SOS

"Remember the Doctor."

Writer: Juno Dawson

Format: Audio

Released: April 2022

Series: Redacted 1.01

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Abby, Shawna, Cleo

Synopsis

Cleo, Abby and Shawna make The Blue Box Files – a podcast about their favourite conspiracy theory: is this lone random blue box actually a spaceship? This wee they discuss shady pharmaceutical company Adipose Industries. But things get a bit real when they start hearing about a mysterious figure called 'the Doctor'. 

Verdict

SOS was an excellent story to kick off the Redacted podcast series! It’s taken me a while to get around to finally starting this reason and I can’t really think why, but I’m delighted to have now started and I was hugely impressed! At just twenty minutes long, there wasn’t a lot of time to set the scene and get started but my interest was peaked almost immediately. A podcast investigating mysterious sightings of the blue police box is a phenomenal idea and if the TARDIS existed in the real world, there would absolutely be a podcast investigating it. It’s a magnificent idea and it forms the basis for what should be a marvellous series. The first topic that we get to hear discuss on the podcast relates to Partners in Crime which is a fine episode to start with. I thought it was brilliant to explore the mystery sighting in London, of which there will inevitably be thousands, and the talk of Adipose Industries was fantastic. It was really exciting stuff and a fun look back on that Series 4 episode. Having Penny Carter as a guest on the podcast was really good stuff and hearing her memories on the encounter with alien walking fat was fantastic. She was a strong first guest and definitely a character that requires and warrants further exploration. She had a lot of potential. I thought our podcast hosts who will lead the series were introduced in a nice way and I liked the vibe in their relationship. They were young and very much of modern society. Cleo, Abby and Shawna were a fine trio and their friendship was quite infectious. I think the trans involvement and discussion was addressed very well here and Doctor Who sets an incredible example when it comes to diversity and this is just another fine addition. Long may it continue. Cleo was probably my favourite of the characters in this episode but that’s probably because he was the one doing the interview. We also learned about the situation of them all dropping out of university and now Cleo was stuck on her brother’s sofabed. It was good to get some background and I’m sure in the coming episodes Abby and Shawn will also take centre stage and we’ll learn more about them too. I thought the cameo appearance of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor was wonderful and it’s really quite brilliant to hear her in audio form for the first time! It’s a big deal to get the actual Doctor involved and it gives it a big injection of credibility. That’s a big appeal for me and certainly helps sell the series as authentic and genuine. I hope we get more. Hearing news reports from Sheffield of Graham and Ryan going missing was very intriguing and the link to the Doctor and the blue box was very good. The concept of the Doctor being redacted is really quite excellence and Penny knowing about the Doctor’s involvement at Adipose Industries being quite loose was good, but she couldn’t quite remember him. Expanding on that in the episodes that come will be tremendous and I look forward to delving back on past episodes. The cliffhanger finish with Rani getting involved was a really good incentive to get into the next episode! I look forward to her hopefully being a guest on the podcast in the next story. Overall, a sublime start!

Rating: 9/10