Spoilers

Andy Davidson is dead, blown up in an explosion. So how come he’s at the door of Baker Street?

I’ve taken a couple of days to process Lisa McMullin’s script for this instalment of Stranded since listening to it. On the surface, it’s quite straightforward – there’s a determination to save Andy’s life by arriving in the nick of time, and the Doctor sets off to do so… but when he gets there, Andy has gone, and for once – maybe the last time – he cuts things too fine. In fact, someone else has arrived, saved Andy – but in itself this messes with Time, which is in considerable flux. Can yet a third person’s intervention be what’s needed?

The Doctor’s choices when all seem lost are one facet of this story – and it’s a fascinating strand, particularly when you start to wonder how other incarnations and TARDIS teams would have dealt with this. But it’s the discussions that arise between Liv, Helen and Andy that may well haunt you: it challenges what we think about companions, and their place and relationship with the Doctor. It’s one thing to hear Davros ranting about the way the Doctor treats people; it’s something else entirely when it’s someone who’s very much become part of the “inner circle” questioning it. There’s some great scenes as well between Tom Price and Clive Wood’s Mr Bird with Benji Clifford’s sound design evoking acres of carnage.

Verdict: A thought-provoking tale that will stick with you. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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