Overworked

"No doctors, only patients."

Writer: Hannah Kennedy

Format: Audio

Released: October 2026

Series: Halloween 2.04

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa

Synopsis

When the TARDIS locks on to a signal calling out for a 'doctor', Nyssa and the Doctor are brought to a hospital on Earth in 1974.

However, with the help of cleaners Harold and Sophie, they discover that something is very wrong with the patients here, something otherworldly. 

Verdict

Overworked was a great episode to conclude the second series of Halloween! This has been a really good series of darker stories but I almost wish the opposite of the first series in that I think it came out a little too early in the month! I'm aware of how ridiculous that is but to finish the boxset over a week before the big day just feels a little wrong. I know I was the one deciding on when to listen but whenever I get anything new I like to finish it as soon as possible to avoid spoilers. I wouldn't have thought that the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa were the best suited pairing for a Halloween kind of adventure, but they performed well here in the hospital setting. I think an allusion to the story being close to Halloween in terms of a date would have been so easy to help this episode along, but the setting is more than enough to produce those darker vibes. Wondering an almost empty hospital at night must be pretty darn scary indeed! The continued references to that bleach-like smell in hospitals really did transport you into its surroundings which I was a big fan of as it established the location very nicely. Nyssa not being too impressed with them arriving at a hospital of all places for a plea of 'Doctor' was pretty amusing but I did like the Time Lord's retort of how this was different because otherwise they would never land anywhere else! This plea was on another level. I wasn't expecting things to be quite the way they were with the patients literally appealing from within. The concept of a hodge podge reconstruction and the medic taking shortcuts was pretty brutal. Screaming from the mind rather than physically was really disturbing stuff and honestly it's amazing that any of those calling out for a doctor survived. Sophie was a really strong character so it was surprising to find her basically eaten and then spat out by the gastropods! I'm not a fan of slugs but I think anything along those lines works better as a monster in audio than on screen. I'm not sure the Mantraps were wholly effective in their design in Dot and Bubble but the cover art here meant their counterparts here were looking gruesome and just a little better left to the imagination. Utilising the Doctor and Nyssa as not being human was good in the excuse of why they couldn't sacrifice themselves in the resolution, so Harold stepped up in an admirable way. He wasn't having any other answer than him being the one to be absorbed in order to save all of those other patients that had been used at the hands of the medic. It was a little convoluted I must admit where the science came in, but the basic premise of what he was doing was understandable. The story of his Maggie dying and how he was saving for a cruise was a nice story because she always wanted to get out and see the world but there was always an excuse. He wouldn't see that through now because he knew she wouldn't forgive him if he let so many die to do that. Overall, a really strong listen to conclude a great little set! 

Rating: 8/10