Doctor Who review: Project: Destiny (Seventh Doctor audio)

Long-buried secrets are uncovered, as the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Hex face the Forge in the Doctor Who audio, Project: Destiny.

When Project: Destiny was released in 2010, it had a lot to live up to. The fact that it was supposed to be the final story in the Forge trilogy, which had started nine years before with Project: Twilight, was just the tip of the iceberg. Because Project: Destiny was a Doctor Who story with a lot of baggage.

For one thing, there was the cliffhanger that it was continuing directly off from. At the end of The Angel of Scutari – which had been released almost a year and a half before – Hex, one of the Seventh Doctor’s companions, had been shot. He needed to be taken to a hospital, and fast.

However, it wasn’t just any hospital that he wanted to be taken to. It had to be the one he was working at when he first met the Doctor, all the way back in The Harvest: St Gart’s Hospital, to be specific.

However, when they arrive, the TARDIS crew find London to be completely deserted. No traffic, no people, no noise whatsoever. Even the hospital is closed. But why? What has happened to the whole city? And how are the Forge involved?

Project: Destiny deals with the consequences of earlier story Project: Lazarus. Consequences from the Doctor’s past…and his future.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Revelations

So as you can probably see, it’s not long before this story makes its connections to many, many others clear. However, this isn’t the kind of continuity that serves without purpose. In fact, Project: Destiny is the first of two stories that resolves several major arcs. Especially when it comes to Hex.

Because this is another key reason why Project: Destiny is so major. By this point, Hex had been travelling with the Doctor for a long time. Across six years of audios, he had proven himself to be a loyal and capable companion.

However, there was something about the Doctor that he didn’t know. Something that had been hinted at in his first story and made explicit in Thicker Than Water. The Doctor knew Hex’s mother, Cassie. And he had watched her die in Project: Lazarus.

When she died, Cassie had been working for the Forge. You can imagine what Hex finds out in this story.

After so many years of buildup, had Project: Destiny been worth the wait? Absolutely. The scenes when Hex finds out are incredibly powerful, and you can’t help but feel sorry for him. He clearly feels deeply betrayed by the Doctor, and quite rightly, too.

The Seventh Doctor likes to keep his secrets. But this was one secret too many. Philip Olivier gives an absolutely brilliant performance with this story, and really helps to ensure that all the buildup really paid off.

Nimrod and the Forge

Aside from all of the major drama with Hex, however, we also have the return of the Forge to focus on. More than that, a return of a major enemy: Nimrod, the unscrupulous vampire leader of the Forge.

Nimrod is one of my favorite Doctor Who villains ever. He’s someone who believes that what he’s doing is right, especially when it’s for King and Country. And that’s makes him dangerous, because he’s not afraid of sacrificing a few innocent lives (or far, far more) for the sake of the greater good. That was true in Project: Twilight and Project: Lazarus, and it’s certainly true here.

More from Winter is Coming

• For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
• Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
• Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
• Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
• Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”

What has always made the character so brilliant, along with the excellent writing, is Stephen Chance’s incredible performance. The voice he has is so distinctive and so chilling, and he commands such authority in the role. He really is absolutely perfect as the character.

The rest of the story is also great, particularly the return of the Forge in general. The first two stories in the trilogy had been full of horror, action and strong violence, and Project: Destiny is certainly no exception.

There’s a strong 28 Days Later vibe to this story, right from the very beginning. Of course, writers Cavan Scott and Mark Wright give their own Doctor Who spin on this story, but there’s certainly a strong influence, and it works really well.

On the whole, Project: Destiny is absolutely amazing. It’s not a story that you should dive into, but it’s certainly worth all of the buildup to get to this point. A fantastic resolution to the main Forge trilogy.

Have you listened to Project: Destiny? Is it one of your favorites? Was the resolution of the Forge trilogy a satisfying one? Let us know in the comments below.