Doctor Who Review: Sixth Doctor audio ‘The Condemned’
By James Aggas
Big Finish
In audio story ‘The Condemned’, the Sixth Doctor meets a new companion for the first time. But it’s not the first time that she’s met him…
Before I had reached The Girl Who Never Was in my series of Eighth Doctor reviews, I had originally planned to start listening to the Eighth Doctor Adventures, with Lucie Miller, immediately afterwards. It’s an incredibly exciting and interesting range, and it’s a great jumping-on point for new listeners, especially for fans who had only watched the New Series.
But, after the Eighth Doctor’s and Charley’s finale, I decided to move onto Sixth Doctor story The Condemned instead. Partly, it’s because I wanted to take a bit of a break in my ongoing series of reviews for the Eighth Doctor. But mostly, it was because of this cliffhanger from The Girl Who Never Was:
"I’m sorry…I was expecting someone else…"
You see, as the ending theme tune made instantly clear, and despite how dramatic her exit was, Charley was indeed reunited with the Doctor again. But, to quote a much later Eighth Doctor story, probably not the one she was expecting…
Old characters, new pairing
Which leads us to Sixth Doctor story The Condemned. Yes, you read that right. After years of travelling with McGann’s Doctor, Charley’s now the companion of an earlier incarnation. The implications of this for the pair?
It’s exactly the kind of risky but brilliant idea that only Big Finish can do. Ideas like this are why I listen to their stories. From the very beginning, it allows a companion’s story to continue after the Doctor’s said his goodbye to them. But it avoids doing it in such a way that negates the impact of that exit.
And like I said – thanks to Big Finish’s wide number of ranges and the magic of no visuals, it could only be done on audio. At least, from the companion’s point of view. We at least got a good glimpse of the Doctor’s perspective with River Song in the TV series. (Although interestingly, The Condemned was released back in February 2008. Three months before River’s first appearance in Silence in the Library.)
Six and Charley
So how are this new pair, then? They work absolutely brilliantly, for so many reasons.
For one thing, it’s a great way of having the Doctor’s and Charley’s relationship start from scratch. Especially as, for the Doctor, he really is meeting her for the first time from his perspective. I mentioned before that the Eighth Doctor and Charley’s relationship really had run its course. So for me, The Girl Who Never Was felt like a natural conclusion.
And yet, despite running the risk of needlessly dragging Charley’s story out, instead, it massively reinvigorates it. The very idea of Charley meeting an earlier Doctor means that their relationship is unlike any other Doctor/companion relationship in the entire history of the series.
Right from the very beginning, Charley is finding it difficult to react to the whole situation. And Six picks up on that difficulty instantly. He keeps expecting her to react in shock, or say the usual things. “It’s bigger on the inside!” “Travelling through time is impossible!” You know, all the usual things.
A terrible liar
But, as hard as Charley tries to come across like someone new to it all, she lies very badly about it. And the Doctor knows that she’s lying. So like River, the Doctor doesn’t know whether or not he can trust her. Unlike River, however, he has no idea that she’s from his own future.
The final, important reason why I love this pair? Colin Baker and India Fisher. They just work so naturally well together. They have a great deal of chemistry, and yet it’s a very different relationship compared to the one that India had with Paul. Hearing how well the actors get on and how they bounce off each other adds so much more to the excellent script.
Which, I think, is something else I really need to discuss.
BBC
A strong script
Right, now that I’ve gone into enough detail about how much I love Six and Charley as a pair, time to discuss The Condemned as a story. I’ve mentioned before how much I love Eddie Robson’s writing, and this is a script that really plays to his strengths.
Taking place in Manchester in 2008, the Doctor and his (apparently) new companion are very quickly separated. The Doctor is arrested, and Charley gets captured. So really, same old, same old.
Except it isn’t quite like that. The story goes in rather fresh and new directions that you don’t quite expect it to. And while the Doctor and Charley getting separated so soon is a surprising one, it does allow for each character to be open about they feel about the other.
DI Menzies
Even better is who the Sixth Doctor is paired up with for the duration of the story: DI Patricia Menzies. Absolutely love, love, love this character! Sarcastic and someone who thinks she’s seen it all, she’s exposed to a whole new world because of the Doctor. And it annoys her.
There’s a lot more to her character than that, but I just love the relationship that these two very quickly form. Not a Doctor/companion relationship, but not policeman/suspect, either. They each help each other to see different sides to the case they’re working on. So once again, like Memory Lane, there’s that distinctive mix of ordinary world merging – or even crashing into – strange sci-fi.
This extends to Charley, as well. What’s interesting is that this is actually Charley’s first story in a “modern” setting. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that she’s from the 1930s, but this story really highlights that she’s not of our time. Her surprise at finding out that there are Indian restaurants in Manchester is a golden example.
Atmosphere and dread
There’s a lot more to her story than being a fish out of water, of course. While the Doctor is playing detective (and suspect), Charley gets to experience the mystery from a closer perspective. In the building where she’s held captive, strange things are happening. Residents are getting more depressed or angry for no good reason. In some rooms, there is nothing but darkness. And somewhere else in the building, someone else is also a prisoner…
There’s a really strong use of atmosphere and dread in these parts of the story. There’s also a great emotional core to it, especially when everything’s revealed.
The Condemned has everything you could want from a Doctor Who story. A mixture of the ordinary with the extraordinary. The horror with the humanity. The hints of a larger story while telling a very self-contained one.
It’s actually amazing how well Eddie Robson has managed to balance all of these elements and make them work as a whole. With The Condemned, he was able to continue Charley’s story in an effective way; create a fresh jumping-on point for new listeners, and effectively establish a new Doctor/companion relationship with characters we’ve known for ages.
All of this, while telling a very effective stand-alone plot. I’ve listened to a large number of Big Finish audios, but after this re-listen, I think I can safely say that The Condemned is one of my favourites. Highly recommended.
Next: Three different shows that portray Jodie Whittaker’s array of talent