Taken out of time after his trial, the second Doctor finds himself on a strange world…

This is terrific fun – overall I can thoroughly recommend this new beginning for the Second Doctor at Big Finish. Michael Troughton takes over the role and there are times that his performance is uncannily like his father – his note in our interview that he’s drawing on the physicality that Troughton senior displayed definitely seems to have given him a way into the character and there’s more than once that you can hear him “using” props. There’s multiple modes on display in the four episodes of this first story, and it all really bodes well for the future.

This opener by Mark Wright and Nicholas Briggs has to set the stall for the series, and, without a doubt, this is “canonising” the fan concept of Season 6B (promulgated in the Cornell, Topping, Day Discontinuity Guide, a copy of which should be on every fan’s bookcase/kindle) in the same way that Terrance Dicks’ novels for BBC Books did. There’s a slight twist on previous approaches to this (and it’s set apart from the Second Doctor’s appearance in the Nest Cottage stories), but the fundamental principle remains what was suggested 30 years ago, and which fits with the way in which Gallifreyan society has been massively expanded under Big Finish’s aegis. There’s a nicely played threat hanging over the Doctor’s head as well…

My only real slight reservation is over Big Finish’s own continuity for the Second Doctor – or more to the point, one of his greatest adventures. The most recent Companion Chronicles kicks off with a story set in the immediate hinterland of The Evil of the Daleks, and without spoiling this beyond what’s been publicised, this would seem to contradict what’s established there. It’s the sort of inevitable conflict that arises in an Extended Universe without the sort of strict control of a Disney, but to have it happen within a few weeks is unfortunate. (Of course, there may well be a cunning plan that addresses this…) That sort of issue, of course, is only going to be of interest to very nitpicking fans (and someone trying to do a new edition of Ahistory!) – and story should always be more important than continuity!

The casting is done well – in particular, it gives Tim Treloar a chance to remind us that he’s far more than the Third Doctor vocally. The episodes are incredibly short by Big Finish standards (although they do fit with some of the original Season 6 durations), but it means everything moves rapidly, with Briggs emphasising the confusion in the Doctor’s mind in tandem with Toby Hrycek-Robinson’s sound design.

Verdict: A warm welcome to the latest Doctor! 9/10

Paul Simpson

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