Dying Hours: A Date with Destiny

"You kill people for money. That's sick."

Writer: Robert Valentine

Format: Audio

Released: September 2023

Series: BF Doom's Day 1.02

Featuring: Doom, Jackie

Synopsis

A romantic dinner turns life-threatening for an unsuspecting human in 2007. But this time, Doom has competition. And if she loses, then her last chance to find the Doctor could be snatched away. Cue an action-packed chase through the streets of London. But has Doom met her match?

Verdict

A Date with Destiny was another fun adventure to continue my way through the Dying Hours contribution to Doom’s Day from Big Finish! I think fun is definitely the best way to describe this saga and whilst I think some fans have potentially taken it too seriously amongst all of the other anniversary festivities, I’m really enjoying things. It’s lighthearted despite the central character being an assassin and I like that we’re having some random encounters with numerous characters from across Doctor Who’s history! This time around it was the turn of Jackie Tyler who’s probably the most famous character not to be a companion. She made a big impact with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors so it’s only natural that she would be at the heart of one of the missions for Doom to take on and find the Doctor. Her relationship with Jackie was quite amusing and having her impersonate the Doctor was nicely done, even if it was very obvious that she wasn’t the real article! She did a decent job in tapping into some Doctor-like dialogue and making Jackie feel safe, but the fact she kept getting referred to as Doom was going to be a bit of a deal breaker. I don’t think Jackie ever firmly believed the time travelling assassin was actually the Doctor. She did take the idea of him regenerating into a woman well though. Jackie constantly asking about Rose and hoping she was safe was well done and that definitely should have been her first thoughts. Jackie not wanting Doom to go near her washing because it wasn’t all dry yet was the humour I expected from the episode which I really enjoyed. I really do think I might be more of a Jackie fan than a Rose one. Don’t tell my girlfriend that though! I thought Doom encounter a fellow assassin in the form of Destiny was good and their pally relationship verged on annoying with the constant ‘babes’ referring to. It was almost like a Doctor-Master dynamic in the relationship, except Doom showed no hesitation at the end in pulling the trigger. I thought it was fun to have Jackie as a target because of actions taken by the Doctor and Rose against the Zaconian Claw, and that meant she was long gone if they had to resort to assassinating her mother. I liked the idea of there being repercussions for defeating an enemy like this. Destiny offering Doom a place in her new assassin organisation that would see the assassin keep all of the fee rather than the Lesser Order taking a percentage was good, although with only a few hours left of her life she wasn’t exactly in the business of career opportunities. It was a neat idea though. Jackie ousting Doom as to her identity not being the Doctor by mentioning a third heart was amusing and an attack with a washing line was equally so! With Jackie also being targeted by Destiny, the chase across London was really entertaining and some strong action! I thought Roxx perhaps arrived a little too late in the episode, but Doom standing up to him and showing no qualms about confrontation was terrific. She was empathic at the end and with the contractor deceased she needn’t kill Jackie after all. Jackie getting on the phone to the Doctor and Rose to tell them about Doom was good and I like the setup for the next mission with Doom to encounter the Silence! I’m intrigued to hear how that will play out. Overall, a great episode!

Rating: 8/10