An Autist Reviews: Seizure (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Ravenous 2.4)

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

Responding to a distress call from the Eleven, a deranged, psychopathic Timelord with his previous regenerations stuck inside his head, the Doctor and his reluctant companions find themselves separated from their TARDIS inside of a quickly dying, extremely gothic, and scared, TARDIS. The Doctor feels its pain, and it’s causing him to behave irrationally, but, perhaps there is another reason he’s so afraid. Perhaps it’s the ghost of the TARDIS’ pilot, perhaps it’s that Liv is missing, or, perhaps, it’s because one of the Timelords’ only predators is onboard. The Ravenous should be dead, gone, but clearly, this one didn’t get the memo. And it’s hungry.

This story is totally terrifying. I mean, there’s a ghost, a screeching monster, and a gothic, dying, TARDIS. The idea of the Doctor being irritable and distressed throughout an entire story is a brilliant one with entertaining results, mostly being arguments with Helen and Liv. The dialogue is mostly spectacular aside from the occasional quick shift between tones and some lines just not fitting properly. The exposition is the worst part of this story. The same things get said repeatedly and, while it’s normally okay to do that, it’s not done particularly well, and many descriptions are too detailed and forced for my liking, especially near the end. The end itself comes rather quickly once everyone reaches the console room, but it gets slowed down a good bit by the former pilot, Jaxa revealing that she’s a ghost, a projection, as if nobody knew that from the beginning of the story. It’s not even a bad twist, it’s just not a twist at all, yet Jaxa seems to act like it is and the characters kinda go with it. Oh, and while we’re on weird moments of exposition, how the HELL did Liv not realize that Jaxa was a ghost? She literally had no footsteps and her echo was different than Liv’s! Still, the ending isn’t too heinous, even if the writing and, at the VERY end, the acting, get rather shoddy. Oh, and that ending… it gives me chills. It makes me giddy every time I hear it. The irony and terror of it really mix together into a glorious concoction. The eleven, as one would expect, is brilliant, and the Ravenous we meet is spectacular! I mean, really, aside from, like, a single bad line, it’s perfect. I’ll attach its hunger monologue to this part of the review because of how terrifying and well-written it is. This is just a terrifying, occasionally humorous, story that introduces one of the most horrific creatures in Doctor Who history.

“You think you know hunger? That ache in your belly? That void, that absence? You know nothing. It burns. It coils. It writhes. Imagine the sensation you think of as hunger and then let it consume you. Let it be all you can hear, all you can see. It drives us mad. Quite mad. Some of us are little more than animals, screaming, all teeth and desire, some of us, some of us have control, but not much. You may be nothing, you may simply melt on my tongue, but I will have you, soon.”

Okay, let’s get this one over with quickly: The acting is almost perfect. If it weren't for each category having JUST too many issues for me not to care, then it would be a 10/10. The main cast are on point, but they all get their moments of rather lacking acting, not bad, just lesser; and sadly that Doctor gets his the worst at the very last minute of the story, just as he says a brilliant line. The pilot, Jaxa, is phenomenal, except for her death scene, which, despite being played twice, has less than great acting on her part. The Eleven is brilliant, but he comes off as a little too hokey for the story he’s in, which, combined with the Ravenous’ single bit of poor line delivery, keeps me from rating the villains at a 10. Seriously though, the Ravenous sound terrifying, the actor did a brilliant job for all but that SINGLE line.

Third reviewed, same as the rest. The effects are very nearly perfect, but a few things hold them down. The music is rather generic, even if it often strikes fear into one’s soul. The actions are often just a little too loud, too fast, or not quite detailed enough, and the same goes for the background effects. Though, the Ravenous’ screams are just brilliant. I mean, seriously, I hope whoever made those screams got their paycheck doubled. The transitions, unlike the rest of the effects, only falter at a single moment at the very end of the story. The voice effects, unlike all the other effects, however, have no flaws. The voice effects are perfect and, for all intents and purposes, the rest of the effects are too, I’m just too nit-picky if you ask me.

Replay, as per usual, is going to be quick and easy. It’s an amazing romp with lots of horrific and creepy moments, great dialogue, and amazing effects, so who wouldn’t want to listen to it again? Sure, you don’t get any new details or a better understanding of the grander story from listening to it again, but that hardly matters, now does it? It’s just plain fun. Listen to it at night on Halloween, I dare you.

All in all, I was wrong as HELL when I predicted Escape From Kaldor being my favorite of this box set. Honestly, this might be the best boxset of the bunch, but the worst is still ten times better than solid platinum. The acting, the story, the writing, the effects, the Ravenous themselves, they all come together here to tell a nearly perfect story filled with chills, screeches, and hijinx. Sadly, there isn’t much to say more, this is a simple, amazing, story, so, see you next review!

Original Guesstimate - 9

Total - 10 (I honestly just like this story more than I thought XD That’s all I’ve got for you.)

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

Acting - 9
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MC/s - 9
SC/s - 9
BG/s - 9
Narrator/s - NR

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

Replay - 8
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Re-Enjoyment - 10
New Details - 5

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