The Girl Who Never Was [AUDIO/2007.12.3]

★★★☆☆

  It's just the Cybermen here, they're used in the way I find least appealing in any Dr. Who adventure -- as footsoldiers without any sort of spark, a point of appeal to them. Earthshock had them as a relentless menace, and every David Banks Cyberman story has him as the aforementioned poitn of appeal, to give a single example. Even Sword of Orion, which didn't have the most memorable Cybermen, still had atmospheric horror and its depiction of Cybermen as immensely powerful forces that could brutalise a man to death... and yet the silver monsters of this story are practically forgettable. That's my biggest complaint about The Girl Who Never Was; its Cybermen are one of the most boring interpretations I've ever witnessed from a Dr. Who story.

  Apart from that rather big grudge, though, there's not a lot I outright dislike about this audio drama. The emotions flow free and relentlessly if you're focusing on the falling out of the Doctor and Charrley, and that's the focus Paul McGann and India Fisher seem to set their sights on. Even when they're apart (for most of the runtime), you can still hear a sense of yearning and sadness over the two actors' performances; intentional or not, it adds so much to the final product. Sometimes it's all about the atmosphere -- the vibes, if you will -- and for a good half of its runtime, Girl Who Never Was sports a rather lovely one that encompasses the adventurous and romantic time these two travellers have had together, while also being drenched in melancholy. There's a time travel/future-past intersection plot that could've been cute had Alan Barnes not threatened to make it boring so much. Sadly, this is an audio drama that actually went down in my estimation over the years, but that still means that I like it quite a bit. For its final moments and its resolution of the Eighth Doctor and Charley's relationship (by employing the most romantic, heart-aching method imaginable, i.e. splitting them apart for most of the story that when they do get back together, you can practically hear the relief and love from their voices... before splitting them apart forever, of course), The Girl Who Never Was warrants at least a full listen to savour what it has to offer. Plus, the Eighth Doctor may have had his time with Charley, but Charley's adventures with the Doctor aren't quite done...