Trapped: The Good Samaritan

"Help your neighbour."

Writer: Helen Goldwyn

Format: Audio

Released: September 2023

Series: Rose Tyler: The Dimension Canon 3.03

Featuring: Rose

Synopsis

Trying to repair her Dimension Cannon, Rose seeks out the last haven of technology on this Earth. But the utopia of the Dome hides a more desperate situation – and a storm of Anti-Life is closing in...

Verdict

The Good Samaritan was an excellent episode to conclude a really strong Trapped third series of The Dimension Canon for Rose Tyler! I’m not sure if there has been any kind of formal announcement, but judging by how things finished here I would assume this would conclude the spin-off range. And it went out on a high if that is the case! I have really enjoyed the trapped element of this series as instead of having Rose just hopping around from one universe to the other, we have a full story arc and an aim to reach. That has definitely been beneficial and this series has felt a lot more structured as a result. Rose has been on the hunt for some technologically savvy people and she found one here in the form of Rohan as the scientist. He was a good character and I really liked how he was fascinated by the technology within the dimension canon. It was incredibly advanced and he was almost in awe. Expanding on the relationship between Rose and Danni was done very well again here and they really have done a stellar job in establishing them as essentially siblings. They do feel like that which is great. Unfortunately, Danni wouldn’t be dimension hopping with Rose as she sacrificed herself at the end which was admirable and certainly an emotional conclusion. As Rose herself stated this one didn’t have a happy ending. And with literal universes dying why should it? I like that this ended on a somewhat somber note as it’s a stark reminder that not everything ends well, and why should it? The stakes and danger on show here were only heightened by how things finished. I loved how we really dug deep into the empaths in this episode and the revelation concerning their evolution was quite staggering. They actually became the Anti-Life! I wasn’t expecting that but it was something I thoroughly enjoyed and it caught me off guard. We got to hear that process in full swing with Mac which was a little scary and certainly disconcerting. Esther was a good character and she knew all about it and helped explain the connection they had in sensing when the Anti-Life would come. If they were to become them, no wonder there was a link! I was also a big fan of the Superior Elite as the figurehead dictator of this broken society. The concept of receiving literal marks for good acts was interesting but one bad move or simply not getting enough marks meant you were fed to the storm of Anti-Life. That was daunting and certainly a strong way of keeping the population in check! It took the idea of love thy neighbour to a completely different level. But it was one that was really good to explore and Rose was horrified when that air lock was being opened and those offenders were outside. They were helpless. Danni being told earlier in the episode she would know when it was time to evolve soon came into fruition at the end as she knew she now had to save Rose. Rohan was also a big hand in getting power back to the dimension canon as the storm could charge for it a short period of time, so Rose’s way back was clear. And she would have to do enough living for the both of them. I’m sure she would! The way things led into Turn Left here was fantastic as the empathic abilities of Rose’s alternate sibling had shown her the way to the Doctor. It was through Donna Noble who’d taken the wrong turning and that had set something completely off. I wonder if we’ll get another series now leading towards the efforts of reaching Donna as we saw in Series 4, but if not then it was nice to go out with a bang! Overall, a brilliant episode.  

Rating: 9/10