Travel in Hope: Run

"You better look both ways when you cross the road in politics."

Writer: Robert Valentine

Format: Audio

Released: August 2023

Series: Ninth Doctor Adventures 10.03

Featuring: Ninth Doctor

Synopsis

When heinous demagogue Bellatrix Vega threatens the stability of the Galactic Federation, the Doctor convinces newly elected representative Alpha Centauri to run against her for president. 

As Vega's team mount a campaign of dirty tricks, the Doctor and Alpha must thwart a murderous conspiracy or see the galaxy's greatest democracy become a brutal dictatorship.

Verdict

Run was a great story to conclude my listening of the Travel in Hope tenth series of Ninth Doctor Adventures! This was a really fun story in having the Ninth Doctor meet a familiar character in the form of Alpha Centauri, however it was much earlier in her lifetime than when she would encounter the Third Doctor on Peladon. That was fun stuff and not something I was expecting! I loved it and it made the story even more intriguing for me. We could explore Centauri at a time before she was fully integrated into politics and the Galactic Federation, with this seemingly being her first day as a galactic delegate. Exploring what got Centauri into politics was brilliant and I just enjoyed exploring the political world of the Galactic Federation once again. Whilst Peladon wouldn’t be a part of it yet, getting that little mention in with the trisilicate order was nicely done. It would be something that was wanted at some point which might indicate how Peladon did come to be accepted as a member. I thought the relationship between the Doctor and Centauri throughout was fantastic and it’s really nice to know that he’s fully aware of what she will go onto achieve and do. I quite like that he never introduced himself and by the end when he departed in the TARDIS she didn’t know his name. That obviously kept the continuity of The Curse of Peladon and beyond intact which is important. I thought the whole political nature of the election was nicely done and the story focusing on Bellatrix Vega trying to take out her competition to run unopposed and be elected President of the Galactic Federation. The Doctor’s reaction when he found out her oppositional candidate was dead was brilliant and the simplicity of just “oh no” was terrific in selling the predicament. I thought the Cartel Boss was decent but suggesting that Vega was under someone else’s influence felt a little disappointing to me as she was a fine villain in her own right throughout. I loved how she threatened Centauri and the involvement of the Ice Warriors to warn Alpha about ambition was a neat touch. I thought they would actually feature more given the prominence on the artwork, but we quite clearly had an Ice Lord rather than an Ice Queen featuring here. That was still very good though! I thought the way things ended for Bellatrix was nicely done and the humour that came from Zzargol finding amusement in the landslide was great. I liked that she was arrested at the end and the truth of her political tendencies were outed which was good. She wouldn’t get back into politics now it was announced to the world. I thought the Doctor referring to Alpha as AC throughout was fun stuff as well and his final comment to her being that she was fantastic was a nice touch. He’d seen the future ahead for her and he knew they’d meet. Credit must go to Jane Goddard in bringing this character back to life and she does a really strong job in sounding young too which was important. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable audio!

Rating: 8/10