The Brink of Death

"I'm a Time Lord out of time."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: August 2015

Series: Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Last Adventure 04

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Mel

Synopsis

The Doctor and Mel face the final confrontation with the Valeyard – and the Doctor must make the ultimate sacrifice.

Verdict

The Brink of Death was a great story to conclude my listening of The Last Adventure for the Sixth Doctor! I think it's fantastic to bridge the gap between The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani with this episode and I really appreciate how this directly leads into the events of the latter in having the Sixth Doctor regenerating. It's always sat wrong with me in that serial that the TARDIS merely crash landing would see the Doctor suffer a regeneration whilst Mel was basically absolutely fine. Thankfully, we get an explanation here and it works well. It keeps true to what we saw on screen which I think is absolutely the right call as I am sure there must have been temptation to do an alternative lead up for the Sixth Doctor's demise. I think the Valeyard is a fitting villain for the Sixth Doctor to bow out against and the way it happens is actually audacious to say the least. The moment where the Doctor goes under the console of the TARDIS and then emerges as the Valeyard was disturbing, especially when Mel only realised something small had changed. For her, the Valeyard was the Doctor. No doubt about it. That was a strange dynamic and that left the Doctor literally fighting for his life. I thought his relationship with Genesta was excellent and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed her character and absolutely saw the companion potential in her, I was disappointed by how overshadowed Melanie Bush was. She is a criminally underrated character and I don't think she was done justice here. For a regeneration story, the Doctor should have a heartfelt moment with the companion and I think that was missing here which was a shame. The story as a whole though was really strong and I actually loved Genesta having some Doctorish tendencies. Finding out that her accent was formed from a few years in Yorkshire was a tad pushing the boat out, but I loved that she had stayed on Earth much longer than she was permitted. She would have great fun with the Doctor if that opportunity had arisen! The Valeyard altering the data of the Matrix and even reality as to who the Sixth Doctor was made for an intriguing plot device, but he didn't stop there! His becoming of other characters including Genesta herself was a big surprise and quite a saddening fate for her. Excellent as a villain for the Valeyard though. I thought the story behind the Nathemus was intriguing and I really liked how they provided the means for the Doctor's regeneration and the Valeyard's downfall. The story's proximity to the Matrix was good stuff and I like how there are obvious ties with the Sixth Doctor's last on screen adventure. Heading for Lakertya was much appreciated but the Valeyard's replacement of his past self changed things drastically! I thought the insinuation that the Valeyard was actually created by the Time Lords was really good stuff and surely something that requires further investigation? The Doctor had no idea but I still like how he's fearful of one day becoming his enemy. His sacrifice though was bold and whilst I'm not sure how much I agree with the science behind regeneration breaking the link with the Nathemus because he's still the Doctor regardless, his complete lack of hesitation in sparking it was admirable. We got a fine departing speech as the Sixth Doctor for Colin Baker although I must admit his assurance from the cameo of the Seventh Doctor felt a tad forced. It was fun though for him to cast morals aside and give something of an explanation for the devious and plotting personality of the seventh incarnation. Overall, a great episode to conclude quite the last adventure! 

Rating: 8/10