All of Time and Space [AUDIO/2023.2.21]

★★★★☆

  Anyone remember that anecdote from Steven Moffat about how, at one point during The Day of the Doctor's development, he had to make up a nightmare scenario script in case none of the Doctor actors came through with signed contracts in time? It would've had Clara meeting incarnations of the Doctor portrayed by different people, as a reminder of who the Doctor is. I'm glad we ultimately got the "proper" 50th anniversary story, but All of Time and Space here feels like the creative nature of that pitch expanded to an actual Dr. Who story. The result? One really fun ride of an audio drama.

  I'm glad the Geronimo! TARDIS team (I came up with that) proved popular. I love Valarie and the Eleventh Doctor, and I love that Tim Foley (or whoever came up with the idea for this particular adventure) decided to home in on the year this theoretically would've been made for the telly (2012/3, near the 50th anniversary) and make a really rather creative celebration for the show. What if Dr. Who was a fictional stage production in the 1960s? What if it was all inside someone's head? With the Doctor and Valarie turning up as voices in a radio play, puppets and faces on two sides of a lucky coin, imagination is the name of the game and I'm all here for it. It helps that Ellery Quest, the de facto main character of the piece is such a n amicable man and is played to the hilt by Leroy Bonsu. The Doctor doesn't get to domineer the entire plot, furthermore; Valarie is there to ground him, tell him what for and give poor Ellery a chance to make his own choice. I love it, I love all of it. All of Time and Space is a strong opener for the eponymous boxset -- a bundle of imaginative ideas and dedicated performances -- and I'm so stoked for more.