The Day Before They Came

"Fiction is reality that just hasn't happened yet."

Writer: Daniel Blythe

Format: Audio

Released: September 2021

Series: Eleventh Doctor Chronicles 2.02

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

In the shabby seaside town of Bayview, Kayla Worthington is sitting on the beach waiting for an alien invasion. Her patience is rewarded when an alien arrives, although he doesn't seem to be invading. He's called the Doctor, and he wants to buy her a cup of tea.

Verdict

The Day Before They Came was a somewhat average continuation of the second volume of Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! For whatever reason, I couldn't find myself fully invested in this story which was a shame as I thought things started so well with The Evolving Dead! I was a big fan of Jacob Dudman's take on Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor and I have to say that when the Doctor did arrive into the story, the impression really was uncanny. Dudman is super impressive as this incarnation and it really adds so much when we have authenticity like this that makes it feel like a genuine tale of the era. The setting of Bay View in 1986 was a pretty good one and I found myself taken back to my school days with the likes of maths and double French getting a mention. Kayla was not the best character in the world in my opinion, but she built a solid foundation of a relationship with the Doctor which was nice because he really can befriend anybody! He was onto Kayla from the start which was great and showed that he had the upper hand, but Kayla's reports logging showed that she wasn't undermined despite the Doctor's knowledge of her. The idea of her being undercover as a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl was decent and I thought it was good that come the end it was revealed that there was no cover. She really was just a schoolgirl hiding behind the ideas in her grandfather's book. That was a nice touch and a feel good factor, but it seemed to come a little out of nowhere and too late which really took me back by surprise. I needed more to be built upon I think. The Doctor not wanting to show Kayla the TARDIS interior or take her on a trip because he didn't trust her was fun and I liked how at the end he reiterated that point. The Kalaxids were pretty average as the alien presence int he story I felt and when Lee was taken by them, we were introduced to a particular scout who was involved in non-intervention and seeking restitution. Darren soon joined Lee in being captured but I never felt either were more than pretty useless. The foamy nature of the creatures' makeup was good and I liked the Doctor's appreciation for that kind of life form. I felt that the direction of the episode was stalling at times and we were never fully sure what the Kalaxids were doing or searching for. The idea of the acidic rain causing them a seizure was good though and the threat of a contamination finally sprung the episode into gear. The scout present had called upon the mothership to eliminate the threat and the radiation from there would obliterate the contaminated planet Earth by molecular compression and see that all was well again. The Doctor arriving to the scene of Darren and Lee seemed too easy but it was nice for the Doctor to show confidence in being able to save the day with his words. Overall, some very strong elements and a nice feel but there needed to be some more fleshing out in the middle for my liking!

Rating: 6/10