Salvation

"It spreads through thought."

Writer: June Dawson 

Format: Audio

Released: June 2022

Series: Redacted 1.10

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Abby, Shawna, Cleo

Synopsis

Cleo's been redacted. She finds herself in a weird, empty London full of 9 million ghosts. There's no Abby to make plans, no Shawna to kick ass. Just Cleo and half an AS level in drama. Oh, and also this weird blue box, with a woman stepping out of it.

Verdict

Salvation was a great story to conclude what has been an excellent opening podcast series of Redacted! I had my trepidations about this series prior to listening but upon its completion, I’m so happy I’ve listened to it. Right from the off it was engaging, fun and full of danger in a world where the Doctor has not only gone missing but has been forgotten. That was remedied in this episode so I’m intrigued to hear where things will go in the second series, but for now this really rounded out the story in a lovely way. It was delightful to get a full appearance from Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor here to mark what’s really her first full audio adventure, and it really adds a lot of credentials to the authenticity of the story and series. Whilst we’ve had different actors for the likes of Vastra, and Penny Carter, here we get the actual Doctor. That helps a lot! Whittaker was tremendous and on a personal note it was just lovely to hear her providing new content again. She’s such a good Doctor and I do miss her. Cleo was the main character alongside her for the episode after being redacted and her reaction to seeing the TARDIS materialise was fantastic. After an entire podcast series of discussing the myth and stories surrounding that blue box, here it was in the flesh! That was a good moment. The Doctor describing what had happened with the psychic virus and how it spread by thought was good even if it was obvious. I figured that was the explanation already, but confirmation from the Doctor is always welcomed. She would come with a plan and her teabag analogy about sometimes needing to be in hot water before the magic could happen was a lot of fun because it’s certainly correct! Hearing this Doctor ponder on her past with the Powell Estate and Rose was lovely and I thought it was very fun that Cleo used to have her as a babysitter! Cleo having blocked out something in her past that involved the Doctor was good and it explained the sudden vanishing of her dad. He hadn’t just left, he’d died and the Doctor was too late at the incident of the Red Hatching. Cleo was the one who was saved on that occasion and the mind blocking it out meant she was safe from the virus. That was a more than sufficient explanation. The simplicity of the virus making you believe and therefore you were in terms of the Doctor or being in another place was good and that meant a relatively simple resolution of the Doctor using the TARDIS to amplify a message of wake up across the cosmos. The psychic coma would be no more and the Doctor would be remembered. I enjoyed the idea of during this time of no Doctor that worlds were left vulnerable without the Doctor’s and/or their friend’s protection, so she had a lot of work now to put that right. That’s why Cleo couldn’t come with her which was quite an emotional ending for her as she so wanted to travel in the TARDIS. The bigger on the inside moment was nicely done and I thought concluding with Abby and Shawna finally getting into a relationship was wonderful for them. Overall, a really strong finale! 

Rating: 8/10