A Full Life

"If the dead don't stay dead, the universe will end."

Writer: Joseph Lidster

Format: Audio

Released: September 2016

Series: Short Trips 6.09

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9, Adric

Synopsis

Adric's life is full of death. His parents died when he was a child. His brother died a few months ago. Now, travelling with the Doctor and Romana, everywhere he visits, people die. But now they have arrived on Veridis. And on Veridis, the dead come back...

Verdict

A Full Life was a decent little Short Trips audio! It seems forever since I have done anything featuring Adric so despite my thinking of him being the worst ever companion, I was keen to get this audio adventure done today when it came to deciding on a Short Trip to listen to. I was definitely enticed by the fact that Matthew Waterhouse was the narrator and I thought he did a stellar job in that role. Getting new content with Adric during the events of the E-Space trilogy was absolutely welcomed as three stories with the quartet of the Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9 and Adric just wasn't enough. I really enjoyed hearing Adric describe some of the events experienced over the course of Full Circle and State of Decay and although we didn't get to see it an awful lot on screen, it was terrific to hear him explain how much the Doctor and Romana meant to him. It was good to establish that Adric and Romana didn't exactly get on at the start, but they came to grow fond of each other which was nice. I thought the recording style of the story and how it was all a message from Adric to his grandson was unique, although in my opinion it slightly lost its charm by around the halfway mark, I think it hurt the pace a little on what could have been a more exciting tale. However, I do appreciate that the style made for a more emotional story which was an understandable direction. Matthew Waterhouse didn't really do many impressions given the format of the story which probably helped things, but his brief take on K9 was absolutely delightful. His memories of the robotic dog being fond and laughing about how he could easily outsmart him were great and I think it would have been so good to have a full on Adric and K9 battle of wits and logic. The possibilities would be endless. The fact that the Doctor and Romana died here in E-Space is actually incredible and I don't think enough was made of that development. Considering that Adric went back in time and changed it, we presume, successfully, doesn't that mean that the normal course of events was for Adric to grow old? That's something big to think about. I also thought their moments of death should have been more impactful given the permutations! The Veridis setting was good and I thought the Tivorg was excellent as a concept. I also really enjoyed how it took something from all of those it brought back. That felt very much in line with dark Doctor Who. If this had more time to expand, I feel like it could have been an excellent adventure. The timescale of the story is incredible with Adric going on to have a happy life and talk about his family and relationships. Not that it's important, but I think it's good to establish Adric had a relationship with a man in this strange alternate timeline. It won't get mainstream attention but it really is good in my view. I liked how the story went so far that the food machine in the TARDIS stopped working and the time machine itself was breaking down without the Doctor. I really liked that aspect and it was intriguing to leave Adric stranded. Overall, a good little story. 

Rating: 7/10