Doctor Who: The Blood Furnace

The TARDIS arrives in Merseyside in 1991 as a re-opened shipyard tries to revitalise the local economy. As is often the case with any new startup in Doctor Who, especially one that claims to have a revolutionary technology (in this case a new steel alloy), there's something sinister and deadly going on with a science fiction twist.

It's a while before it's revealed what's going on, with a few red herrings thrown in along the way. Both Ace and Mel have their own distinct plotlines while the Doctor potters around investigating, with Ace's particularly suited to her strengths. Mel's, on the other hand, involves her encountering an old flame (it's very nearly the ‘present-day' for her) and this is somewhat less believable. It also doesn't really go anywhere and it does make you wonder what they ever saw in each other in the first place.

The main threat, once it presents itself, is more about black magic than science. This has, of course, been part of the TV show since The Dæmons and has featured in the modern show in the form of the Carrionites, so it's not inconsistent. But I'm not generally a great fan of it and that remains the case here, with some of the spells being arbitrary and implausibly effective. (It's also arguably a little gory, as the title might imply, but not really in a way that's an issue on audio). At least the way of fighting it is more in keeping with typical SF, and there is a clever use of a video arcade game towards the end.

If you don't mind the magic, it's a pretty decent story and better plotted than its immediate predecessor. Indeed, one can see that it wanted to be something a bit more than it was with its references to unemployment in northern England and attempts to develop Mel's backstory. But neither of those elements ever quite gel and we're left with what is admittedly an above-average piece of filler.