An Ideal World (5.2)

  Big Finish, The Early Adventures, Season 5

 

This story is pretty amazing. The adventurers land on a planet, called T19 by others, and wander about for a bit, getting separated as the oxygen runs out. There is very little oxygen on a planet with lots of plants, which seems a bit odd. But perhaps that’s explained at the end…

So Steven is rescued by crew from the Magellan, a ship in orbit. While the Doctor and Vicky are stranded, with the Doctor getting them underground where there’s a pocket of oxygen available. The captain of the ship, Traherne, is convinced that they need to colonize the planet but the ethicist, Kay, believes that the captain is out of control. The story unfolds with a chilling twist or two, and the Doctor being infected by the planet and Steven figuring out how to save him using the nanobots in his blood.

The story really unfolds in an arc that really kept me engaged. It’s a bit creepy and the resolution is a bit dangerously carried out but that works very well for this story. I almost thought the Doctor would be changed or even die – it’s the closest to that sort of danger I’ve heard that was believable in a long time. Very, very good story! With a really fascinating moral dilemma discussion at the end, between the Doctor, Vicky, and Steven.


Maureen O'Brien (Vicki / Narrator), Peter Purves (Steven Taylor / The Doctor / Narrator), Angela McHale (Kay / Christophe), Alex Jordan (Heathcote), Tom Stourton (Factotum / Fitzgerald / Samsara), Carolyn Pickles (Traherne), Oliver Mason (Grant / Danuka), Lisa Bowerman (Elias). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Writer: Ian Potter

Director: Lisa Bowerman

Release: October 2018

© Laura Vilensky 2019