It’s time to listen to and discuss Sins of the Flesh
Buy it online using the link above.
Once you’ve listened, talk about it below! Even if you listened to it before and just want to discuss it - dive right in! Just please use spoiler tags where appropriate.
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This may just be the perfect Cyberman story and one of the scariest Doctor Who stories out there, you wouldn’t think putting a religious spin on the Cybermen would work but the format is incredibly unique and utterly heartbreaking, 10/10
Can I be kind of controversial…? Yes, this one is very good and all the pieces are excellent: it used the cybermen perfectly, the story is perfectly paced and the acting is top tier; but despite all of that I just… don’t quite feel the hype. As I say, it’s very good. It just didn’t knock my socks off the way it seems to have done everyone else
I get where you are coming from. I only gave it a 3.5 on my first listen. Raised it to a 4.5 now but there is something that holds it back from being a 5 and i can’t put my finger on what it is.
Does anyone know when it is best to listen to the short trip?
From memory it’s pretty early in their travels. Eyespider places it between All of Time and Space and The Yearn.
Sins of the Flesh is a bleak and unsettling Cyberman story that reimagines conversion as religious “salvation”; a concept that lands with disturbing real-world parallels. The Rebirth Organisation and its doctrine provide a sharp critique of blind faith and prejudice, particularly through its homophobic undertones.
Valarie shines as a defiant force against the system, with standout moments of rebellion and emotional endurance, while Alexander Kurz serves as a tragic, misguided villain whose actions feel painfully human. The Cybermen themselves are given a unique twist, hiding behind a facade of empathy before revealing their true nature.
Add in some effective body horror, clever timey-wimey resolution, and a character-driven ending that sets up the next arc, and this becomes a powerful and memorable conclusion to the set.
Such an innovative and clever use of the Cybermen. Conversion therapy and the religious ties to it are scary already but adding the Cybermen elevated this story. Its such a real current threat in real life and adding the Who element really made it even scarier. I really love that these stories are being told because they absolutely deserve to be given the state of the world right now for queer people, and even looking back because it was worse (albeit its getting worse).
This is an excellent, almost perfect, ending to the third Eleven & Valarie box set. The plot is exceptional, and different from what I’ve experienced before when it comes to Cybermen. The machinations are very different from what has been portrayed before. The world building, and how it is put across to the listener, is beyond exceptional. There is a well realised imaginative edge to this one. The voice acting is magnificent as usual, with a special shout out to guest actress Alexandra D’Sa who gives a stellar performance. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, this one spoke to me on so many levels. I would highly recommend this story, and box set as a whole.
5/5
Yes, this made me think, because Ascension of the Cybermen does this too but in a very different way. I might’ve talked about this before, apologies if so. But Ascension takes the more what we’d see as ‘old religion’, because it draws a direct line over to colonialism. The Cybermen taking over everything by force. But in Sins here they’re not able to be forceful, they’re very sneaky and slimy and promising. Very different approaches to it.
And but really both these stories don’t criticize religion as a general concept so much as the way we use it as justification for bad things, and that’s in good old human fashion the same thing in these specific instances.
So it’s not that unusual a conclusion to come to. In the end both Ascension and Sins are expressions of that part of religious extremism (because I do consider it that) saying: “You will be like us.”
Sins is possibly the best story in this entire run. The idea of Cybermen mixed with conversion therapy is brilliant on its own, and this story executes it pretty much flawlessly. The scenes between the parents and their children are so well performed and so disgustingly realistic.
10/10
As usual, I don’t really have anything original to add that hasn’t already been said… but, wholeheartedly agree with others, this was a brilliant concept with superb execution. Such an effective take on Cybermen; chilling portrayal of all too real societal ills, excellent acting (Valarie especially… how a person can convey so much with just tone and timbre of voice is astonishing), and just generally very well done.
The ongoing story arc is deftly woven in there too, and I’m very curious to see where that goes as we approach the final stretch…
“Let’s skewer conversion therapy by way of the Cybermen” is one of those “primed landmine” ideas, something you need serious skill and sensitivity to pull off without issue. Luckily, we’re in the capable, experienced hands of Alfie Shaw, inspired by a documentary he saw where attendees of one session marched like Cybermen. This resulted in a highlight of Series 7V which, for once for a messaging story, doesn’t pull its punches.
Making Valarie the focal character was a brilliant decision. Of course, the Doctor isn’t straight himself, but the Rebirth sessions take on a different tenor when attended by a young adult who’s also a person of colour. She takes a liking to Lilly, sent to therapy by her dad after she was caught kissing a friend, and ends up defending her the most of any guest. Fighting the power, namely Rebirth and Lily’s dad, she does wonders for her character—she declares she’s proud of being bisexual, which is lovely and was empowering for me—and proves, with “UNIT Dating” and “Albie’s Angels”, that good things come in threes.
Our title character also has things to do, investigating Rebirth’s leadership. Here, he’s less memorable than the villains, victims of a seedy scheme by the Cybermen (Carmen McIntosh) and his piety-fuelled homophobia (Carmen’s dad, Alexander Kurz). The scene where Carmen becomes a proper Cyberman, as has happened to her dad and several attendees of the sessions, is chilling both because of the body horror aspect and because it’s a second reminder, alongside Mr. Lilly, that bigotry isn’t always top-down.
Right, the deleters are in this! As an antagonistic entity, they’re okay, and I don’t entirely understand how they’re defeated by Valarie. This is one story where I’m fine with a background monster; make ‘em too prominent, and you risk diluting a very important point.
Another thing I found interesting, enough so to add to her wiki article: Valarie admits to being agnostic, hoping that the goodhearted will enjoy a nice afterlife. It’s an interesting balance between making a character a fervent fundamentalist and a Reddit-tier atheist.
I ought to buy Alfie Shaw a gift basket. Maybe some chocolates, some sweets, a flower or two. Feels like the least I could do for him producing this.
one of the strongest cybermen stories I think. I think this story was so dark and so grounded that it worked really well.
Wild that this Cyberman/conversion therapy parallel hasn’t been used before, it’s such a perfect analogy.
Also, you know Valerie’s been going through it when my reaction is “oh good! the queer cyborg girl is going to conversion therapy run by Cyberman! Finally a nice break from the trauma!”
Relistened today. Still fantastic. Still one of the most daring and audacious concepts for a Doctor Who story ever. Can they let Alfie Shaw run everything please?
Oh my god this is so undeniably QUEER. and it’s beautiful and amazing. I love it a lot! Using cybermen as a metaphor for conversion therapy…that’s brilliant and it’s very well handled. I don’t have much to add here except it’s peak