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The Divergent Universe continues its proud tradition of following up a banger with something that makes you question whether you accidentally hit “shuffle” on a white noise playlist. The Natural History of Fear gave us paranoid brilliance; The Twilight Kingdom gives us… damp beige cave.
So here we are: the Eighth Doctor, Charley, and C’rizz traipsing through a suspiciously BBC-accented forest on the planet Setarus, still looking for the TARDIS. You’d think we’d get something weird and alien—this is the Divergent Universe, after all—but no. The rebels they meet could’ve walked straight out of a Sunday evening war drama. Commander Vayla and her merry band of mumbly exposition machines are trapped in a jungle outpost by some unseen threat, which the Doctor naturally pokes until it starts chewing on everyone.
Chewing is, incidentally, a running motif. This story goes heavy on audio gross-outs. And Charley’s only contribution seems to be narrating the horror like she’s auditioning for “Most Appalled Companion 2004.” “Oh Doctor look, that person’s face has melted off, how horrible!” “Oh Doctor look, that soldier has fallen into a pool of acid and is dissolving into a bloody slop, how horrible!” It’s all very “Remember Mary Whitehouse’s complaints about the ‘80s? Let’s do all that, but now we have sound effects!”
There’s a plot buried somewhere in the murk: a telepathic cave creature has been snacking on human minds, keeping the rebels trapped and pliant. The twist? It’s got a psychic connection to Major Koth, who shows up halfway through to deliver one of those “I was working for the enemy all along but now I regret everything” turns. Michael Keating does his best with it, but by the time he arrives, you’ve either tuned out or started reorganizing your bookshelf.
C’rizz is technically here—third story in, if you count Natural History of Fear—but he’s given nothing to do except strangle Charley while possessed. For a new companion in a new universe, you’d think this would be a perfect chance to explore him. Instead, he’s just… around. Like a spare chair no one sits in.
And then there’s the bit where the Doctor solemnly declares that “time” doesn’t exist in the Divergent Universe—except they still measure minutes and hours. Which means either the script is trying for some linguistic philosophy gag or someone didn’t think about it longer than a cup of tea.
What’s frustrating is that the bones of a good idea are here. There’s room for a proper paranoia thriller about control, rebellion, and free will—about how insurgencies can be manipulated by forces they don’t understand. But instead we get an overlong runaround through dark tunnels while people argue about rations. If you’ve ever wanted to experience the sensation of your brain slowly dissolving into porridge, congratulations.
Final Thoughts:
Not bad. Just… relentlessly fine. Perfectly competent in all its elements, yet somehow so monotonous that finishing it feels like waking from a nap you didn’t mean to take.
1.5 out of 5 beige telepathic cave blobs.