The Yes Men [AUDIO/2015.9.16]

★★★☆☆

  The Second Doctor in his early days was very different from the buffoonish trickster he would eventually cement himself as. He was far more mysterious, a man you could never guess the next course of action of, and Patrick Troughton was always fantastic as this shrouded incarnation. The Yes Men's Second Doctor is very much that Doctor, with even his companions a bit unsure of who he is despite their unwavering trust on him as a champion for good, and that dynamic makes the story all the more interesting.

  It's interesting, therefore, that the story of The Yes Men revolves around a previous acquaintance of the Doctor from an off-air First Doctor adventure, as it builds upon the theme of change. Nothing is the same forever — even the Doctor turns into a different man from time to time! Meg Carvossa goes from an innocent young woman to a political figure who's not above lies and manipulation "for the good of her people" (almost always a flimsy statement from Doctor Who baddies/morally gray individuals), and it's interesting to see the Doctor's conflicted reaction as the truth dawns on him that his old friend Meg is not the person he once knew. It's a fascinating subject, sadly saddled by a rather undercooked secondary (or in this case, primary, since the title and cover both seem to push this idea to the front) plot about service robots vying for equality. It's very much a Detroit: Become Human situation — thankfully without the hugely misguided American civil rights movement allegories — where nobody bothers to go into depth why these robots act this way and why their freedom is a must, but Simon Guerrier manages to shove it under the rug with the Doctor concluding that he'd rather not involve himself with "local politics".

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  The Yes Men is a devoted character piece disguised as a conceptual sci-fi four-parter, and your enjoyment of it will depend on which part you put more focus on. As a tale of robot oppression, it's quite underwhelming. As a tale of humanity, of us and how we change and how others may react to said change, it's very engaging.