Return to Marinus

"Have you come to save Marinus in its hour of need?"

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: January 2026

Series: First Doctor Unbound 2.01

Featuring: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara

Synopsis

The TARDIS has brought the Doctor and his companions back to the planet Marinus, one century after their previous visit. They are greeted as returning heroes, figures of legend. But something is amiss in the city of Millenius. Everybody lives in peace and harmony... whether they like it or not.

The explanation is obvious. Somebody has reactivated the Conscience Machine and is set on removing free will from Marinus. Somebody – or some old enemies of the Doctor...

Verdict

Return to Marinus was a wonderful story to continue the First Doctor Unbound series! I'm a huge fan of this series because it's just fun and I think some people in fandom are taking things a little too seriously when it comes to continuity. We had a welcomed recap of Knights of the Round TARDIS to bring us up to date with where the TARDIS quartet are at and that saw us dive right into the return on Marinus. I'm an enormous fan of The Keys of Marinus and whilst I don't have an official list at the moment, I would say it's in the top twenty for sure. It just feels nostalgic and it's just a damn good adventure. The planet itself is a strong setting and we really did return with something akin to a tour which was glorious. There were so many nods to the original serial with the acid seas and the ice caves which helped paint a stunning picture of proceedings. It was also good for each character to reflect on their experiences on the planet with the nature of the key hunting and them being split apart at times. They had time to catch up. I think the role o the Conscience Machine being pivotal was good again and I liked how it was suggested that the Daleks were using it to slowly take over the planet. I think the cover art for this story is simply stunning and whilst the twist makes this a surprise, I loved how the Daleks in an early era were captured. This really did feel like the Daleks of The Daleks which is just tremendous and I think it's marvellous to explore them at this point in time. Of course, the Daleks don't actually feature in the story at all which is an incredible twist as they're actually revealed to contain the Morpho and not the Dalek mutant creatures! I really didn't see that coming until the very last moment and I just love the continuity. This really is all about Marinus and Barbara in particular being shocked by their continued survival despite her smashing the jars was superb. I loved how they basically sounded like the aliens from The Simpsons and with their appearance they're actually not all that far removed from them. Radus was a fun character as an actor in the depiction of The Keys of Marinus play which was glorious and I loved the characterisation of the First Doctor in enjoying how well he was played. The four travellers being revered as the stuff of legend and even having a portrait was impressive and the ice coming into play for the return of Altos was excellent. I thought his description of the Daleks arriving and one shooting Sabetha was very emotional but hearing how he'd saved her by preserving her in the ice was lovely. He wanted to be with her forever and that meant freezing himself too. I thought Susan feeling the effects of the conscience machine was good and reminiscent of previous events on Marinus, although I'm not a massive fan of how her character is presented with the An Adventure in Space and Time cast as she certainly feels the least genuine to the original article. You can get away with that in an Unbound series though. I thought the way the Morphos were defeated was fun and the realisation that they were no longer in the Dalek casing was great. Might we get a return one day? It seems that's on ice though as the real Daleks were picking up the original distress call of their kind and that spells disaster moving forward whilst also giving us an exciting wait for the next release. I thought the use of the Voord here was fascinating as we heard them more human than ever and getting to meet the Emperor Voord was great also. I loved getting Domain of the Voord references too because that just aids all Big Finish continuity. The Doctor's reaction to being told he should wear one of their wetsuits was incredible as well! The very idea. Overall, an excellent listen to continue the series! 

Rating: 9/10