Writer: Sarah Grochala
Format: Audio
Released: May 2022
Series: Ninth Doctor Adventures 5.02
Featuring: Ninth Doctor
Synopsis
Moscow, 1605: the old Tsar is dead – but some blame unnatural forces. Perhaps the mysterious Doctor in the palace can help?
A successor advances on the Kremlin with an army, preparing the country for war. But Tsarevich Dimitry is not what he seems...
Verdict
The False Dimitry was a very good story to continue along the Back to Earth fifth boxset of adventures for the Ninth Doctor! I must admit that with an umbrella title focusing on our home world, I would prefer if things stayed as pure historicals or present day stories as it doesn't seem to make too much sense to focus on Earth that much if the threat is actually going to be from the other side of the galaxy. That's not to say the episode was bad in the slightest, but more of a marketing opinion really. It started in intriguing fashion here with the Tsar Boris seemingly being murdered by the ghost of Dimitry! That set the atmosphere nicely for what was to come and a pretty dark little tale. Oksana was a fun character and I really enjoyed that the Doctor confronted her whilst she seemed to be in a crazed state after what she had witnessed occur to the ruler of what would become Russia. I enjoyed the character of Sasha as Oksana's son and he believed his mum was mad which was a fun concept! The idea of the false Dimitry attacking was excellent and a really good use of contemporary politics. It was nice that the Doctor didn't ridicule Oksana for what she claimed to have seen and he didn't think it was at all implausible with the readings coming from the TARDIS that had brought him there. Oksana knew that the pretender was indeed fake because she'd nursed Dimitry since he was a baby and would know if they swapped. So when she believed the real article was present I was slightly taken aback! Dimitry killing the Tsar with an energy beam showed us that there was more than just history at hand and something supernatural or extraterrestrial on show. Sasha explained how he was actually Grishka, a monk who disappeared and now seemed to be back pretending to have a claim to being the truthful Tsar. They were novices together which was a nice detail. Oksana seeing the orb within Dimitry's chest was good and I liked the revelation from the Doctor that it was a Smirtnik controlling device. Sasha seeing their ship as a Polish war tower was terrific and I liked how this was essentially a remote invasion where they could use psychic ability and perception to show people what they worst feared being invaded from. Dimitry's announcement that he was to marry the Polish woman Marina in a bid to unite empires was excellent and that really didn't go down well in Moscow as the town soon began to turn on the Tsar. The arrival of the 'Polish' Smirtnik army was terrific action. I enjoyed that there was something of the real Dimitry still inside him as he recognised the icon and briefly remembered being possessed. The Lennistans who controlled the Smirtniks wanted a war to end all wars on Earth and then take the rest of the planet in scraps. The idea of the rest of the world having seen the army as Russians was a great detail as well and would have made for quite the global conflict! It was nice that Grishka got to be the one to save the day but he was unable to save himself, which was a strong emotional conclusion. Overall, a really strong episode!
Rating: 8/10
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