The Stuntman

"You can stop saving me now."

Writer: Lizzie Hopley

Format: Audio

Released: September 2022

Series: Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions 1.02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Nyssa, K9

Synopsis

The Doctor and K9 enter a virtual world of a movie stuntman to help Nyssa escape a Time War criminal's scheme.

Verdict

The Stuntman was another terrific adventure to continue my way through the tremendous boxset of Tenth Doctor Classic Companions! I really am loving this series of stories for the Tenth Doctor and having him interact with a number of companions from the Classic era is so delightfully fun. I'm not sure Nyssa would be a widely popular choice of companions, but from a personal perspective she was the first companion from the Classic era I ever encountered and I have loved her character ever since I laid eyes upon The Keeper of Traken. Similarly to Leela in Splinters, this was not the Nyssa we knew for much of the episode and that was fun as it was entirely part of the plot. The basis of this adventure was very unique and far from what I was expecting! Nyssa being trapped within a movie shoot was intriguing and with her going by an entirely different name, the twist of K9 actually being trapped and in avatar human form was tremendous! I really should have guessed it given the name of his avatar basically being a human name version of K9 as Kent Novel, but it was so well done and the transition from human to robot voice was magnificent. I thought John Leeson did another tremendous job as K9 and I love that we're getting a little run of adventures for him alongside the Tenth Doctor. I do hope this isn't the end of this series as there is so much more potential with the Tenth Doctor running into the likes of Peri, Susan and Jamie to name a few. Nyssa was stuck in the film and the relationship with her fake father was really good to explore. Nyssa's father is a strong subject in Doctor Who given what happened to Tremas at the hands of the Master, so using that emotion to bring Nyssa through and realise the truth was really well done. K9 picking up Nyssa's signal for help from within the world of the Stuntman was excellent and the twist of him also getting stuck was uncharacteristic of the robot dog. It was admirable for him to want to sacrifice himself though as he was not technically alive. The Doctor wasn't having that sentiment though! Dr Gommen as a Time War villain was a neat twist and I'm surprised that we had another episode with fallout from that War. Nyssa sending her condolences to the Doctor for what she learned of Gallifrey was a nice touch and it was also nice during their goodbye that the Doctor mentioned that he'd see her earlier, of course recalling that Nyssa would rejoin the Fifth Doctor much later in her personal timeline. That was neatly done. I liked Gommen as the villain and he didn't hold back. The weirdness of Jessica Kelly doing all of the stunts in consecutive actions and shoots was good and her father not exactly being able to explain why was good fun as the Doctor pounced on that strongly. I liked that the Doctor offered Nyssa a lift if she needed it, but she couldn't go back to that life with him. Not yet anyway! It was really nice for the pair to interact when Nyssa was loosened from the avatar and it's just another lovely meeting! The cliffhanger finish to lead, presumably, into the final episode of the set with destination Earth was really well done and I'm very excited for the Tenth Doctor to meet Ace! Wicked. Overall, another brilliant listen! 

Rating: 9/10