The Last Day at Work

"I have a noise in my head."

Writer: Harry Draper
Format: Audio
Released: December 2018
Series: 2018 Paul Spragg Short Trips Memorial Opportunity

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie

Synopsis

Constable Bernard Whittam is in for a special evening. Finally retiring from a lifetime in the police force, he's celebrating with friends, family and the woman he loves. It's all perfect. Apart from the noise in his head, the wheezing, groaning noise the has haunted his entire life. That and the unusual gatecrashers.

It's going to be a night to remember...

Verdict

The Last Day at Work was simply wonderful. It was a delightful Short Trips audio and I would just love to hear more work from Harry Draper after this phenomenal little story. There was no big alien threat or a risk of the world ending, it was just pure storytelling at its best. I really liked how pure and emotional this was and the presence of the Doctor and Jamie just added to the feel good factor of Bernard's retirement. I liked how he was quite curious by the appearance and presence of the Doctor and Jamie and I really loved the combined eavesdropping between the two groups. I have to give kudos to Nicholas Briggs for his narration of this audio as I thought he did an absolutely superb job. I was really impressed with his impression of both Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor and Frazier Hines's Jamie. He really was able to capture the era of the late 1960s really well and I enjoyed that it was a present day setting for that era of the show. The connections this adventure had with An Unearthly Child was hugely unexpected but something I absolutely adored. Giving an entire backstory and huge background to the policeman seen walking at the very start of the episode is incredibly audacious but the delivery was just incredible. He was part of the chameleon circuit! How incredible is that? Bernard had been hearing the wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS all of his life and now he was retiring, he was worried he wouldn't be able to push it to the back of his mind. Except, he had only lived for five years. He didn't allow his parents, who he created, to age and Jamie noticed that. Once the Doctor heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS, he knew what was happening. Once Totter's Lane was mentioned as where Bernard had patrolled, the Doctor knew what had happened. Bernard being inside the TARDIS was really good and I liked how he felt that it was all familiar. It was a staggeringly emotional story and hearing of his love for Emma and the way he receded back into the TARDIS was very heart-wrenching. It was so powerful and Jamie was quite shaken by not being able to keep Bernard around after the life he had willed into existence and blended into. That's what he would always do. Overall, this was simply delightful and I can't quite believe it was given away for free! Simply superb.

Rating: 10/10