Big Finish Christmas Special, December 2010
Wow. This is definitely an anomaly for a 1st Doctor story. Steven Taylor and Sara Kingdom are traveling along with him as they are randomly landing on Earth, trying to shake off the pursuit of the Daleks who are after the Terranium Core. But they keep on stopping off at Christmas time in various eras where they also keep seeing Robert, a little boy. The same little boy. The drummer boy comes from the last Christmas they see him where he is in an orphanage drumming. We as listeners know something odd is going on but just how odd is something to be revealed in the story!
The team talks to Robert and finds out his story, which allows them to come up with a unique solution to his problem. The solution the 1st Doctor comes up with actually is very heart-wrenching in a good way – it brought a tear to my eye! This ability to be thoughtful and caring isn’t something we see in the 1st Doctor very often so it was a bit of a jolt, though in a nice way. He’s usually bossy, grouchy, and a bit offhanded in how he treats his companions and other humans. But his solution to Robert’s dilemma took careful consideration and he pulls it off gracefully. Perhaps I’m just watching the wrong 1st Doctor stories but I was surprised by, well, his humanity in this story and that made all the difference!Performed by Beth Chalmers
writer: Eddie Robson