Two's Company [AUDIO/2023.8.16]

★★★☆☆

  Do I have a serious problem with Once and Future's longform storytelling? Well, I'm not exactly praising it to the high heavens, if that's what you mean. I suppose if I were to be a right old grump towards Two's Company, I'd say things like 'it 's still a pretty frivolous release that doesn't explain why the Doctor's going through this degeneration nonsense!'. Only then, I suppose, my smarter side of the brain would step up and point out that in fact, this release does give major hints to how this degeneration is being made to happen and what the entire longform threat is about. You just need to care a bit about Two's Company, and since I think this is the best Once and Future release by far, that's a pretty easy task for me.

  I mean, I was destined to like it. None of the main characters have my dislike in any regard (not even Lady Christina, who has quite the negative reputation for some people), and I quite like all of them in point of fact. Jackie Tyler meeting Harry Sullivan and the Sixth Doctor? Count me in. All these actors -- from Colin Baker to Camille Coduri to Christopher Naylor and Michelle Ryan -- are having such a time with each other that it's hard not to get sweeped off your feet. They engage in the usual 'who is the Doctor?' business, but only for a little while; Two's Company loves to get straight to the point, and I appreciate that. From a private UNIT bunker to an auction house to a mansion booby-trapped with all sorts of time-related weapons to a certain junkyard in London, 1963, this audio drama goes places and (like many will tell you) finally gives us some clues as to what's going on with the Once and Future releases. I'm just enjoying the ride for now, and Two's Company has by far been the most enjoyable yet. Oh yes, the villain here (who pretty much turns good by the end of the adventure anyway) is a welcome return of an old adversary and makes this title rather clever. Remember when people used to believe this release would be about the Ninth Doctor teaming up with the David Warner Unbound one? Good times.