Strange Chemistry: Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden

"Who are you going to blame for your misery?"

Writer: Karissa Hamilton-Bannis

Format: Audio

Released: March 2023

Series: Eighth of March 3.02

Featuring: Missy, Amelia

Synopsis 

Young Amelia Pond is used to getting into trouble. After another fight at school, she is sent back to counselling. But her new therapist is rather unconventional...

Because Missy is also in trouble. Stuck on Earth, she's targeted one of the Doctor's best friends to get his attention – but her timing's off. Amy's TARDIS encounters lie years in her past and future, but there's something strange in her garden now. As Missy sets her sights on young Pond, the fairies may be her only hope!

Verdict 

Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden was a great adventure to conclude the Strange Chemistry third series of the Eighth of March! This one felt a little more like the norm as far as the series traditionally goes with two wonderful female leads. This is a fine example of Big Finish at their very best as who would have thought that we could have a meeting between young Amelia Pond and Missy! That’s a hugely exciting prospect and it delivered very nicely. It was an easy hour to listen to and visiting Amelia between being a small child and the adult we meet in The Eleventh Hour was fantastic. She was a rather rebellious teenager and she didn’t take well to being bullied at school as she dealt with Fran pretty aggressively! As a result she was grounded by her aunt Sharon but that came in the form of a note from latest boyfriend Conor. Amelia wasn’t a fan of him at all with that being a rather feisty relationship. Amelia experiencing the fairy noises in her garden was interesting and it was good for her to just dismiss them as not being real. She ventured to the fairground to clear her head but she just kept losing money. I thought the fortune teller was actually going to be Missy in disguise but alas that wasn’t the case. Any exploration or tease regarding Amelia’s future was fun stuff though. Amelia didn’t take too kindly to Sharon organising her counselling though and that’s where Missy made her quite brilliant introduction. I’m such a fan of Michelle Gomez and she just oozed brilliance as the councillor. Even if her name was supposed to be Dave. That was a woman’s name in Iceland, right? The suggestion of the raggedy man being to blame for Amelia’s troubles was good to explore and I liked how Missy reacted negatively to the timeline as she was too early for the Doctor. The idea of her encountering the Eleventh Doctor was very exciting though! I hope we get that one day. Missy knowing of the forcefield in Amelia’s garden was fun as she didn’t hide well that she had knowledge she ought not to. The fairies looking familiar to Amelia was intriguing and shared elements with The Pandorica Opens in that they were from a childhood book of hers. Missy being the witch who arrived in the storm in the fairy myth was tremendous though and the flashback to her arrival and getting stuck was very good. She made quick use of the glorious leader and christened Derek rather humorously! She took a shine to him. The crash occurring in Gloucester was good geographically and I thought her whole efforts of luring the Doctor through Amelia to get her out of this time and from Earth was excellent. Good fun. Derek interacting with the fairies didn’t go down well as he was killed. Missy’s reaction to that was so calm and somber after initially taking a liking to him physically. It really didn’t matter to her though. The flashback moment to Missy killing the therapist that she impersonated was nicely done and had her at her ruthless best. The fairies meaning something to Amelia when she was young was intriguing and they seemed to take the form of something the host was comfortable with. Missy suspected that meant the Will O’Wisps were around. Her offering to Amelia about becoming her companion and finding the raggedy man was brilliant toying but she declined rather emphatically! It was fun to discover that the Will O’Wisps had come through the crack in Amelia’s bedroom and they were actually just shielding themselves as they mended themselves. Their protecting of Amelia when Missy tried to kill her and defying all laws of causality was excellent and I liked how the young Scotswoman wanted to use blackmail against the Time Lady to ensure she helped the Wisps get home. They would end up taking Missy which was fun and something she didn’t take too well after her nano-bomb threat, but I felt it was a bit of a shame that Amelia would have her memory wiped of these events. I think it would be better if she retained these as more credence to the existence of her raggedy man. Overall though, still a great listen with a fantastic pairing that I never thought possible. 

Rating: 8/10