Big Finish: ‘The Early Adventures: The Outliers’ (Second Doctor audio)
By James Aggas
When colonists start to go missing, the Second Doctor and his companions investigate in Big Finish’s’The Outliers’. But what is kidnapping the colonists? And could the problem be far worse than they imagined?
The Outliers is a nice, slow-paced Big Finish audio story by Simon Guerrier. It begins with a mystery that the Second Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie need to investigate. People are disappearing from a mining colony, and no one knows why. As the story goes on, more and more pieces of information are revealed. As the TARDIS crew learns more, however, they’re also placed in greater danger.
Simon Guerrier is something of a veteran when it comes to writing Doctor Who. He’s especially an expert in writing stories set firmly in the sixties era. Having written many Companion Chronicles and Early Adventures with the First and Second Doctors, he’s clearly a writer with a firm grasp of both Doctors and their eras.
Compared to some of his more recent stories, including The Black Hole and The Sontarans, The Outliers feels just a little more low-key. Particularly in how slow paced it really is. Some stories can radically change gear with each episode. But The Outliers takes more of a slow burn approach.
However, in this case, this isn’t too much of a problem, for several reasons. One, the entire story fits the Second Doctor’s era really well. Not just because of its slow pace, but the tone and the feel of a “base under siege” story is a perfect match for Troughton’s era.
Missing, or just on holiday?
This even applies to an entire episode when one of the characters goes missing. Because each episode of a sixties serial would’ve been made on a weekly basis, there would be the occasional episode where one of the characters would go missing. This was because the actor was clearly on holiday. So the sixties fanboy in me really appreciated this plot development. It felt like a great nod to how things were done back then.
Also, how the disappearance is handled by the other characters makes it more interesting. They’re afraid for their friend’s life, but they’re also desperately hoping that they’re still alive. They’re also trying to cope really hard without them.
The futures of Ben and Polly
One more thing that was great about The Outliers’s slow pace was that it allowed some time to explore some interesting themes and ideas. One idea that really grabbed my attention was the idea of potential futures. It also explored how our own attitudes and choices can affect the future we make. This was an idea that really intrigued me, and I’m glad the story took its time to explore it.
The last thing I enjoyed about The Outliers was its focus on Ben and Polly. Big Finish have been really great at exploring their relationship. The Outliers is no exception. In fact, it has some of the best exploration of the pair that I’ve heard yet. Not only does it offer a fresh look at their ongoing development. There are even nice little references to depictions of the pair in other media. However, it’s done in such a way that it makes it a natural part of the story.
It may be low on plot, but The Outliers is a very satisfying depiction of the era, while also offering some very fresh ideas.
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