He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not

 

"I'm not sure your world or whole society should even exist."

Writer: Carrie Thompson

Format: Audio

Released: October 2020

Series: Time Lord Victorious #1

Featuring: Eighth Doctor

Synopsis

On the deserted world of Atharna, the Doctor's life is about to be changed forever.

Looking to visit one of the Seven Hundred Wonders of the Universe, he's quickly embroiled in a web of deceit. Worse than that, this Wonder of the Universe is missing, and the Doctor is about to encounter one of his most dangerous and duplicitous adversaries.

The Doctor is about to meet Brian.

Verdict

He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not was a very good audio adventure to kick off the full cast contributions of Big Finish to the Time Lord Victorious range! I must admit that this wasn't quite what I was expecting but I did very much enjoy what we got. This served as a fun little introduction to Brian the Ood assassin and considering we have met him already in The Knight, the Fool and the Dead, this was not how I would have expected the Doctor to meet him. The relationship between Sophie and Felicity was really good and a nice way to start the story and having Brian there hunting Sophie as the target of his hired assassination was a lot of fun. I thought the continued mentions of Mr Ball were magnificent and I also found the voice really intriguing as he didn't sound like a traditional Ood. Felicity's father being the one to hire Brian to assassinate Sophie was a good dynamic considering that she was his daughter's partner! The Doctor in the TARDIS wanting to visit the 700 Wonders of the Universe was fantastic and I thought Paul McGann was fantastic. The Eighth Doctor is always a favourite of mine and placing this during the Time War was just another fun element of the wider story. Samson and Katherine were really good characters who shared some nice banter and their American-like accents certainly had an impact on the ears! The humour surrounding the harbouring of fugitives sign was terrific. The Doctor meeting Brian was a magnificent moment and I thought it was really interesting that this appeared to be the Doctor's first encounter with an Ood. The mention of the Sense Sphere was fantastic. The intrigue that came with the coordinates and the world of Atharna itself just being wrong was really good and followed a similar theme to Defender of the Daleks which I enjoyed. Katherine as the sheriff was brilliant and I really liked that she and Samson thought the Doctor was the assassin that Sophie had warned them about. That was a really good scene full of false tension. Felicity's father having designed his own child was quite the concept so because she had rebelled and broke her promise of devotion, he wanted his wife assassinated! Brian and Felicity entering the abode of Samson was excellent stuff and I liked the devious nature of the Ood in suspecting that Sophie was actually close at hand. There's something about an Ood voice that is just creepy brilliance. The Doctor having his TARDIS referred to as a time travelling clinic was something I was a big fan of as I'm not sure anybody has ever considered taken him to quite literally be a doctor to this extent! Craddock was a decent character but I was a little put off by how much he was interested in getting involved in any affairs involving females. He was a fellow doctor though which was good. The hologram disguises to try and get past Brian and deceive the assassin was unique to say the least! It was pretty good. All of them wearing the image of the Doctor or Craddock was good and I did quite like that Brian did kill one of them. Craddock was the unfortunate and Katherine wanted justice which I very much admired. She attempted to kill Brian herself, but the Doctor was offering him safe passage out in return for him breaking his contract which was fantastic. I liked the cliffhanger ending with the TARDIS suddenly being taken through the Time Vortex and the Doctor being united with the Daleks. Brian seemed to be a goner, and that has set things up very nicely for the next audio! Overall, a really good audio adventure. 

Rating: 8/10