AWOL

"What if the Doctor refuses to cooperate?"

Writer: Angus Dunican

Format: Audio

Released: February 2023

Series: Short Trips 12.02

Featuring: Third Doctor, Brigadier

Synopsis

In the short time the Doctor's worked for UNIT, he's become an invaluable part of the team. Yet, he's gone missing. For the Brigadier, the tricky part isn't going to be tracking him down. The tricky part is going to be convincing the Doctor to come back.

Verdict

AWOL was an outstanding story to continue my way through the twelfth series of Short Trips! This really was an emotional rollercoaster in showcasing how difficult it was for the Doctor following his exile to Earth at the end of The War Games. This story takes place a few weeks after the tragic events of Doctor Who and the Silurians and the confrontation between the Doctor and the Brigadier here is incredibly powerful stuff. The Doctor is still outraged at the serial's conclusion which saw the entire Silurian base bombed to smithereens, so it was hardly a surprise that the Doctor went AWOL as the story's title suggest. I thought it was quite amusing for the idea of the Doctor to leave a trail and whilst he was hoping for a little bit longer before the Brigadier was hot on his tail, it was nice that it appeared he did always plan on being found. He just wanted UNIT to work for it. I thought having him venture to Peru was quite something and that's not a country that many Doctor Who stories have been set in before! I appreciated that unique aspect of things. The story owes a great amount to the quality of Jon Culshaw in his performance. He effortlessly captures the essence and voices of both the Third Doctor and the Brigadier to the point that you would honestly think it was Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney themselves bouncing off one another. But alas, it was a sublime performance in encompassing both roles in incredible style. I honestly can't attest to the skill enough. He was glorious. I think the writing mixed with that kind of performance makes this very special. It's also good to be set so early on in the Doctor's exile to the point that the Brigadier actually challenges him on the safety of his companions. They both know that Liz is more than competent for the job of Scientific Advisor at UNIT without him, but the Brigadier's claim that she would be safer without the Doctor seemed a tad harsh when it came to namedropping the likes of Jamie, Victoria and Zoe. In the case of the former and the latter, he made the ultimate sacrifice when it came to their protection and he was suffering part of the consequences right away. The Brigadier even challenged him on losing his face as well but that was hardly his choice! The use of incidental music was also incredibly powerful in adding heightened emotion to some dialogue that really did strike home. I thought it was nice that the Brigadier had actually taken leave to come and find the Doctor, but the Time Lord was not having any kind of informalities and addressing him as Alistair. I thought the apology the Brigadier gave to the Doctor for giving the orders to blow up the Silurian base was admirable and you could really tell it was something that weighed heavily on him. He still believed it was the right thing to do which I could appreciate, but as is the case with numerous historically significant actions, it was also a terrible thing to have done. It was both a reward and a burden that he would have to live with for the rest of his days. The Doctor could understand his perspective and likened the rules of UNIT and bureaucracy to that of the Time Lords on Gallifrey which was a fun comparison! The Brigadier actually coming to the Doctor for his help ahead of the events of The Ambassadors of Death and UNIT losing contact was really good and I loved how this episode perfectly fills a gap between two Season 7 serials. It's just perfect really. A superb thirty-seven minutes that had me feeling a lot of emotions! Overall, a superb listen.

Rating: 10/10