Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time – the return of Patricia Menzies
By James Aggas
Doctor Who audio special The Legacy of Time will see the return of DI Patricia Menzies. Here are a few reasons why that return has been long overdue.
I’ve mentioned before how excited I am about the return of DI Patricia Menzies. But I think I need to go into more detail as to why.
From her very first appearance in The Condemned, she was clearly a very special character. Not that the story made a big deal of that. In fact, in many ways, she’s pretty ordinary. But it’s how her ordinariness clashes with the Doctor’s world that makes her standout.
When she first meets the Sixth Doctor, she very quickly arrests him. She’s ready to think of him as a suspect, just as we’re very quick to dismiss her as a standard skeptical police character.
But it wasn’t too long before Menzies learned more about the Doctor and his life. About time travel, aliens and monsters. And it didn’t take her long to adjust to those ideas, either. Mostly, because of her attitude.
This is a key reason why the character of Menzies is so brilliant. She has a very direct, no-nonsense kind of attitude to life. While she was of course initially surprised to find out that aliens do exist, even they are usually greeted with her very sarcastic and witty attitude.
Even better is that, while she’s not massively into sci-fi, she is presented as someone who’s seen the classics. Her casual mention of seeing Back to the Future is a nice little detail that helps her to feel more real.
Sometimes, a character making the mention of anything even slightly sci-fi is basically written as a geek stereotype. But Menzies doesn’t come across that way. She’s just someone who watches movies from time to time, like most people do.
DI Patricia Menzies (Anna Hope) will be reunited with the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Charlotte Pollard (India Fisher) next year in The Legacy of Time.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Spin-off potential
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When she came back in The Raincloud Man, she was more than used to aliens. She had essentially been identified as a “go to” human to help with any problem. If aliens need help, and want to keep their existence quiet, they go to Menzies.
Which leads me to ask: does the character have potential for an audio spin-off series? Absolutely. It’s not just that there’s plenty of scope for both drama and comedy with the character, all the while taking place entirely in Manchester.
There’s also how fantastic Anna Hope is in the role. She brings a great deal of charm and charisma to Menzies. You can tell that Hope loves playing the part, and it’s easy to see why. Honestly, I’d love it if Menzies showed up a great deal more, whether in Doctor Who or her own series.
Still, over seven years since her last appearance in The Crimes of Thomas Brewster, I’m just glad that the character is making at least one more appearance next year. I hope we get more of the character after The Legacy of Time. Much, much more.
Next. Review: The Harvest (Seventh Doctor audio). dark
Have you listened to DI Menzies’s stories so far? Do you think she’s long overdue for a return? Do you want to see a character like Menzies in the TV series? Let us know in the comments below.