The Wrong Doctors

"Bare with me, it's my first invasion."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: January 2013

Series: Target 126

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Mel

Synopsis 

With Evelyn gone, the Doctor sets course for his destiny... in the form of his first meeting with Miss Melanie Bush, a computer programmer from the village of Pease Pottage, currently busy rehearsing with the local Amateur Dramatic Society – and blissfully unaware that her future is on its way, in his TARDIS.

Make that two TARDISes. Because at that very moment, a slightly younger Doctor is flying into Pease Pottage, too – returning his future companion Melanie Bush to her rightful place and time, after they were flung together during the course of his Time Lord trial.

Time travel is a complicated business –the iguanodon terrorising Pease Pottage being a case in point. But how much more complicated could things possibly become, if the wrong Doctor were to bump into the wrong Mel?

Verdict 

The Wrong Doctors was a very good story to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! Slowly but surely I continue my way through the mammoth range and this one started in emotional fashion. The passing of Maggie Stables is obviously a travesty and it really is such a shame that we don’t get a proper departure story for Evelyn Smythe. I was a little sceptical about her as a companion when I listened to her debut almost a decade ago now, but she was a stark departure from the norm of a companion and I really liked that. It was also lovely to see her be a catalyst in bringing out the softer side of the Sixth Doctor that we didn’t get the opportunity to see on his brief television run. It’s nice to finally address the discontinuity that happens during The Trial of a Time Lord with the Doctor and how Mel was introduced as a companion. We just saw her in the future already as a companion, so trying to put that right and give her an origin story is a sublime thing to do. I’m all for plugging gaps! The confusion was rampant though which at times was frustrating without visuals, but at the same time it was part of the fun. The descriptions of each respective Sixth Doctor with the different coats was terrific and I loved that the older version was donning the blue one most associated with Real Time, a story I am still yet to blog! It was also lovely for him at the end to return to his patchwork colours because that’s what Mel preferred. I thought the focus on Mel in part one in particular was brilliant with the muddled versions of meeting the Doctor. Two versions of each led to amusing bedlam with all of the meetings happening in the wrong order and not as remembered. The younger version of the Doctor just dropping Mel off and hoping she’d run into his future self was almost extraordinary! I thought the setting of Peas Pottage was used very well and it was just nice to experience some of Mel’s background as we met her mum and her home. Mr Petherbridge was a strong character and the whole Mardak Home Corp stuff was decent, but I can’t help but say I was just more interested in Mel and her specific story. The idea of her seeing the timelines was good and I thought the concept about compressing causality and shaping it was great, but slightly rushed with everything else going on. It was still thoroughly enjoyable though as my rating suggests! Petherbridge feeding off the Doctor dying out of time was very good and the cliffhanger of part three in particular was fantastic with the eeriness of Mel singing and counting down. Jedediah was a fun character and I couldn’t help but laugh when he just wasn’t wanted anywhere. The valanxium was a strong element of the story, no pun intended, and definitely has potential with it being an alternative for time travel. The time demon seemed to be revealed a little late as a Vortex creature, but as a whole this was a very good and surprisingly emotional tale! Overall, a great listen.

Rating: 8/10