Forever Fallen

"We may awaken our potential."

Writer: Joshua Wanisko
Format: Audio
Released: December 2016
Series: Short Trips 6.X

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis

Until now, an offered chance from the Doctor has never stopped the villain's schemes.

Until now, the android armies, the powerful space stations, the mind-control rays, have gone unchecked to disastrous effect.

Until now...

...But then what happens?

Verdict

Forever Fallen was a pretty decent little audio and considering it was free to download, I can't really have any complaints! I recently discovered with Landbound that Big Finish run a memorial award where the winner gets to write a Short Trip story that is released for free and I think it's a terrific idea! Nicholas Briggs provided the narration for this audio and I thought he did a very good job of delivering the story. His impersonation of Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor was actually excellent and whilst the identity of the intruder on the space ship was not named, the mannerisms and likeness of the Doctor's seventh incarnation could clearly be heard which meant that the listener knew pretty much from the start who was present. I did not expect Ace to be joining the Doctor in this audio but that may just be because I am so used to him travelling alone lately with my reading of the Nemesis of the Daleks graphic novel. She didn't play too much of a role here but her presence was definitely welcomed. She nearly got into a little fight with Sean Calvin which was interesting but after things died down, a few years later she was treating his daughter to a milkshake. The way Odessa had altered Sean's perspective on life was really good and I liked how he ended up going full circle. The Doctor prevented him from doing something awful but after getting the fame of saving the world, he would end up getting punished anyway. I thought the concept of the Doctor and Ace meeting up with Sean every year for a decade was good but it did get a little repetitive and I'm not sure enough happened at some of the meetings. It was clear the Doctor wasn't waiting the long way for a year to pass but it still seemed a little unnecessary to meet every year, considering some of the things that were said. Considering this was the first story for Joshua Wanisko, he did a good job but I think he needed to inject a little more excitement into the adventure. What we got was very good but I found myself waiting for a bit of action or a shocking event to transpire but sadly it didn't come. It is difficult with the Short Trips range to get everything you want out of a story but this one tried valiantly and gave us a more than decent outing for the Seventh Doctor and Ace. Overall, a good audio adventure!

Rating: 7/10