.
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