Doctor Who review: Eighth Doctor Adventures: The Cannibalists (audio)
By James Aggas
The Eighth Doctor and Lucie face a society without humans and some very strange robots in The Cannibalists!
The Cannibalists is quite a strange story. That was also said about The Scapegoat, and it’s true in both cases. But in very different ways.
Whereas The Scapegoat was violent and grotesque, The Cannibalists is, (despite its title,) overall much lighter in tone. While it does have scenes of violence, they feel “lighter”. Partly, this is due to all the characters in this story being robots (with the obvious exceptions of the Eighth Doctor and Lucie).
But it’s also due to tone, too. Overall, The Cannibalists feels like a very light-hearted story. To be honest, there are times when The Cannibalists feels too light in tone, too family friendly.
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What doesn’t help is how one-dimensional some of the characters can come across. Especially the main villain, Titus. He’s the kind of villain you’ve heard before and is nasty for the sake of it. He could have been a really chilling character, but he never comes across that way.
Some of the other robots feel bland and forgettable. And that’s a real shame, as there’s a really good cast for this story. If their characters had been written with just a bit more depth, The Cannibalists would’ve come across just a little less like a children’s series, as it sometimes does.
Interesting ideas
Having said that, the story isn’t without its strong points. In fact, it’s rather enjoyable, at times. Mostly, this is because it’s full of really interesting ideas. A civilization of only robots, without humans to serve, is definitely one of them. And The Cannibalists explores that idea nice and gradually. It also has a fantastic twist that’s built up incredibly well.
There’s also a lot of great dialogue from both the regulars, as expected. McGann’s Doctor especially gets some really wonderful quotes on the value of life, and what makes a life worth living. It’s always fantastic to hear the Doctor give a great speech, especially McGann’s, who always puts in a great deal of passion into his performance.
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Overall, The Cannibalists is a story with some really great ideas and fantastic dialogue from the regulars. It could have been a real classic, if some of the characters had been fleshed out better. As it is, this is possibly one of the weaker stories of the season.