Most Wanted: Fast Times

"How big is the price on my head?"

Writer: Robert Valentine

Format: Audio

Released: January 2025

Series: Fugitive Doctor Adventures 1.01

Featuring: Fugitive Doctor

Synopsis

When the mysterious Division tries to arrest their equally mysterious agent, the Doctor, she evades capture and heads out in search of answers... but trouble is never far behind.

Captured by bounty hunters and imprisoned in a maximum-security hulk ship, the Doctor is about to learn that there's no time to stand still when you're a fugitive. And times are about to get very fast indeed.

Verdict

Fast Times was an excellent start to the Most Wanted debut series of the Fugitive Doctor Adventures! It seems an absolute eternity since this series was announced and at long last on release day I was delighted to listen to the opening episode. And what a great one it was! There was just enough sprinkling of the Division at the start to keep the mystery going and whilst I am dying to know more specifics about the time period and chronology of the Fugitive Doctor, it’s so exciting not knowing. I’m not sure if Big Finish will ever be the place that we get answers, but just exploring more with this most mysterious of incarnations is tremendous. I think Covid played a sad part in not giving us more of Jo Martin as the Doctor on screen towards the end of the Thirteenth Doctor’s era so I’m delighted that she has joined on audio to give some depth to the Fugitive incarnation. I thought she was excellent here and I love the idea of the Doctor being on the run from the Time Lords. Going back to its origins, that simply is Doctor Who! I thought it was brilliant to give her a Dalek story right from the off as that box is well and truly ticked with a very interesting dynamic in play with the Doctor not having a clue who they were! The Daleks saw that as deception as you would expect considering at their point in time she was their greatest enemy. The Doctor having information in her head that cannot be given away and is crucial to the Division is fantastic and it’s rather fun that she doesn’t even know what that is! I wonder if a specific secret will be revealed towards the end of the boxset? I hope so! She deserves some kind of knowledge as to why she is so desired. Cosmogon was a fun character as the Time Lord representative out to get the Doctor and I quite enjoy how desperate they are in wanting her returned. The Doctor being let loose out in the universe isn’t good for them at all! I thought Fade was a wonderful character and basically serves as the companion for the episode. Her connection with the Doctor right from the off was magnificent and I sincerely hope this isn’t the last we hear of her in this series. She has a lot of potential but unfortunately I don’t think the nature of this incarnation will allow for a companion. The maximum security ship was a fine setting for the majority of the episode and the Doctor almost seeming to accept her fate and wait for the Time Lords to collect her took me by surprise a little, so I was delighted when Fade had basically put her into the escape plan in freeing her from the cell. The Doctor’s interaction with Big Fish and christening him as Tiddler was amusing and showed just how serious this Fugitive incarnation can be. She means business and I love that. I thought the use of the TARDIS in escaping from the Daleks was good and Fade actually being the one they were after was a neat twist. Her people’s history with the Daleks was extensive which worked well and it was clear that the keepsake doll was going to contain something much more important than sentimentality. The chip being bugged was good though as a means of tracking and chasing them through time and the continuity of the Daleks using time corridor technology was tremendous. I loved that the Doctor was impressed but she was confident of evading them with her skateboard TARDIS compared to their snow plow ship. Cosmogon coming for the Doctor at the end was good because I loved how Fade wanted to repay her newfound friend for her help and ensured that the Doctor would get away safely. They held Cosmogon long enough for the Doctor to escape and keep her on the run from Division. That can’t go down well! I’m very excited to hear where things move forward from here. But for now, a superb and exciting opening episode!

Rating: 9/10