The Hesitation Deviation

"I would like you to help me forget the Doctor."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: December 2016

Series: Short Trips 6.12

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Benny

Synopsis

The Doctor brings Bernice Summerfield to a planet where they get Christmas just right. But this year, something's gone very wrong. An ancient force has been hunting the Doctor for a long time, and finally, it has found him. As it closes in on the Time Lord, Bernice must make a truly terrible decision. One that she'll immediately forget.

Verdict

The Hesitation Deviation was an outstanding little Short Trips adventure! It’s not often I give out a perfect rating in this range and that’s often down to the format and the stories just being a little too short to be really fleshed out, but this was just tremendous from start to finish! I really loved this story and I had no thoughts or expectations heading in which probably helped its case, and it came quite spontaneously as a download error on the Big Finish app meant I couldn’t continue with my initial planned audio and had to fill the time on my lunch break with this rather quickly! It started brilliantly with Benny heading to a robot therapist. That in of itself was a fun basis but then the idea of her wanting to erase all memories of the Doctor was very shocking! That all would come around to tie together nicely as the audio developed, but for a way to start a story it was excellent and just unfathomable to think it would happen. Benny’s comments about the Doctor were actually really great and I loved the idea of him being the universe’s best friend. That’s such a simple and perfect description of the Doctor. Benny was not shy in hiding the conflicting thoughts she has about the Doctor with him being both brilliant and annoying. The planet of Christmas was a fantastic setting and I loved that it did the celebration better than anyone else. It did it right in banning all mentions of Christmas until a fortnight before the actual day itself and that would be something I would endorse happening in this country! The media go absolutely crazy so a ban on a mention of it would go down nicely with me. The Doctor and Benny coming there for a celebration was good stuff. Lisa Bowerman was tremendous as the narrator and she really brings a nice personality to Benny. I still haven’t experienced Bernice’s timeline in any kind of chronological order but I’m a huge fan of hers and she brings a bit more maturity to the companion role alongside independence. That was clear with her wanting an alcoholic drink which is simple but a really good example of her being different as a companion. Benny’s intuition in something being wrong on the planet was very good and it was a little sad that on a Christmas celebration planet, the children were not talking. That’s a sure fire sign that something is wrong. Benny describing her life with the Doctor as mending the pot holes of the universe was excellent and just a tremendous description of life. I loved that a lot. The suggestion of these events being the last time Benny would be with the Doctor was a shock and I adored the self mockery of her description of finally finding a soldier with a good shot. Surely it was the law of averages that she would get hit! It was a peaceful world and the sudden turn of events when all eyes were on the Doctor and Benny was a fine injection of darkness. The suggestion of the Doctor having been running from the ultimate weapon for a long time was wonderful and that weapon being words was magnificent! I loved how the ultimate weapon was described as powerful, cunning, self-sustaining and persistent, and that could only mean it was words! What else would be used to take on the Doctor? The concept of the virus being hidden in the pauses between words was superb. I adored that and it was so simple but incredibly effective. Benny pondering on the Doctor’s question of if her life would be better without the Doctor was really interesting and a strong point of discussion to be had. The virus getting stuck in the robot when Benny asked to forget the Doctor was brilliant and a really simple and effective way to defeat it. I was a big fan. Overall, a quite glorious adventure!

Rating: 10/10