The Doctor answers a call for help – but nothing is as it seems…

Timothy X Atack rounds out this second set of adventures for Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor on audio with a cautionary tale, at least for the Doctor if he’s planning on obeying the box’s subtitle, Respond to All Calls. As he says here (and has been a running theme throughout this set), he’s still finding his feet back in the universe with no Time War constantly waging around him, and maybe that means he drops his guard slightly more than he might do otherwise.

Atack’s come up with a neat concept for the planet, which allows for some casual Easter eggs to be dropped for fans (one of which almost makes a New Adventure canonical over its TV counterpart!), and teams the Doctor up with “Fred”, a computer given a spirited performance by Margaret Clunie. You may well guess where things are going to end up, but this really is a question of the journey getting there being a lot of the fun. Akshay Khanna gets a chance to turn up the melodrama as his voice travels from side to side of the soundscape, and in the background we have Jan Francis and Nick Fletcher’s Incorporations not hiding what side they’re on (no real spoilers to say: it’s their own!)

Again Iain Meadows’ sound design does some heavy lifting, and Howard Carter’s score is quite different from what’s come before. As with this whole set, Helen Goldwyn’s direction has kept things moving, matching the definite increased energy levels on display from Eccleston’s Doctor – even when he gets his own New Adventures moments.

Verdict: Our visit to summer 2005 continues in style. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order from Big Finish