Exile

"I don't think we deserve to be on trial."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs 

Format: Audio

Released: October 2003

Series: Unbound 06

Featuring: The Doctor

Synopsis

What if... the Doctor had escaped the justice of the Time Lords?

"They want to punish me for being me!"

All the Doctor has to do to avoid being caught by the Time Lords is to work in a supermarket and go to the pub. It's a cunning plan – certainly far less dangerous than fighting the dreaded Quarks and all those other alien friends.

But just when everything seemed mundane and safe, alien transmissions, exploding poison gas; Princess Anne and wobbly trolleys burst onto the scene to ruin everything. It's a crisis! A fiendish alien plot! And the Doctor must use all the resources at her disposal to defeat it.

She'll probably need to have a large vodka first, though. 

Verdict

Exile was a very good and mightily intriguing adventure to continue my way through the Unbound series from Big Finish! I love the idea behind this story pondering the question of the Doctor escaping Time Lord justice at the end of The War Games. We got a humorous take on the War Lord and his people being dematerialised for ever and next up on the chopping board was the Doctor, but he'd escaped which just felt right. The Time Lords conducting the trial were quite the pair with David Tennant a noticeable standout given my listening in hindsight. The idea of a female Doctor in 2003 must have been pretty impactful and the Unbound series was the perfect opportunity to try it out. Of course, it proved that the gender of the Doctor means absolutely nothing. Of course, The Woman Who Fell to Earth kicked off a whole new female-led era of Doctor Who so this was particularly intriguing to look back on and see how a female Doctor was presented, even in a humorous take in a universe that didn't matter in terms of continuity. The idea of the Doctor becoming an alcoholic who worked in Sainsbury's didn't set well with me, and I was quite surprised by the fact that she seemed to have been hiding on Earth for around thirty years. The Time Lords arrived on Earth in an effort to seek her out and put her on trial and had intended to land in 1970, but they got it all wrong. The constant mentions of the Quarks was amusing and trying to present them as deadly whilst admitting that they were pretty rubbish was terrific. Stairs versus lasers! It was a no contest really. Cherrie and Cheese were good characters as the Doctor's friends and co-workers, and they all just seemed to enjoy a vodka a bit too much. I think it was unfortunate to see how much the Doctor's life had deteriorated and I really could have done without the belching and throwing up, but the Doctor thinking she saw the Master but was actually just a guy called Bob in a black suit was marvellous. The idea of the Doctor defeating the Master with vomit was comical. I loved that the Doctor took on the moniker of Susan Foreman to live her life on Earth and even obtained her National Insurance number! It was really nice for the Doctor to remember her granddaughter and take on her identity to get by. I thought the idea of the method of changing sex during regeneration only resulting from a suicide was pretty shocking and something I'm not sure would fly in today's world! It was a surprising revelation but I quite liked there to be an explanation. Having the Doctor encounter her past self was also an unexpected treat in the likes of a mirror and even a vodka bottle which was strange, but this incarnation referring to his being murdered when it came to the regeneration was excellent. The Doctor's hunt for her TARDIS being her downfall and resulting in capture was a shame, but the scenes back on Gallifrey with the trial and the Doctor being found guilty were a sham. She was sentenced to imprisonment within her TARDIS or facing dematerialisation forever. And it seemed that she fell for the note from one of the Time Lords that egged her on to escape! The ambiguous ending worked well in what was a bold and comical adventure! Overall, a great listen.

Rating: 8/10