Causeway: Lost Among the Stars

"Perhaps the dead still haunt these ruins."

Writer: Rochana Patel

Format: Audio

Released: November 2025

Series: Eighth Doctor Adventures 15.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Charley, Audacity 

Synopsis

The Doctor wants to find a challenge for Charley and Audacity. All of time and space awaits, with wonders beyond their wildest dreams and darkest nightmares, but are they truly ready to venture further out amongst the stars?

Verdict

Lost Among the Stars was a strong start to the Causeway series of Eighth Doctor Adventures! This one feels like a subtle sort of build up after hearing the word Causeway mentioned in quite a few episodes within the last few Eighth Doctor Adventures series featuring this particular trio, but in saying that I'm unsure if I would have picked up on them if I didn't know the name of this release well in advance. I'm essentially all caught up now with the Big Finish run of the Eighth Doctor which honestly I didn't think I ever would be given the life he's been given on audio so this is rather delightful. I must admit I'm still very much on the fence regarding Audacity as companion as I'm not sure she brings an awful lot to the table. I don't find Jaye Griffiths to be all that engaging in this role which is a shame and I'm sure not the faults of her talent but more so the bland character in which she is portraying. I'm just not all that interested in someone who amazingly doesn't seem all that interested in travelling in the TARDIS! The privilege she has and she just doesn't quite seem to fit in and she's not really bothered about trying to change that. Thankfully, one of my all time favourite companions in the form of Charley Pollard is around to balance things out and I like the bravado she shows being the experienced companion, even when she hasn't been travelling for all that long. The continued references to Storm Warning are a stark reminder of just how early on this is and that's wonderful. I thought the Nautilus ship was a very strong setting and with the mysterious atmosphere and the threat of an unseen creature, I got very strong The Well vibes which is absolutely a positive. The feeling of unease I had watching that Fifteenth Doctor episode weren't quite replicated here, but the picture painted in my head was very similar which is tremendous. It also did have vibes of its sister episode Midnight with the way what Charley described as a demon was teasing her whilst not quite being seen. That certainly has it in strong company! I thought the threat of both Charley and Audacity perishing was quite something and whilst I never believed that either were actually dead when they went off the radar, I almost hoped the latter was for a strong impact. I thought the 55th century setting was brilliant if for nothing else that we got some ageism towards the companions in regards to when they were from. They were almost deemed as neanderthals with their proximity to the Iron Age and how little they might know. But they took it upon themselves really well to wear the spacesuits on the rescue mission. It was admirable that they even tried to save Typhon given the circumstances but Charley not being prone to the infection was terrific. I thought Audacity getting to be taken over by the villain was strong and finally provided her with something good to do, but I do think the Doctor could have reacted more to her death. He was awfully confident or lacking in emotion considering the apparent finality of her fate. I liked the story and Charley gaining the upper hand was a predictable finish given her lack of infection, but it was emotional that brought her together with Audacity when the temperature dropped and she was able to be saved. Overall, a really strong atmosphere and setting but the threat needed to be a little more cutthroat for me. Still, a great start to the series! 

Rating: 8/10