What Just Happened?

"I've always tried to follow your example."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: December 2021

Series: Eighth Doctor Adventures: Stranded 3.04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv, Helen, Tania, Andy

Synopsis

All actions have consequences. The path to victory or disaster is unclear unless seen from a different perspective...

With the lives of the entire human race at stake, the Doctor confronts a nemesis like no other. And not everyone will make it home.

Verdict

What Just Happened? was a decent conclusion to the third Stranded edition of Eighth Doctor Adventures! Unfortunately this didn't quite finish in the explosive style I was hoping for given it was a finale, but I can understand given this is the third of four boxsets and it's sent us into the final one with some good questions and a direction to solve the paradoxical timeline. I was excited by the name of the episode because I knew it was going to be whacky in some form, but it was just a little strange for me. The content of the episode was good and I like that we finally get Robin returned and revealed as the person that was impersonating the Doctor. He was masquerading around as the other and that was good to get confirmation, but I just didn't really understand the purpose of telling the story in reverse. I don't think it really added anything to the story and just made things unnecessarily confusing. There were constant interludes from the Doctor to give a timeframe of how much earlier each scene was from the last and that just didn't work for me. I liked exploring the future and going on a scale of millions of years again is exciting because of the potential there and Robin's involvement, and I particularly enjoy going through a bootstrap paradox. I think they're terrifically frustrating in that there is no origin and technically they shouldn't be able to exist, but they do! Robin's justification for his actions didn't exactly add up and his refusal to admit he was the Dictator just helped make him a strong villain, even if it is difficult to buy into that with his kiddish voice. He doesn't exactly scream fascist leader! I like the threat of a killswitch in every human being and that's where the millions of year scale becomes very interesting because of the generations and expansion of humanity, even in this timeline. They go so much further than just Earth. I don't think the format did itself any favours in the fate of Andy as he was on a spaceship that was blown apart. Because that happened so early on in this narrative style it lacked the oomph and shock factor that should have been massively there. That was a real shame. I'll be surprised if this truly is the end for Andy as it feels like the character should perish in Torchwood if that is to happen. The paradoxical nature of the series at the moment gives me confidence that this isn't it. I think Liv's continued insistence on knowing about Maria and her history with Tania was fun as she was definitely fearing the ex! It's not like her to be that way so it was nice for her to show concern. I thought the episode basically petered out at the end as we finished at the beginning which just didn't feel right for the finale of a boxset. I did have momentary confusion though when I pressed play and I was getting the announcement of the credits and what I'd just listened to! Quinns was a decent character in forcing his way onto the TARDIS with the information about the 'other' Doctor and instead of telling he would show the Doctor. I'm surprised the Time Lord agreed! But it was difficult to get to know his character properly with everything being told in reverse. It's a shame really as I liked what was happening and the point we've reached, but I have no doubts that if this episode was told in the correct chronological order then it would have a much better rating. Overall though, I'm excited to hear where things go in the final boxset! 

Rating: 7/10