The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook

"Seeing is believing."

Writer: Andrew Smith

Format: Audio

Released: February 2021

Series: Fourth Doctor Adventures 10.03

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

It's time for the trip of a lifetime! Come along on one of Thadeus Nook's Time Tours. See history as it really was. Get to witness wars and assassinations! See barbarian warlords right up close! 

The Doctor and Leela encounter a most enterprising young gentleman – using time travel for his own financial gain. The Doctor is horrified at the irresponsibility – but it's just the tip of the iceberg. 

Because Thadeus Nook is about to learn that history is often best left in the past.

Verdict

The Tribulations of Thadeus Hook was a great adventure to kick off the second half of the tenth series of Fourth Doctor Adventures! Right from the synopsis I knew this was going to be something of a lighthearted tale and that was certainly the case. Having the pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Leela in that regard works well because they provide a lot of comic value, so they meshed well with the titular character of Thadeus Nook. He was an entertaining person and a really likeable character despite him clearly not fully being up to the task of operating a time tour. That concept in of itself is tremendous and is extraordinary to even think about. Hearing a customer who had ventured off a little from the time tourist crowd and nearly ending up with the SS as D-Day loomed was hilarious. The lack of responsibility there obviously wouldn't please the Doctor and he knew Thadeus had to be stopped. Not because he was malicious or evil, but purely because he was an amateur. He was meddling in time but mostly because he didn't understand the implications and that's where the Doctor had to step in. Flaia was a strong character and the twist of her turning into the villain was well done. I really didn't expect it even with her friend of Lem being left behind after Nook's hasty takeoff in the time ship. The significance of the pair wanting to visit Triumph Day was intriguing and the more we learned about it the more its position in history was understood. She had a plan all along to bring the thought dead Grannus Drek to the present. She didn't want to change the past other than his survival, but bring him to the future to a whole new host of acolytes. It was audacious stuff, so naturally after showing her devotion and more or less carrying out the plan as hoped for, he killed her in brutal fashion! That was another moment that surprised me and it certainly had a lasting impact. The relationship that Lem had built up with the Doctor was great and I liked how as a straggler he got to travel in the TARDIS instead to catch up with the ship. Leela's threats to Nook on the time ship when it had taken off in a rush were brilliant and I liked the restraints of it being set on its course. Her confidence in the Doctor to track them was nice though. I thought the mentions of the wooden interior of the TARDIS were very good and a nice reminder of the time the secondary console room became primary. It's still not my favourite but I do appreciate the change. It just doesn't look flamboyant enough for a TARDIS interior in my room but on audio I'm all for it appearing and its run extending. I liked the lighthearted nature of jumping around history on tours getting very serious once the true experience of Triumph Day was felt. The human casualties soon took the story into one of feeling real which was important as this definitely didn't warrant being full on humour. Jess was another really nice character and her being the partner to Thadeus made the stakes for her pretty large. She wasn't always confidence in his time travel ordeals which was fun and she just wanted him to be safe. He was aware of the issues but he was far from interested in any kind of refund offering when it came to customer dissatisfaction. His suggestion at the end of moving into the planetary business was amusing though. He was never out for the easy road! The way he worked with the Doctor to defeat Grannus Deck was good though as he used the last of his time ship to head towards the end, whilst the Doctor was on hand to catch up and just about use enough of the TARDIS shields to materialise around him and bring him home whilst Deck would stay at the end of everything. History would stay on course and he would be thought dead on Triumph Day. A pretty neat conclusion in the end! Overall, a really entertaining little story!

Rating: 8/10