The Doctor’s android friend awakens… to find he is human…

This is the first of the Interludes – which seem to be a revamped version of the Subscriber Short Trips of previous years, available to those who purchase the associated box set from Big Finish. They’re a little longer than the Short Trips (I guess Medium Trips would sound wrong!) but serve the same function, telling stories in a different way from the full cast audios, and benefitting from the skills of one narrator.

Dan Starkey performs this tale by Dominic G. Martin, and captures the cadences of the three established principals – Peter Davison’s Doctor, Mark Strickson’s Turlough and Gerald Flood’s Kamelion – as well as creating easily distinguishable characters for the new creations. I was impressed by his 12th Doctor/Nardole story a few months back, and look forward to more vocal embodiments!

Martin’s tale gives more focus to Kamelion, whose backstory in real life meant that he wasn’t used even vaguely towards his whole potential within the confines of a 1980s TV series. The comparatively recent trilogy of Fifth Doctor stories from Big Finish is acknowledged and this is set in the period immediately before his departure in Planet of Fire, allowing the android to experience things he could never quite have dreamed of. (I’d be intrigued to hear Martin’s take on a Data story for Star Trek: The Next Generation/Picard as he clearly understands the Pinocchio effect and how a character would deal with it.) Inevitably, given the events of Planet of Fire, there has to be a degree of a reset switch, but this one is considerably more emotionally powerful than the engaging of the proverbial Big Red Button. That impact – as well as that of the worldbuilding – is definitely increased by strong sound design from jaspreet Singh.

Some of the recent Short Trips have felt as if they needed more room to expand, and this format would seem the ideal home for them but this starts the range off well.

Verdict: Putting the spotlight on an often overlooked TARDIS traveller. 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order the box set from Big Finish