Buying Time / The Wrong Woman [AUDIO/2021.4.14]

★★★☆☆

  Mixing Doctors and settings up is always fun, even as a concept. I remember the Locum Doctors trilogy Big Finish released in their monthly range, and how (regardless of how I felt with the adventures themselves) I found the idea utterly fascinating. This time, Big Finish goes for something more ambitious by placing the most recognizable new series Doctor in the timeframe of The Daleks' Master Plan, full of Hartnell-era staples such as Visians and the Space Security Service. David Tennant is, as always, energetic and enthusiastic, and I can't tell you just how fun it is to listen to his performances every single time.

  The two-parter, Buying Time and The Wrong Woman, firmly cements itself as a competent introduction to the Dalek Universe saga (not including the prequel) as well a generally fun and exciting adventure. John Dorney is an idea man, and adding the Meddling Monk through a faux regeneration sequence orchestrated in order to trap the real Doctor was a stroke of genius. Gemma Whelan relishes the role, and gives this new incarnation of the meddler a real sense of fun. The interpretation of the meddler we see here is one of the more interesting I've seen from the Doctor Who mythos; she's not so much evil as careless and selfish, and a new layer is added with the notion that she cannot even remember her own past. With her constant manipulation of history, what is past, present and future to her? Whelan's incarnation, the Nun, is definitely the highlight of the piece and left me wishing for more of her.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  It's good to see a Big Finish boxset begin with a confident installment for a change. David Tennant is brilliant, Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven are a fun set of characters for the Tenth Doctor to interact with, and there's the ever-present dose of post-Time War grief and loneliness that spikes up the drama side. What's there not to like? I'm looking forward to finishing this saga... very very much.