The Wrong Woman

"It was hard enough adjusting to one new Doctor."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: April 2021

Series: Dalek Universe 1.02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Anya, Mark

Synopsis

The team's investigations have taken an unexpected turn – but the signs all still point to Sheldrake. With the clock ticking down to the launch of the time tunnels, the Doctor, Anya and Mark split up... but soon discover how hard it is to fight a foe who can always keep one step ahead of you.

But stopping him is only half the battle. The Doctor says that time can be rewritten – and Anya is searching for redemption. Can she put history back on track? Or is the Doctor's future never going to be the same again?

Verdict

The Wrong Woman was another brilliant audio adventure to continue the first series of Dalek Universe! After such an incredible cliffhanger in Buying Time, I thought things started somewhat slow with the new reaction to the Doctor's apparent female incarnation. She was shorter and the clothes of her previous self were far too big. The book of the Pastor was found close by to confirm it was he who shot the Doctor dead, and I liked that Mark Seven was weary of the new incarnation. He'd barely adjusted to the Tenth Doctor! There was the usual post-regenerative trauma which helped sell the regeneration and I was actually expecting time to be rewritten, not for the woman to be an impersonator and actually the female incarnation of the Monk! The Nun! How bloody brilliant. I couldn't believe that when it was mentioned so that was so much fun for me. It was good to explore the loneliness of the Tenth Doctor which was really tested in this audio as despite the meddling nature of the Nun, she was a Time Lord and the Doctor wanted nothing more than to be reunited with one of his own species. Realising the effects of Sheldrake's commercial time travel was fantastic as we learned that the Doctor had been misplaced in time, so much so that it was pre-Time War. The potential for him there is marvellous and I am loving the direction we have so far. Anya was terrific again as she continues to look to make amends and I liked how she heard the time echoes of the Tenth Doctor once again, something that told us that he was coming back. Seven and Malkin had a fun moment when another hasty action by the latter resulted in them being sealed in and locked down with no way out from assassin beasts, and the only one able to overwrite was the commander who was dead. Seven's reaction there was great. I liked the reference to The Dalek Protocol with Anya revealing that she was the masked woman who saved the Doctor on Exxilon. Good continuity. The velocitor being removed by the Nun in her Doctor guise was very good and I loved that the Pastor's book was actually her TARDIS! How incredibly barmy and clever. The answers really were inside. I never saw that coming which was a delight. Sheldrake recognising the Nun after it was she who the velocitor was stolen from was a fun moment, but the funnest of all was the Nun revealing herself to the Doctor with him trapped inside her TARDIS. Just wonderful. She'd removed the velocitor and that caused Time itself to literally break and be destroyed. The connection she and the Doctor had with Time would now now be tested which was really intriguing and tackling with some of the concepts was magnificent. The Nun admitting she erased some of her own past and wasn't even sure which incarnation she was made for more joyous moments, but the Doctor needed her help to put things right. And to be fair, she did help in a big way sacrificing herself much to the Doctor's dismay. He told her about the Time War and worked out that it was himself who was the kidnapper as part of a closed time loop which was also fantastic. Who else would it be? The Doctor having the power to bring anyone back, including the Time Lords or even Rose, was powerful and he had to apologise to the latter and move on from the former. There was a lot of emotion which I really enjoyed. Anya coming to the Doctor and risking her life just to hold a lever was very amusing, and the way Sheldrake was threatened with being poor instead of going to jail was excellent! I liked that the Doctor forgave Anya for what she did during her travels with the Fourth Doctor, but there was no time to dwell as the Daleks arrived in emphatic fashion! They fired in the bubble which meant the Doctor and co were stuck in time. I look forward to the finale now and having the Tenth Doctor engaged with Daleks pre-Time War. An exciting prospect! Overall, a brilliant audio.

Rating: 9/10