Doctor Who Review: Eighth Doctor Audio ‘The Next Life’
By James Aggas
The Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz finally escape the Divergent Universe in ‘The Next Life’. But is this truly the epic finale that it should be?
So here we are at last. The Next Life. Not just the final story of the Divergent Universe, but the final story when McGann was the “current” Doctor. At the time of release, we knew that in just a matter of months, the Doctor would be back on our screens with a new face.
It’s strange thinking back on this story and looking at it from two different perspectives. On the one hand, I remember when this story first came out. So many of us were wondering the significance of its title. “The Next Life”. What was it referring to? Was the Eighth Doctor going to regenerate? Were either Charley or C’Rizz (or even both) going to die? Or was it referring to something else entirely?
The other perspective that I listened to this story from is that of someone who’s watched and listened to years of mythology since. A lot has developed in the New Series since The Next Life was released. Are there any developments in this story that have become more interesting in retrospect?
Before all of that, I need to look at The Next Life both as a story in its own right and as the finale to an arc that has spread over at least two seasons. There have been a lot of threads running throughout the stories set in the Divergent Universe. They really needed to be resolved before the Doctor finally returned home, in more ways than one. Luckily, this story was a six-parter, two episodes more than with most of the previous releases. So it had extra room to resolve those threads. But was it still able to resolve them in a satisfying manner?
Well, yes and no. Virtually every single loose thread gets tied up, and I do appreciate that. Even in three hours, there’s a lot to take in. All the way back to Zagreus, there are nods and links to every single story in the Divergent Universe arc. I like that the writers had paid attention to their own stories. And there were a number of plot twists and resolutions that I really appreciated.
There were a couple I wasn’t so keen on, though. In some ways, a lot of it felt very last minute. Particularly with the inclusion of one villain in this story. This enemy comes out of nowhere, yet he’s revealed to have had a massive impact on the story arc. At least, behind the scenes.
The problem is how this villain really does come out of nowhere. There didn’t seem to be any genuine hints to him in any of the previous stories. As a result, it feels like the writers made it up as they went along. Admittedly, this is pretty much exactly what all writers do. But the trick is that they don’t make you believe that it was written on the spot. When at their best, they come across as total geniuses when they have less idea of what’s going on than you do. In this case, though? The villain’s just too obvious not to be a last-minute addition to the arc.
The Eighth Doctor faces Rassilon once more in ‘The Next Life’. (Credit: Big Finish)
I wasn’t too keen on the overall plot, either. For me, despite there being high stakes, it somehow didn’t feel like it. I’m not saying it’s bad, or even boring, really. Yes, it’s three hours long, but the story does flow by quite reasonably. But it still lacks the incredible drama that we got with either Neverland, or The Parting of the Ways just a few months later. It feels like a finale in how it resolves all its loose threads, but not with how high or personal the stakes are.
Having said that, where The Next Life truly shines is with its quieter moments. Especially in part one. When characters have a look back at their lives and think about how much they’ve changed. It’s these great character moments that made me enjoy Neverland so much. I wish there were a lot more of them in the story.
I also appreciated the return of Rassilon. After his manipulation of the Doctor in Neverland and Zagreus, it’s nice to hear him face off against the Doctor one more time. Especially as The Next Life resolves that ongoing story in such a way as to ensure that Rassilon stops being a problem for the Doctor for a very long time.
When the story ends, Rassilon and the Doctor are on worse terms than ever. It’ll be interesting to see how well this fits with their ongoing mutual enmity that we’ve seen in the New Series at some point.
The Next Life is an interesting final story for McGann as the “current” Doctor. It resolves a great deal and sends the Doctor and his friends home. But it doesn’t shake things up quite as much as you’d expect. No major characters die, and – unsurprisingly – the Doctor doesn’t regenerate.
Yet there are clear themes of death and rebirth, not just through this story, but throughout the entire season. The Doctor was just months away from returning to the TV screen. It’s clear this had an impact on the script of The Next Life. Not in terms of story – there are certainly no hints of the Time War or anything like that – but in terms of its themes. After a long time away, the Doctor was finally returning. The last line of The Next Life sums everything up perfectly.
"Yes, Charley…we’re home."
Next: Doctor Who TV: Five Past Faces the Doctor Should Regenerate Into