The Home Guard

"Did you know there's a war on?"

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: November 2019

Series: Early Adventures 6.01

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben, Jamie

Synopsis

It's the middle of the Second World War and Ben Jackson has returned to visit his married friends Polly and Jamie in their quiet English village. But they can't quite shake the feeling that something's not right...

Verdict

The Home Guard was a brilliant Early Adventures audio! It's so good to be getting a full performed story with the Second Doctor pitted against the Master and I believe now, we just need the Ninth Doctor to face the old enemy, although with all of the Time War permutations that is going to be difficult without some time-wimey jiggling around. But here, it was really good to have that early continuity from The Destination Wars with this early incarnation of the Master present. I also loved the placement of the era with the Master also being fearful of the Time Lords with him also on the run from his home planet, something shared with the Doctor. I also thought the references to The Macra Terror were very good and outlining that Polly still had short hair, despite the cover artwork, was very fun. This kind of adventure definitely seemed to fit in well with the era and I could see this working on television. The whole brainwashing theme was really strong and the concept of Jamie and Polly being a married couple was very amusing! When the effect had worn off, Jamie not being too disappointed by that aspect of the mind control was terrific. He definitely wouldn't be disappointed to wind up living with her! Now, I would have expected the married couple to actually be Ben and Polly so having the Navy sailor come and visit them just felt awkward from the start which created the intended atmosphere. I thought the tone was dark and very much in line with the Master conducting an experiment. Having the Doctor as the Captain of the Home Guard was very fun too and just hearing him give commands felt wrong, especially in his second incarnation. I thought Frazier Hines did a tremendous job in bringing the Second Doctor back to life and it was wonderful for Anneke Wills to narrate and transition into Polly so seamlessly. Elliot Chapman as Ben was outstanding as well in recapturing the glory of that companion. From the cover and title, I was actually expecting the war to be one from history rather than one against spiders! I thought the spiders provided a good dynamic and threat and made sense for a Master experiment. The little hints at the truth were really good and I thought the pace was flawless in the mind control wearing off. The cliffhangers were great too with the first one being a predictable but still enjoyable firm arrival of the Master, and the final one seeing Robert shoot Ben after some hesitation by Polly! I thought that was really well done. Jill was a strong character too and her wanting to win the war right until the end showed just how much she was being controlled. But even when all was revealed and the Master was defeated, she just wanted to live in the fake history after an escape. The concept of the Master going on trial after breaking Galactic Law was amusing and having to enlist the Time Lords to defend him was all the impetus the Doctor required to get moving quickly. Hinting at the Doctor's origins prior to The War Games is always fun and even simple things like Jamie reacting to the Master also having a TARDIS are tremendous. It really is the little things! Overall, a really fun audio adventure!

Rating: 9/10