The First Question: A Delusion of Witches

"Have you dealt with Satan before?"

Writer: Lisa McMullin

Format: Audio

Released: March 2026

Series: Eleventh Doctor Adventures 1.03

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Eleanor

Synopsis

As fear rises amid the Salem witch trials of 1692, one woman knows for absolute certainty that it's not witchcraft or devilry people need to fear – it's human beings.

Verdict

A Delusion of Witches was a great episode to conclude The First Question first series of Eleventh Doctor Adventures! This has been a delightful little boxset and I really do hope it's just the first of many. The placement in being right after The Wedding of River Song is really good to exploit as the Doctor tries to stay hidden and convince the universe that he's deceased as the official records show, but already he's not doing the best in terms of his efforts as the mystery Shadow Architect at the end here was made aware of his continued presence. I mean, he is a time traveller though so would it really be that unlikely to run into him before he had died at Lake Silencio? Still, I love the idea of someone coming after him to form a long story arc and I hope Eleanor is along for the ride. She has started brilliantly as a new companion here and I thought this was a really good venture into the past for her. The Salem witch trials of 1692 are a really strong setting and things became emotional pretty quickly. Eleanor had a decent knowledge of the events which was good and this became her The Aztecs moment a little, although she did go in with the assumption that she couldn't alter historical events in the first place which I appreciated. She's a really intelligent and just to the point companion which mixes really well with the Eleventh Doctor. Him immediately recognising the act of Elizabeth Hubbard as a fake when trying to accuse yet another woman as a witch was terrific. I mean, as the listener I knew that was what was happening also but I can believe it may not have been so obvious to a crowd of late-seventeenth century onlookers. They were firmly on her side as this was not her first witch accusation. I thought Mary Morton was a strong character and it was good that the Doctor and Eleanor were on her side from the off. She was not one of those hanged in the Salem witch trials records so her fate being sealed at the end was something Eleanor found difficult to accept. Despite speaking up and stopping Crowling, she felt like they hadn't done anything and I could understand her feelings on that. She wanted to make things better and she doesn't quite see how they did. She still has a lot to learn as the companion! Especially with this incarnation of the Doctor. I thought Crowling made for a strong villain and him actually being so pompous as to accept his kind and ways being named after him said all that was needed about the character. He was from the future and wanted to wipe out the Amplicee which was just horrible. The parallels of this kind of being similar to a transgender wanting to be accepted as who and what they choose to be was powerful stuff and it makes sense to happen on a species level. From loneliness and just wanting to be human, the Doctor then altering all of Crowling's tools to recognise every human as an Amplicee was terrific because were they really any different? His line about there not being types of humans was incredibly ignorant. The Doctor's line about the Shadow Proclamation being space police after ridiculing Eleanor's suggestion of getting the time police involved was glorious also. Perfect characterisation for this incarnation! I thought the way the episode finished with the Doctor and Eleanor reading out the names and dates of those who wrongfully died as part of the Salem witch trials was really profound. This has been some start to a new era for the Eleventh Doctor! Miles Taylor is incredible in the role and I actually played my girlfriend a snippet from this episode before writing this blog and she couldn't believe that it wasn't actually Matt Smith. I know it's good if she's paying a compliment! She's a huge Eleventh Doctor fan but won't delve into audios, but she could appreciate how uncanny the likeness was. Overall, a strong conclusion to a fantastic boxset! Give me more.

Rating: 8/10