Can the Doctor and Romana solve the enigmas of Funderell?

NB Spoilers for the cliffhanger to the previous story.

And so this sixth season of new stories featuring Tom Baker’s Doctor comes to a close with some moderately heavy-handed foreshadowing of events to come during Season 18, which actually works to put what some at the time saw as character development coming out of nowhere into some context. We understand Romana (or Mana, as her Academy “friend” Sartia insists on calling her) a lot better now than we did then – Lalla Ward has fleshed out the character considerably, not just in this recent Fourth Doctor Adventures but throughout her time with Big Finish in the Gallifrey line and elsewhere – and in this story, Marc Platt shows just how far the character has come from the ice maiden who arrived in The Ribos Operation. That’s not to say that this is the presidential Romana – there’s still opportunity for the less mature side to come out – but you can see (okay, hear) her ready to step into the Doctor’s shoes.

Platt’s script continues to be beautifully literate, with a wonderful melange of quotes sprinkled throughout, something that Baker clearly enjoys performing, and an eclectic group of characters. Like the author, I hope that we get to hear more from Joannah Tincey’s Sartia – Romana deserves her own Moriarty – maybe even in an E-Space story…?

Verdict: A highly enjoyable wrap up to the current run. 9/10

Paul Simpson