Kidnapped!: The Chiswick Cuckoos

"You were just what I needed."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: March 2020

Series: Donna Noble 1.04

Featuring: Donna

Synopsis

Donna's home, but she's not quite herself. Sylvia couldn't be more pleased to see her daughter finally getting on with her life.

But an alien plot is nearing completion, and the world needs saving. The Doctor is nowhere to be found, so it's all up to Donna – and Nat!

Verdict

The Chiswick Cuckoos was a great avenue to conclude what has been a hugely fun and successful Kidnapped! first series for Donna Noble! I don't know where it would fit in now in terms of the chronology of Series 4 and beyond, but I would love for there to be a second series as Donna is just funny and a joy to listen to. Pairing her up with Nat for her own series of stories has been a blast and this rounded out the story arc started in Out of This World in fine fashion. I was interested by how things started with Donna seemingly living at home and being focused on her career, and Sylvia apologised for the whole speed dating fiasco we witnessed in the first story. But then from out of nowhere attentions turned to Donna and Nat struggling to work the TARDIS manual and the comment about needing cheat codes for the cheat codes was very amusing. The Doctor helping Donna and communicating with the psychic paper was unexpected and it was so good to hear David Tennant feature in a surprise cameo! He needed rescuing from the Collectors himself and it had been a few weeks since Donna and Nat first ventured off in the TARDIS, but Sylvia was none the wiser because as far as she was concerned, Donna had been back living with her for a month! Of course, there had been a duplication somewhere along the lines and the copy was working with Garrison which was fun continuity with Nat. She's a strong character and I'd really enjoy more of her in the future as she was quick to deduce that the Donna she encountered with her husband wasn't the real article and used references to the events of The Sorcerer of Albion to confirm that which was smart. Marge returning was terrific and her meeting with Garrison was strong and showed she was firmly in control despite his business being the one sought out. The theme of data and it being the future was excellent and a great use of writing a story set around 2008 over a decade later. The trends have already been set. The fake Donna being tied up by Nat was an incredibly humorous sequence and she was quick to get back to the real deal, and knew by how clean Donna's room was that there was definitely a doppelgänger. Marge following them there made Donna look incredibly clever when seeing them arrive which was fun. Also fun was the Doctor claiming that Donna hadn't actually flown the TARDIS at all and that it was the HADS. I really liked that. Her arguing with the psychic paper was tremendous and her comment about having it recycled was glorious. The fake Donna being referred to as the Donna unit on the Collectors ship was intriguing, although I felt it was a little too easy for her to take control. Nat as her assistant should have been a trigger warning! Sylvia's outrage at Marge dismissing Donna's future significance was lovely to hear after her badgering in the opening episode and it was only her that could talk down of her daughter. So she got frozen and whizzed off to the Collectors' ship. The Collector Prime returned in decent style and rounded out the series nicely with strong continuity with the first episode, and it didn't need Marge it just needed a vessel and with the copies it now had plenty, including Sylvia which was fun to hear for a few moments. The arrival of UNIT to save the day was brilliant and it was really clever to have Josh feature briefly and in a role that was lower down the military hierarchy of what we hear him in the UNIT spinoff. They would now track down the duplicates and had seen off the Collectors for good in a quick and neat conclusion. Donna having called Martha was nicely done and I liked how she was a mutual friend with Josh. There was a lot to like. The bonus came of the Tenth Doctor was marvellous and it was lovely for him to now stop and ask Donna if she was okay after events at the Library and losing what she thought was her family life. Nat also being back with Garrison was fun as he'd lost his memory, but she was just what she needed. A friend. I thought that was a lovely message. Overall, a strong conclusion to a great series!

Rating: 8/10