140. A Death in the Family

A Death in the Family has a lot to manage. Not only does it address the fallout of Project Destiny and Hex's learning about his past, but also the return of the Word Lord, the apparent death of the Doctor and our comapnions having to cope on their own.

This story does a lot brilliantly. Ian Reddington is superb as the regenerated Word Lord. The regulars plus Evelyn Smythe (Maggie Stables) are firing on all cylinders with several superb performances. The character work on Ace in Part Three and John Dorney's role in Episode three were simply marvelous. The concept of the Word Lord, his powers, and how he's fought are very clever.

The only weak spot in the story is that there's a bit too much sprawl. The extras indicate the writer had to do a lot of cutting from trilogy length to an actual managable release. In the midst of that, one thread was actually left in the release but so diminished but that it doesn't really have any connection to anything.

Still, that's a relatively minor concern and more than outweighted by the strong character moments and great science fiction concepts make this a must-listen and a rewarding payoff for fans of the Ace and Hex stories.

Far too much exposition needed in the 4th episode. A well told story shouldn't need that. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. One of Sylvesters better releases

Believe the hype. Death in the Family is a whopper of a writing achievement from Mr. Hall and makes well worth the hefty number of previous releases necessary for listening. Without following the Project Forge story, the true impact of DITF is lost - likewise I'd advise following Evelyn's adventures and perhaps 45, for some extra context.
Without engaging in plot spoilers, DITF pursues a unique structure, exploring facets of our leads in heartbreaking depths - simultaneously pushing forward a very 'timey wimey' plot. Rather than jarring, these two aspects interweave beautifully, and for the sheer mechanics working away beneath the surface, the plot flows along nicely and whilst certainly requiring some effort on the part of the listener, isn't impenetrable.
From heartwrentching gut punches, to shameless continuity massaging and an inter-temporal-spacial bending plot, DITF is a masterful example of why Doctor Who, when firing on all cylinders, is superlative entertainment.

Quite possibly this is genius, and, for me this required several listens however, the plot is not straight forward, it makes quite the largest amount use of the ability of the Doctor or his companions to be able to travel in time and space. The engine of the story is the pickup from the previous story Project Destiny, where, things go slightly bad for the Doctor meeting his dead self. We get to understand, and I use the term in the loosest sense the Doctor's ability to use and in some respect abuse his abilities, and his companion's time lines both from past and future, and , creating, sub time lines which will ultimately allow the Doctor to survive. ACE has a line in this of how the Doctor, and the companions have to make choices which are not always the easiest for anyone or themselves. I do not want to give too much away, but I will admit that for me Sylvester McCoy, Philip Oliver, Sophie Aldred and the late and great Maggie Stables. We also get to hear what might be Maggie parting shot as any Doctors companion. It is incredibly detailed and almost clinically constructed writing ironically the ideology of the use of words and there meaning is the ultimate crux of this tale. This will and is going to be a very difficult act to follow. For once the ending of this felt like an ending.