Stop the Clock

"We are the forgotten women."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: March 2017

Series: Doom Coalition 4.04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv, Helen

Synopsis

The time has arrived. Events are in motion. The end of the universe is at hand and the Doctor and his friends have one hour to save eternity. Starting now.

Verdict

Stop the Clock was a great story to conclude what has been a rather epic four boxsets of Doom Coalition! The Eighth Doctor Adventures are such a strong element of what Big Finish are doing and whilst I still have some catching up to do, I'm loving the journey so far. Things have come a long way across these sixteen episodes and it reached a fine crescendo here. The universe was at stake and literally had an hour to survive, but the cracks within the Doom Coalition were there for all to hear and it was up the Doctor and friends to pry them open. I thought the Eleven once again felt like the superior of the bunch and he's growing into an excellent villain. I'm really enjoying him and the scene he had with Tessno was extraordinary. It was undoubtedly the highlight for me as he basically goaded her into her own death. He told her exactly what would happen despite him being all tied up, and gave the timeline of two minutes. He offered her the chance to kill him after the events she experienced with the Ten and with that thought in her head of extracting revenge, he had already one. It was deliciously evil. I thought Liv's previous knowledge and experience coming into play again was really strong and really helped build up the conclusion. Helen had to be left behind when entering the Capitol because she'd never been, but it was her position as a forgotten woman that would prove crucial at the end. The Doctor using a psychic cloak to take on the form of the Eleven wasn't something I was a massive fan of, but I thoroughly enjoyed McGann's impression of the evil Time Lord. It just felt a bit too easy of a device to have and repeating what we had already heard with him taking the guise of the Clocksmith. Liv really does feel like the mature companion now and that experience is great, but it was actually the vulnerability of Helen that I enjoyed more here. Her willingness to fight for the cause and actually sacrifice herself was fantastic. I thought the emotional development of the Sonomancer throughout the episode was fantastic and it was great for the Doctor to push her into revealing that she was being used by encouraging her to prove him wrong. She was connected to the Matrix after all and found that Padrac had very much been using her. He would betray her like they already had the Eleven. It was predictable, but it still worked well. I thought the Doctor appealing to the Eight was good stuff and it's quite fun that there's a good incarnation on the inside of the Eleven. The way things all tied together with the Doomsday Chronometer was nicely done and even going full circle at the end with Padrac believing he was seeing the Red Lady was terrific. That rounded things out nicely. I thought Helen and the Sonomancer working together at the end to save eternity was good and the latter granting the former power to actually stop a gunshot with her mind was quite something! Helen didn't know how to feel about that which was fun to hear. The Resonance Engine would be no more with Helen piloting the Battle TARDIS, and she would mean so much as she intended. The Doctor finding a trace of a potential artron energy reading that left sets things up for the next series which is good, where it seems Helen and the Eleven are not quite done with just yet! The fate for Padrac seems very much in line with Gallifreyan punishment as he was to be frozen and locking eyes with what he believed was Caleera. It was all very The Five Doctors which I was a big fan of hearing! I don't think we'll be hearing from him again after this ordeal. Overall, a really strong finale that didn't really spring up too many surprises, but was a fitting conclusion to a fine set of adventures! I'm loving the story arcs and I can't wait to hear what's next. A fine listen.

Rating: 8/10