Big Finish Eighth Doctor New Adventures #4.02, July 2010
This story definitely seems like more of a start to the season than Death in Blackpool but with the departure of Lucie and the new companion coming into things, I suppose it almost has to feel that way. The Doctor stumbles into a situation thrust upon him by a mysterious other person that we will eventually meet – everything’s set up for a final showdown in the series. The fantastic thing is that we don’t know how far the 8th Doctor goes in his storyline until he regenerates! There are no known markers as there are for many of the other Doctors of when it will all come to an end so it’s up to Paul McGann as to how many stories he wants to do. And let him go on for a long, long time!
With this story, he does a fabulous job of just being the Doctor and taking charge of everyone, despite being out of the loop. It’s a very clever twist the Big Finish people put on the story and it works very well. I won’t spool it but suffice it to say, there are robots and mayhem galore for the team to deal with! And figuring out who is what is why is part of the fun, too. Always a surprise on this one. The tasks and the pool of companions is ultimately a bit disappointing, in their behavior in strange situations with strange aliens around but that’s the only real let down of the story. And that the Doctor just lets the mysterious other person, with a possible TARDIS in hand!, just disappear without a worry from him. Or perhaps that’s just him filing away information for later? Or perhaps it’s just me getting so used to the Matt Smith Doctor that the McGann Doctor doesn’t quite jibe anymore for me. Who knows. All in all, it’s a fine restart to the season!Paul McGann
Writer: Eddie Robson
Director: Nicholas Briggs