Conflicts of Interest: Friendly Fire

"Everyone here is our enemy."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: April 2023

Series: Fifth Doctor Adventures 5.01

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan

Synopsis 

When the TARDIS needs to reset itself, the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan find themselves having to fill time on a space-hub filled with numerous attractions. This pleases Tegan and Nyssa no end... but the Doctor is more interested in visiting an alien friend of his living on a nearby mining planet and is able to persuade his friends to join him.

But on arrival, his friend is nowhere to be found and the locals are more than slightly unwelcoming. With limited options for departure and a hostile populace they may be in a lot of trouble. 

Sometimes true monsters are found in the strangest places.

Verdict 

Friendly Fire was an excellent adventure to kick off the Conflicts of Interest latest series for the Fifth Doctor! I’m a big fan of this incarnation of the Doctor and I think in my recent experiences of his audio adventures he’s returning to the form seen on television where for a long time I deemed him my favourite Doctor. That’s not quite the case anymore, but he still ranks very highly! Tegan and Nyssa are two tremendous companions and it’s nice to get a rare outing with just the three of them. Nyssa referring to Tegan’s being left behind in Time-Flight and return in Arc of Infinity as a break was quite amusing as I’m not sure she would deem it as such! The dynamic between the trio was brilliant and really helped with my enjoyment of the story. I liked the idea of the TARDIS resetting and the humour that came from the Doctor accepting the equivalent of a software update was great stuff. The TARDIS should be landed and connected to a power source, but he had of course ignored that and it was causing issues now as the dimensions were retreating and the interior was a lot smaller! The quick landing on the space hub was good and explaining to Tegan that it was the equivalent of a space airport was very good. There was a lot to do to pass the time with the TARDIS needing twenty-four hours to repair, so Tegan was very keen for a spa day. However, the Doctor had other ideas as the hub they’d arrived at was not far at all from Komoko where an old friend in the form of Velar would be. His description as an armadillo was intriguing and I was surprised by how much importance would be placed on that by the story’s conclusion. A dislike for the unlike is not a new concept in Doctor Who but the way it was explored here was very sad to think that humanity can and does act that way. The Doctor knew that his friend wouldn’t just get up and leave. The demeanour of the locals was hardly one that was good at keeping their actions a secret with Brennan in particular very worries about the newcomers finding out. They weren’t ordinary miners after all just coming for a routine delivery. Reno was a strong villain and I liked how she was firmly in control. She was calm with all that was going on and didn’t worry too much when things went wrong which was pretty admirable. She sold things well to the Doctor and company with a strong arrival to act as the part one cliffhanger in pointing a gun at them. I thought the format of three parts was refreshing and a boxset taking the form of two stories comprising three parts each is really good! It’s unique and I like that. Tegan had a really strong story here and I liked how she was taking things into her own hands by the end when they needed a distraction. The way she played a role in working out that their shuttle was sabotaged was brilliant and I also loved Nyssa’s shock reaction when it exploded without them inside. It was very close to disaster in emphatic style. Spencer was a good character to act as the local medic and she knew what had happened to Velar. She gave Tegan a subtle warning to get away whilst they could without knowing anything that would get them in trouble, but of course they were never able to take that offer. I really enjoyed the simplicity of the story and when Velar was confirmed as the dead, the reasoning behind being purely racial with him looking like an armadillo was awful. It was very real and those threats often work the best. The conclusion was also quite simple as the TARDIS trio got the upper hand and Reno just couldn’t sell another accident involving death so soon after the shuttle blowing up. She’d played her hand too many times and that was that. The toll the story had on Nyssa and Tegan was audible in their voices though as they no longer felt like a relaxing break when getting back to the space hub. Overall, a fantastic audio!

Rating: 9/10