Deathworld

"Death has picked a fight with the Time Lords."

Writers: Dave Martin & Bob Baker (Adapted by John Dorney)

Format: Audio

Released: August 2024

Series: Lost Stories 8.01

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo, Brigadier, Second Doctor, Jamie, First Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor was dead, to begin with. Killed alongside his beloved to Jo Grant in an explosion in the UNIT labs. But Time Lords are notoriously hard to kill. 

Because with UNIT under siege, the Brigadier is rescued by two familiar faces... the Doctor he first encountered, fighting the Yeti, and Jamie McCrimmon. With yet one more waiting in the wings. 

They are all pawns in a deadly game of chess played by a being more powerful than any they've ever encountered before. And when you battle Death himself... can anyone even win?

Verdict

Deathworld was a really strong Lost Stories adventure! This is a bit of a unique one as it's an earlier version of what eventually became The Three Doctors, and whilst I do think the tenth anniversary on screen adventure is better than what we got here, it was a fascinating insight into what could have been! It's wonderful to get the Big Finish iterations of the first three incarnations of the Doctor together, but in saying that I think it is pretty noticeable that Stephen Noonan doesn't feel authentic as the First Doctor. That's a bit of a shame and it is kind of easy to bypass in the ongoing First Doctor Adventures, but here it felt glaring that he wasn't much reminiscent of William Hartnell's portrayal. Thankfully, Michael Troughton and Tim Treloar do tremendously well as the Second and Third Doctors and their chemistry and banter is just so much fun. The giraffe comment towards the Third Doctor from his immediate predecessor had me in hysterics, as did his reaction! I thought the format of the first part was intriguing and I liked the mystery and the bigger picture feeling when it came to the man that would be Death and the Madam President of the Time Lords playing chess. The Doctor and company were merely pieces in a much bigger game. I do like the idea of Doctor Who tackling the personification of Death, but I am glad we got Omega on screen. He's a much more iconic villain and figure. Whilst the Noonan portrayal feels slightly off, it is fantastic to get the First Doctor fully present for this adventure. It definitely makes a difference to have all three on equal footing. I thought the chronological placement for some of the characters in the story was fascinating too as for the Second Doctor and Jamie, the events of The Web of Fear and The Invasion had yet to take place so they weren't aware of the Brigadier! That's obviously a big switch from what we saw on screen. It was good for the Third Doctor to hand off the space time telegraph to the Brigadier after his complaints of not being contactable, and then the First Doctor being the one to answer the call. Getting some time with this Doctor and the Brigadier was a welcomed treat and not something we ever got to see on screen! So that was a delight. I thought it was a bit cheesy for the First Doctor to mention that he had a likeness to Bret Vyon in a niche The Daleks' Master Plan reference, but it was quite fun. I knew it was going to happen as well which was strange! I thought the premise of the First Doctor having succumbed to death was decent and I liked the part three cliffhanger where it was proclaimed nothing could be done. Death would soon catch up with the Second and Third Doctors which was an exciting prospect for the final part. I thought some of the methods of death in the story were quite whacky with the likes of spiders and zombies not quite feeling of the era, but a meeting we got within all this was definitely a highlight. I loved that Jamie and Jo got to interact and they both took a little shining to one another which was tremendous! The Second Doctor's reminder of Victoria sparked a fun reaction from the pair, and it was also rather touching for the Third Doctor to be quietly fond and happy at seeing Jamie again. The events of The War Games are obviously traumatic, so for him to be reunited here was magnificent. I thought the way things ended felt like a little bit of a letdown though with no sense of satisfaction in defeating Death and instead it just being a test. A lesson for the Time Lords? It explained the chess match but I'm not sure I was a huge fan of that. Overall though, it's hard not to love a multi-Doctor adventure like this. There was more than enough good to make this an enjoyable two+ hours! 

Rating: 8/10