Judgement of the Judoon

Judgement of the Judoon is set during the year of tv specials, so the Tenth Doctor is on his own when he arrives in the city-state of New Memphis, where he immediately becomes embroiled in an investigation into mysterious goings-on at the Elvis the King Spaceport. During his enquiries the Doctor teams up with Nikki, a teenage private eye, and "Jude" the Judoon to find out what is really going on at the spaceport. This rather strange trio could have turned out to be a bit naff or silly, but in fact they make for a surprisingly engaging and likable team.

There is a fairly big cast of characters and even some seemingly minor roles become important later on in the story. However, most of the characters are distinctive and well drawn, so it's easy to remember everyone's role in the overall plot. One of the main revelations was fairly predictable, but most of the twists - and there are quite a few - are genuinely surprising and work incredibly well.

Also, there is some lovely world-building in this story. Colin Brake paints a very vivid picture of the spaceport terminal as well as the entire city-state of New Memphis. All the locations just feel instantly familiar and lived-in, so you are completely drawn into this new alien world.

Events are told from a number of different perspectives. This is never forced or awkward and all the pieces fit together neatly, so there is a very nice flow to the storytelling.

Nick Briggs is a great narrator and he makes all the characters come to live beautifully. Whilst his Tenth Doctor impression isn't quite as spot on as his Ninth Doctor, it is definitely close enough for it to be highly enjoyable to listen to.

Judgement of the Judoon is one of my favourite Tenth Doctor audiobooks; it's a great story with lots of clever plot twists, many colourful and well-defined characters and wonderful narration. Highly recommended.