The Condemned

"He's not even the right Doctor."

Writer: Eddie Robson
Format: Audio
Released: February 2008
Series: Main Range 105

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Charley

Synopsis

"Dr John Smith - you're under arrest. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mentioned when questioned something which you later rely on in court..."

Manchester, 2008. The TARDIS lands inside a run-down tower block, beside a dead body - which leads to some awkward questions when the Doctor is found there by the police. Made the prime suspect, how can the Doctor prove to the no-nonsense DI Patricia Menzies that this is not the open-and-shut case it seems, and that she's actually investigating the death of an alien?

Higher up in Ackley House, a girl named Maxine watches the Doctor being taken away in a squad car. Someone wants her to find out what happened in that room, and isn't going to be happy if she doesn't come up with the goods. But she's got hold of someone who knows - someone very important to the Doctor.

A deadly conspiracy is at work - one whose effects will be felt far beyond the walls of Ackley House...

Verdict

The Condemned was a fantastic audio adventure! I have been looking forward to the cliffhanger at the end of The Girl Who Never Was getting resolved and it was done so in a marvellous way. Pairing Charley up with the Sixth Doctor is a magnificent idea and the pair worked really well together in this audio. I loved their relationship and the questions the Doctor had about her were really intriguing. She obviously knew all about him but she couldn’t let too much on. I liked how she deduced that he wasn’t her Doctor yet and ‘her’ Doctor’s TARDIS interior was considerably bigger which was a really good comment. It’s incredibly sad to know that Charley thinks the Eighth Doctor is dead because he didn’t come back for her and it seems an incredibly emotional end to their rollercoaster of a journey. But we move on now and I can’t wait to discover why the Eighth Doctor has no memory of having already met Charley. It seems the pairing are here to say. Charley’s fail in saying ‘hello operator’ when using a phone was fantastic as that allowed the Doctor to deduce exactly where she was. The fact she was abandoned in 500,002 was intriguing and I do hope Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways were in Eddie Robson’s mind when writing that. DI Menzies was a superb character and her relationship with the Doctor was certainly a highlight of the audio. They were brilliant together and hearing how quickly she accepted the alien life and the Doctor was terrific. Her investigative instincts were being severely challenged here but she dealt with the task well which was great to hear. Charley being handcuffed to the bed by Maxine was interesting and I loved her reaction to the ease of getting an Indian takeaway. After everything she’s seen it’s lovely to think that it’s the little things like that which surprise her. The murder of Gregory Bailey was an excellent focal point for the story and it worked incredibly well, especially considering he was an alien. The Doctor instructing Menzies to find the microchip was really good. I thought Alderitch was another good character and his business of being a doctor to aliens was quite something! Imagine having that as a reputation. Sam’s story was really sad as he thought he was in the basement but it turns out he’d become Ackley House! I didn’t see that coming but it actually worked brilliantly. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that he’d become the house but the plan of Slater to invade Earth by becoming its architecture was incredibly unique! The radiation had worked on Sam and even though he’d murdered Gregory, at the wishes of Antonia so they could be together, he now wanted her to feel the guilt of killing somebody so she did. It really was an emotional ending to the audio and I can’t wait for the continued relationship between the Sixth Doctor and Charley. Overall, a magnificent listen!

Rating: 9/10