Deadline

"My name is Doctor Who and I'm from Venus in the forty-ninth century."

Writer: Robert Shearman

Format: Audio

Released: September 2003

Series: Doctor Who Unbound 05

Featuring: Susan, Barbara

Synopsis

It's been forty years since Martin Bannister encountered the Doctor. They were different men back then. Martin was young and talented and The Times' seventh month promising writer to watch out for. The Doctor was mysterious, crotchety and possibly oriental. It was an encounter that destroyed both their lives.

Pity poor Martin now... His career is in ruins, all forgotten. His estranged wives keep dying in the wrong order, and there's a nasty green stain by the wardrobe that could be an alien footprint or, possibly, just mould.

Martin's life is about to change unexpectedly... Impromptu poetry readings. Elephant expeditions. An obligatory bug-eyed monster. And a last, desperate chance for love, before it's too late.

Sounds like it's time for the Doctor to come into Martin's life again. And sort him out. Permanently. 

Verdict

Deadline was a fascinatingly brilliant audio adventure! When it comes to the Doctor Who Unbound range, we have had some incredibly unique releases in the five so far that I have blogged, but this one might take the award for being the most unique as it was a harrowing portrayal of a fictional Doctor Who and its apparent creator Martin Bannister. It really was an incredible idea of a Doctor Who story. A Doctor Who adventure about the fictional creation of Doctor Who? Count me in! I was a big fan. Starting off with a mysterious rehash of the moments in An Unearthly Child where Ian and Barbara stumble inside the TARDIS with the Doctor and Susan was brilliant and I loved how there was no name yet given to the ship. This would of course become the TARDIS and us hearing that eureka moment for Bannister when Barbara was reading a poem to him and a shrub was described as Tardis blue was tremendous. Alternate origins can be very fun and that was definitely the case here. The relationship Martin had with his son Philip was uncomfortable at times and him initially thinking him to be Ian Chesterton just felt very strange. The blurring of the lines between fiction and reality was a big strength of this story. Martin being a television and theatre writer was a good basis for his character and Barbara knowing of his work was good and that was something that he liked in terms of recognition. Martin having a dilemma of whether it was the Doctor or Doctor Who and if the latter was just the name of the show or the character was magnificent and the ramifications this would have for Susan and if she would be Susan Who was marvellous. The comment about it sounding oriental and that not being what Verity (Lambert) was looking for was quite the line! The comments about Sydney (Nwman) having n obsession for cavemen was a lot of fun as well given what would come in the final three parts of that first serial. A story about Neanderthals wouldn't last or get picked up, right? The way Martin's real life was incorporated into the lines of Doctor Who was impressive and th claw marks at home and the claim of a monster in his wardrobe was really interesting to see what they were parallels to. We had a wonderful rehash of The Daleks with the supreme one sounding like a cheap Dalek but that was absolutely how it should have been and worked so well. Philip's life also going down the drain and him blaming his dad and there being something in the genetics was harrowing, but finding out that he'd killed a guinea pig to provide the ashes for his mum's faked death was horrendous. Martin was hoping it wasn't too late for a relationship with his grandson Tom though and that was a nice touch and seemingly the inspiration for Susan being the Doctor's grandfather in the Doctor Who show. The characters of Ian and Barbara dying from radiation poisoning was quite the development we didn't see on screen, but highlighted how dark Martin's life had become. He needed more reality in stories. Martin trying to get Tom into the wardrobe was uncomfortable and him thinking this was the TARDIS was actually quite sad. He was obsessed. The way he was writing his family out of the story apart from Susan and leaving in the wardrobe, but actually dying but reflecting the departure of the Doctor and Susan from Gallifrey, was excellent emotional writing. I was really impressed with what was both a sensational and uncomfortable listen. Overall, a fantastic story!

Rating: 9/10