"No More Lies"
by Paul Sutton

No More Lies is one of those stories that tries to grab the listener's attention by starting when the adventure is in full flow. We join Lucie and the Eighth Doctor in search of a man called Zimmerman. We don't know who he is, or why they're pursuing him, until later on; but when they finally catch up with him, he's aged thirty years and has married, seemingly a changed man. But the alien Tar-Modowk are lurking, and Zimmerman may have to make a dreaful sacrifice to prevent their arrival.

Writer Paul Sutton is the man behind this play, the last "normal" episode of this run before the two-part season finale, and his particular talent or interest in terms of storytelling seems to be a focus on characters, and their relationships. This is ultimately a story of love, and of sacrifice, and those aspects of the script are executed very well indeed. The plot has some touching and poignant scenes, building up to a fantastic emotional climax, which works successfully. Sutton has total control of the listener's feelings, and skilfully gets you to empathise with his cast, and become involved with the events of the story.

The writing is also fairly intelligent, with some welcome not-quite-linear storytelling and clever revelations, and includes a fair amount of wit, particularly in the case of the interactions between the Doctor and Lucie who are, again, written ridiculously well. However, other areas of the play are less successful.

It's hard to put a finger on exactly what makes the story feel so unsatisfying, but there are a number of elements that don't seem to work. The Vortisaurs, for example, who were last seen in Paul McGann's very first few audio adventures, make a return, but it's not clear why. They served a small purpose in their first appearance, but in No More Lies their use feels like little more than a throaway continuity reference, ultimately unecessary and jarring. The main alien threat are the Vortisaurs' riders, the Tar-Modowk, who are disappointingly uninteresting, despite their intriguing origins.

It's a shame that this play never really seems to come together, because its individual components hold a lot of promise, and it does feature some really beautiful writing and acting. Nigel Havers and Julia McKenzie are both splendid, their talent boosted substantially by excellent scripting, but these shining moments are isolated in a pretty mediocre play. Bits of No More Lies are absolutely brilliant, but on the whole, it's the first real let-down of this season so far.