Sweet dreams? Hardly! The pretty streets of Rome seem so far away as the Classic Doctors New Monsters boxset moves to its penultimate story. Featuring the 6^th Doctor and new companion, Mari, Together in Eclectic Dreams takes them to the Lethe Foundation and straight into the claws of the Kantrofarri.

The Sixth Doctor takes companion Mari to the Archipelago of High Dream to try and stop the nightmares she’s having in the TARDIS.

Instead, they find the Lethe Foundation, a research facility overseen by musician Tara, lulling her clients to sleep with soothing melodies. But the Kantrofarri are hunting, and a mystery Green Man holds the key to escape…

Big Finish Synopsis

Making their first onscreen appearance in Last Christmas, the brain-sucking dream crabs, or Kantrofarri, were always going to be an excellent choice to bring over to the CDNM format. Showcasing their ability as monsters to become vehicles for mind-bending, Inception-style narratives, their scope is massive and only limited by the shortcomings brought by broadcast television. To this end, Gill has clearly understood the brief on what could be done to keep these creatures feeling fresh.

For their first audio outing, Gill plays around with a lot of high-concept and abstract ideas while ultimately reaching the goal of waking everyone up from a Kantrofarri attack. Taking a more sci-fi approach than the original source, he introduces listeners to themes revolving around different layers of dreaming and the groups of people who can manipulate and affect these dreams. While an adventure, even a 60-minute one, could end up being bogged down by these difficult concepts, Gill strikes the perfect balance. From the outset, he weaves the material in at just the right amount alongside the tense, horror vibes that come so naturally with predatory face-suckers and creepy hospital corridors. Woven together, you barely notice these often hard-to-digest themes come up, which helps keep things at a steady level of engagement and keep the pacing tight and continuously moving.

Besides the mind-bending horror plot, the story also has some of the best characters and character dynamics of the series. While not an obvious choice for a double Doctor pairing, 6 and 8 work brilliantly well together during the short time they share scenes. Skipping the whole “you’re me” shtick, it goes straight into moments of instant rapport and cooperation. There are also some interesting moments with Clovis and Tara, whose sinister dulcet tones bring a whole extra dimension to the horror atmosphere the story is trying to create. Most importantly, however, is the introduction of new (or maybe not) companion Mari. Instantly brought into a story with two different Doctors, she’s able to hold her own, stand out, and create different rapports with both of them. Moreover, with her character being of Japanese descent, she brings fresh new cultural perspectives to the companion role that is often filled with those who are white and British. It’s just a shame that she’ll always be a one-and-done companion.