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Doctor Who: The Death Collectors by Stewart Sheargold
02/08/2008 . Source: Sue Davies 
CD. pub: Big Finish ISBN: 978-1-84435-318-7. 120 minute CD. Price: £14.99 (UK). Non UK £11.50)cast: Sylvester McCoy, Alastair Cording, Katherine Parkinson, Derek Carlyle and Katarina Olsson. Buy Doctor Who: The Death Collectors in the USA - or Buy Doctor Who: The Death Collectors in the UK  check out web site www.BigFinish.com
The Seventh Doctor is travelling alone again. He is near the end of his seventh incarnation and in melancholy mood. With 'only death for company', he has no human companion to mellow his personality and sinks into a brooding gloom and almost reckless in pursuit of desire to put things right. He might just slip over the edge.
Hearing a distress signal, the Doctor arrives on a sky station above the poisoned planet of Antikon. It's a dead planet that is host to the Decay, which has killed billions. The station shouldn't be there, it's a closed planet. A member of the three-person crew, Ridley is collecting samples in space. He is pulled back into the station just a little too late and is on the point of death. The mysterious Dar Traders, who exchange their flesh to resurrect the near dead, attempt to save him but Ridley is not alive and is about to unleash something that will destroy every living thing.
It is essentially a three-hander drama with added alien entity. The main characters are Professor Mors (Alistair Cording) and Danika Meanwhile (Katherine Parkinson) who are an ex-married couple working with Ridley, Danika's new partner. The Doctor is keen to discover the extent of Professor Mors' experiments and to explore the Decay that takes over Ridley.
This story is very sinister and intense. There is plenty of opportunity for Sylvester McCoy to roll his 'R's in true Shakespearean manner. It's quite dramatic in the style of the recent TV episode 'Silence In The Library'. Being an audio, the audience get to imagine the horrors inside Ridley's spacesuit. There are some creepy exchanges between the Doctor and the Dar Traders and between Mors and the not-quite-dead Ridley. Not one to listen to late at night.
This good scary piece reflects the claustrophobia and fear in space. There are some excellent re-use of scenarios from SF classics including a variation of HAL from '2001: A Space Odyssey'. There's also a nod to 'Alien' by naming a character after its director Ridley Scott. It is sufficiently meaty for McCoy to get very physical and exercise his vocal cords. He also brings out the darkness of the ageing Doctor.
The CD includes a single episode story 'Spider's Shadow' that follows on directly from 'The Death Collectors'. It's a quick story but as it jumps around and plays with time and continuity the audience get to play sleuth and pull all the plot strings together. Pay close attention. It's a bit of fun with a serious bite at the end.
As usual, there are plenty of CD extras that helpfully explain the genesis of the piece and there are the usual interviews with the guest stars.
This is a strong piece of work with a complex plot that allows for lots of verbal interaction between the characters. It pays to listen closely as it rewards your close attention. Better still listen to it in a darken room with your head-phones on. Perhaps not.
Sue Davies
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