Doctor Who: Return to Telos (Audio Review)

Continuing on directly from where last month’s ‘The Fate of Krelos’ left off, the finale to the fourth season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures features the return of the Cybermen. They’re a very specific kind of Cyberman, too, as the voices are heavily based on those featured in Second Doctor story ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’. To fans of that serial, you can probably guess that ‘Return to Telos’ is a sequel to it, and in some ways, it almost is…but it’s actually a lot more complicated than that, particularly as a great deal of the story is set during the original adventure.

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Along with the Cybermen, this story also features the return of Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon, and it’s a more than welcome one. Even with the number of stories he’s done for Big Finish, it has still been quite a while since we heard from the Second Doctor’s Scottish companion, and it’s nice to have him back at last. It’s also good to know we’ll be hearing even more of him from this month onwards in The Early Adventures: Season 2, as Jamie has always been a favourite of mine.

Another reason I’m glad to hear Frazer’s return is his impersonation of Patrick Troughton, which is used really well in this story. Now Frazer’s rendition of Troughton’s voice and mannerisms really are second to none, and I think it says a lot when I tell you that he plays the Second Doctor as much as he plays Jamie in this story.

One thing I’m slightly disappointed with though is that throughout the entire story, Jamie and Leela never meet. Two of my favourite companions being in the same story was one of the biggest reasons why I was looking forward to ‘Return to Telos’, and Jamie and Leela are so complimentary in concept – both warriors, both learn so much with the Doctor, and both very loyal. Hearing them meet each other in a story would’ve made for fantastic listening. Alas, ‘Return to Telos’ isn’t that story. It’s still wonderful to hear from both, of course, but it still feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

As for the overall story, it starts off great in how it continues and explores some of the key concepts and ideas that made ‘The Fate of Krelos’ such a great listen. However, the last quarter starts to get very complicated and very confusing. I think part 2 of the story might benefit from re-listen due to all the complex time travel involved, but on initial listening, it’s not entirely satisfying, plot-wise.

Especially how it’s all resolved, which for me was the most disappointing part of the whole story. I won’t go into spoilers, but I think it highlights the tricky part of telling new stories with the Fourth Doctor compared to later classic Doctors – while Tom Baker is undeniably a brilliant Doctor, his character was fleshed out so much on television that, compared to Colin Baker and Paul McGann, there’s very little room left for his Doctor to develop at all. The ending of ‘Return to Telos’, unfortunately, really highlights this.

That’s not to say that the finale to the Fourth Doctor’s fourth season with Big Finish is a bad one. Like ‘The Fate of Krelos’, there are still some great moments of character exploration with both Four and Leela, and the story is at its strongest when it focuses on the interaction and the relationship between the two. Taken with ‘The Fate of Krelos’, the overall story is a rather enjoyable one. Just don’t expect ‘Return to Telos’ to have as much impact for Four and Leela as it should do.

Next: Doctor Who To See the Return of Arthur Darvill?

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REVIEW: Doctor Who: Return to Telos (Audio)

By James Aggas | Sep 1, 2015

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