An Autist Reviews: Fairytale Of Salzburg (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Ravenous 2.3)

*All Reviews Are Spoiler-Free Aside From Any Spoiler Sections*

Maria and her mother have been evicted, Maria’s father has killed himself, and their future is uncertain. But a man offers Maria a chance at revenge, a chance to get back at the evil people of the world. In the aftermath of her anger-fueled mistake, Liv and Helen race against time to save Salzburg from Krampus and his imps, but they aren’t having much luck. They need a miracle, that’s what they need… and hundreds of years ago, in modern-day Turkey, a Bishop might just be able to provide them with one.

It’s interesting that my rating for the previous part of this story is higher than this part of it, but, you know what, I’m not gonna complain. This story is paced to perfection, the plot itself is superb, and the identity of the old woman is revealed so perfectly it makes me smile just thinking about it. The narration of this story is also amazing, with both the Doctor and the old woman being grand narrators even if they rarely speak this time around. The worst part of this story, sadly enough, comes from the dialogue, something that the previous story was virtually a master of. The Christmas themes come through strong, but the way the characters talk about them and celebrate and show their emotions just isn’t right, you can tell it’s forced, that it doesn’t fit. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t brilliant bits of dialogue, there certainly are, but the worse moments overshadow them often, keeping me from being able to properly enjoy this story. The exposition is also worse than it once was, with lots of iffy moments of exposition and some frankly stupid descriptions. I mean, really, who needs to hear a kid say that the scanner is showing what’s outside, or that the box is disappearing, or really any of what that kid says. Honestly, remove Christophe and most of my complaints about the dialogue would go away. Maria isn’t much better than Christophe though, with some annoying dialogue throughout, but it is far from the worst I’ve ever heard. The themes are also a little iffy, and I’m a person who cares about the messages sent by stories, and while they seem good, they also seem rather morally gray at times. Still, the ending is heartwarming as can be, the humorous moments land perfectly, and once again the misery and terror shine as darkly as one would want!

Okay, we’re starting with the side characters. Christophe, Maria, Antonia, and the bishop all dropped the freaking ball this time around. There are lots of great moments from all of them, but the bad moments make the good hard to really appreciate. The bishop sounds so much more amateurish in this story, and while Antonia gets out some great moments and a bloodcurdling scream, she is still often amateurish as well. Christophe is just a nightmare, I mean I can never even tell if it’s him or some other random character talking and most of his lines are acted horribly as well, making him easily my least favorite character from this story. Maria is the best side character throughout the story, but that’s not saying a lot, because her lines also often come off rather worse for wear. Luckily the TARDIS team brings their A-game, but even that isn’t as good as it was, with a few poor examples of line delivery from each member of the crew. The imps are far better this time though, without a doubt. They never once sound goofy, only absolutely terrifying. Krampus sadly drags down the rating since he has some iffy screams and a rather dumb line read at the climax of the story, during his confrontation with the bishop. The narrators, however, are still as amazing as they once were, with both the old woman and the Doctor clearly enjoying their time telling the story rather than living through it.

Once again I’m going to start with the worst and move to the best. The action effects in this half of the tale are worse than in the first half, but that doesn’t keep them from being enjoyable. Many effects are still well detailed, such as the breaking of a door, walking through snow and sand, and Helen whacking imps over the head with a spanner. Sadly, I can’t forgive how lacking the effects of things like the car and the gateway to Hell are. I mean, for every good effect, that is a rather boring or plain or just plain missing effect to match. Luckily the music is still as amazing as it was, even if it’s far more hectic, epic, and sinister throughout most of the story. The voice effects are also perfect, even if there are only 2 moments with them that I can actually recall. The transitions are amazing too, with only a couple actually rubbing me the wrong way. Usually, the scenes are blended together with extreme skill and care, the editor/s seamlessly connecting two scenes together, but sadly the occasional transition seems rushed. The background effects are generally as good as they were, but there are some new ones that lower the rating, such as the Vortex sounds when the TARDIS takes off and the crowds outside of the Church when the imps start attacking people. Still, none of these effects dampen the story too too much, but they are certainly what is most responsible for me not rating this a 10/10.

What I said about listening closely before still applies, though the story does tell you what you need to know, it makes more sense if you learn it yourself without the story holding your hand. And listening to this after experiencing the ending of the series really has a similar feeling to listening to the Red Lady after the end of the previous series. As for reenjoyment, my appreciation went up when I first took another listen, but today I found my enjoyment lacking somewhat. Don’t get me wrong, this story is still fantastic, but I don’t think I can’t say I’ll be re-listening with the same eagerness too soon.

All in all, a more than satisfactory ending to a great two-part Christmas special full of emotional moments, terrifying moments, and downright epic ones. The acting and effects drag down one’s enjoyment, especially when paired with some of the lacking dialogue, but in the end, I can’t help but say that this is still a great story that sucks one in and keeps you hooked until the last moment. All in all, this story is worse than the previous part, but it is still enjoyable, so it and the two-parter itself both get a 9/10. Merry Christmas to all reading this, Happy holidays too, and when it comes around, Happy New Year! <3

Original Guesstimate - 9

Total - 9

Plot - 9
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Story - 10
Pacing - 10
Dialogue - 8
Narration - 10
Exposition - 8
Enjoyment - 9
Twist/s - 10
Resolution/s - 10
Ending - 10

Acting - 9
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MC/s - 9
SC/s - 7
BG/s - 9
Narrator/s - 10

Effects - 9
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Music - 10
Voices - 10
Actions - 7
Background - 8
Transitions - 9

Replay - 9
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Re-Enjoyment - 9
New Details - 8

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