Doctor Who review: Red Planets (Seventh Doctor audio)

In the Republic of Mokoshia, the Seventh Doctor, Mel and Ace find something wrong with time in this month’s Doctor Who audio, Red Planets. Can they find out what’s gone wrong and put time back on track?

Red Planets is a brilliantly complex Doctor Who story from Una McCormack. Primarily, it focuses on an alternate timeline where the Soviet Union had spread across the whole of Europe. The United Kingdom is no more, replaced by the Republic of Mokoshia. Time has changed, but can the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Mel change it back before it’s too late?

It’s funny to think, but it’s actually rare that we get an alternative timeline story in Doctor Who. Even in Big Finish’s audios, the ones to explore such an idea that leap out the most are Colditz and Klein’s Story. And the Nazi occupied England was only briefly touched upon in the former before it was more deeply explored in the latter.

But the alternate timeline in Red Planets is explored in much greater detail. In fact, it’s broken into three distinct strands. We have the Seventh Doctor and Mel visiting 2017, and seeing how everything has changed. Ace is in Berlin in 1961, on a mission of her own. And we even have a strong focus on a mission to Mars, where strange things start to happen.

McCormack was really ambitious when it came to writing this story, but Red Planets works incredibly well. Bit by bit, we start to learn more about both the world, and what’s really going on. When the story begins, the three strands are very distinct from one another. But as the story goes on, you start to learn how it’s all connected.

The Seventh Doctor, Ace and Mel find something very wrong with history in Red Planets.

Spy thriller

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There’s also a strong atmosphere of almost Cold War paranoia in this story. It’s clear that McCormack loves a good spy story. Not the adventurous thrills of James Bond or Mission: Impossible. But the ones where you were never sure who you could trust, or even what was going on. It works very well for the story, and helps to provide it with a strong sense of atmosphere.

I also love how she writes the Seventh Doctor, too. The Seventh Doctor works incredibly well not just when he sees the bigger picture, but also when his actions and his attitude create conflict between him and his companions.

There’s a great discussion between him and Mel on what would happen if they actually succeeded and history was changed back. Mel’s a very moral person, and hates the idea of those consequences.

The Doctor, of course, has less of a problem with it, and takes a more black and white view when it comes to time. It’s character moments like that that truly make his Doctor so fascinating and so brilliant.

Red Planets is another fantastic Doctor Who audio in a year that’s absolutely full of them. If you love an alternative history story, a great spy thriller, or even the Doctor written in a more alien way, you should love this audio. A great start to the new Seventh Doctor season.

Next. Class as a Doctor Who spin-off: How it could have worked better. dark

Will you be listening to Red Planets? Do you enjoy alternative timeline stories in Doctor Who? What would you like to see explored as a “what if?” story? Let us know in the comments below.

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