Deleted Scenes [AUDIO/2020.2.14]

★★★★☆

  Big Finish sure loves Jamie as a total softie underneath a Scottish warrior shell; I actually feel sorry for him sometimes, the way his heart gets broken so often. I didn't expect this sort of story when I practically blind bought it -- I was heavily motivated by the synopsis, me being a love of films first and foremost -- but in hindsight, I really should've checked the date or something. I mean, really? It was a Valentine's Day and I never clocked it until today? Shame on me.

  Then again, though, can you blame me for being awed at the adventure itself? The vivid and almost pungent atmosphere of Paris at the beginning of the 20th century, a filmmaker down on her luck getting the trip and film shoot of her lifetime, and an emotionally sensitive Jamie's conflict with the Doctor showing just how flawed the time traveller's moral code can be sometimes? Yeah, there was no way I wasn't going to like this one, and Angus Dunican injects Deleted Scenes with such charm and confidence. It's a particularly strong Short Trip, everything down to its melancholy score is instantly memorable, and the love letter to cinema in the 1900s is very much appreciated. It's got Georges Méliès for the beginning portion, for Christ's sake, it's absolutely amazing to listen to as a fan of the master's work! Deleted Scenes is a great story that really tugs at your heartstrings, lulls you in with a wonderful, almost fantastical premise of a filmmaker getting to shoot a film with real dragons and alien landscapes, only for the Doctor to take matters in his own hands and make it a mythical lost film. Jamie learns the hard way that the Doctor isn't human at the end of the day, and it's one of the many hard pills his time onboard the TARDIS will make him swallow. This is one Short Trips release that'll stay with you for a long time.