Everywhere and Anywhere: Spirit of the Season

"My name's Clara and I'm going to kill you."

Writer: Georgia Cook

Format: Audio

Released: December 2023

Series: Eleventh Doctor Chronicles 5.01

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Valarie, 

Synopsis

It's a Christmas miracle! The Doctor and Valarie have finally found another Clara. Shame she wants to kill them both.

Verdict

Spirit of the Season was a very strong start to the Everywhere and Anywhere fifth series of Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! It's been an eventful time of late for the pairing of the Eleventh Doctor and Valarie and after a really strong and beneficial bonus episode in the form of Broken Hearts to fill the gap between The Curiosity Shop and this story, it seems we're getting somewhere close to normal again for them. There's a long way to go though and the emotional torment just keeps on coming for Valarie Lockwood. She has to go through losing her own mother again here, as if her experience in The Inheritance wasn't bad enough! I like how she isn't afraid in the slightest to challenge the Doctor and the Laws of Time, partly because she has faith in him that whatever did go wrong he could put it right. Her blunt reply of simply 'so' when the Doctor said taking her mother with them at this point in her past would bring the universe crashing down was extraordinary. It was so brash! I liked the Christmas theme of the episode and it's a shame I'm a couple of weeks late to the party in listening, but with the festive season still very much fresh in my memory it was nice for the Doctor to want to take Valarie to Lapland. Even if she had no idea what it was. But the mysterious phone call came and sent them on a completely different course! I'm a fan of this direction and I like the intrigue and story arc. The prospect of the Eleventh Doctor finding a version of Clara between the events of The Snowmen and The Bells of Saint John is fantastic and the version here was not exactly an Oswald. She was a killer child! The introduction of this Clara was rather amusing and the way the story developed as we found out she was actually an Arkheion was nicely done. I thought the premise of a small bubble universe made up of the fears of those now inhabiting was very good, although more of an explanation as to how the TARDIS was breached would have been beneficial. I liked the quartet of the Doctor, Valarie, Edmund and Harpreet a lot and it worked well to delve into their own personal fears. Harpreet had lost her sister who went missing which I almost think could be worse than death. The not knowing would just be horrific and a different kind of torment because it really is the hope that gets you. Her being from 1995 contrasting with Edmund being a sixteenth century monk was very good, and they'd been in the universe longer so had a good understanding of each other. The Doctor's fears showing a shark in the sky from A Christmas Carol was an unexpected choice I must say, but it was good to showcase something. It fit with the Christmas theme for sure! The highlight of the story though was Valarie once again wrestling with losing her mother and the torment she went through made me feel so sorry for her. Just a normal trip for her I beg! Clara shooting her mother point blank was horrifying but it was that moment that made Valarie realise this wasn't her true mother as she didn't die. Clara taunting the Doctor only for him to laugh was magnificent and despite the names of former companions now dead hurting him, it was the thought of the incredible lives they'd lived that he held onto. That was a touching moment. Clara being defeated by her own nature and the words from the Doctor was neat and tidy. Overall, a really strong opener! 

Rating: 8/10