Doctor Who Review: ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures: Grand Theft Cosmos’ (Audio)
By James Aggas
When the Eighth Doctor and Lucie bump into familiar faces in Switzerland, it’s up to them to perform the heist of the century in ‘Grand Theft Cosmos’!
Grand Theft Cosmos is an episode that, in a low-key way, changes things for the Eighth Doctor Adventures. Up until this point, all the episodes this season had been more or less stand-alone. They’ve also been very enjoyable to listen to. But it is admittedly refreshing that, for this episode, at least, some of the history from season one is brought back. Specifically, with the Headhunter and Karen.
In season one finale Human Resources, recurring antagonist the Headhunter had rescued Karen, who had worked in the same place as Lucie. She was also supposed to be a dictator, before the Time Lords decided to change her future.
So it’s unsurprising that the Headhunter took an interest in her. She even decided to recruit Karen as a kind of assistant. Both characters were well written and performed in that story. It’s nice that we get to catch up with them.
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Especially since the pairing of these two very different people works so well. There’s a lot of great banter between them, especially with the Headhunter giving her trademark sarcasm and wit. There’s even a kind of parallel of their relationship with the Doctor’s and Lucie’s. It’s a pairing that works rather nicely.
Crime of the nineteenth century
The story of Grand Theft Cosmos is great, too. It’s not just about the heroes trying to stop the villains from stealing a valuable and secure art piece. It’s also about the Doctor and Lucie trying to steal it first.
With the Doctor usually in the role of a hero, it’s neat that he’s forced to commit a crime in this story. Of course, with two very different plans going on at once, it’s not long before everything starts to go wrong. For everyone involved, in fact. That’s where a lot of the fun in the episode lies.
There’s also a lot of fantastic dialogue going on between all the characters. Not surprising, when the writer is Eddie Robson. It’s also not surprising that the episode gives us a great mix of genre: heist, comedy and historical. Grand Theft Cosmos is the kind of script you can clearly imagine being used for the New Series.
It’s interesting that there aren’t many heist stories in Doctor Who. Currently, Time Heist is the only example of the genre I can think of on television. So it’s great that an earlier Doctor Who take on it for audio is done as brilliantly as it is here.
Grand Theft Cosmos is a really fun episode. It’s a great mixture of comedy, science-fiction and drama. Exactly what you want from a story in a series that’s inspired by the style of the New Series. A real highlight for the season.
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