Undercurrents during Liz Shaw’s time with the Doctor are revealed…

The title, for reasons that become clear during the audio, is highly appropriate for the tale, as well as gaining a sad second meaning, given that this is Caroline John’s last performance as Doctor Elizabeth Shaw before her untimely death earlier this year.

It’s a terrific tale to go out on, with James Goss capturing Liz’s personality and creating a family for her that goes a long way to explaining how she is. It’s a terrible shame that the potential for further stories featuring Liz and her mother will not be explored. (Although Rowena Cooper’s performance is so strong, and her playing of the third Doctor convincing enough, that it could be interesting to have a CC narrated by her that possibly uses Liz to a smaller extent – loads of possible plotlines present themselves.)

Fans with long memories may recall one of the last Virgin novels, Who Killed Kennedy?, which added levels of intrigue to various elements from the third Doctor’s stories. The Last Post does similar, with a lovely call out to an element from a black and white story, as well as suggesting links between characters throughout the era. I’m not certain the continuity fully tracks (and there’s definitely a question as to whether the Brigadier knows Liz’s mother, depending on whether you accept comments in part 1 or part 2), but like Paul Magrs’ BBC novels which deliberately screwed with continuity, it doesn’t affect your enjoyment of the piece.

Verdict: A wonderful tribute to and evocation of the season 7 stories which will make you go back to them and wonder… 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order The Last Post from Big Finish

 

 

Leave a comment