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Doctor Who review: The Quantum Possibility Engine (Seventh Doctor audio)

By James Aggas

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The Seventh Doctor’s TARDIS has been stolen. Worse, one of his own companions is responsible! We review the final story of this year’s Seventh Doctor trilogy, The Quantum Possibility Engine.

There’s a lot of major continuity dealt with in The Quantum Possibility Engine. This is made virtually clear in the story’s opening moments, as it kicks off from where previous Doctor Who audio The Dispossessed left off.

But the story’s connections go much farther back than just the last story. Threads in The Quantum Possibility Engine go all the way back to 2016’s A Life of Crime, when the Doctor and Ace were reunited with Mel.

But’s just the tip of the iceberg. Not only does Narvin from the spin-off series Gallifrey show up. The main antagonist is Josiah W. Dogbolter – a major villain in the expanded universe who originally appeared in the comics from Doctor Who Magazine. So there’s quite a lot of continuity going on here.

However, it’s all used well, and it certainly doesn’t feel like a continuity lockout for new listeners. While listening to A Life of Crime beforehand would admittedly help, the story allows you to catch up pretty easily.

Because Narvin’s not only a spin-off character crossing over into a very different world, but The Quantum Possibility Engine even takes place before Gallifrey. As a result, he’s introduced to the audience very effectively. And while I haven’t read many of the comics, Dogbolter comes across as an excellent and ruthless villain, regardless.

A surprisingly light story

Considering that this is an audio that resolves some major threads and deals with alternate realities and timelines, The Quantum Possibility Engine is a surprisingly witty and funny story, at times. We get glimpses of the main characters living different lives, but it’s handled in a really funny way.

This is also true of Dogbolter. While he is definitely a ruthless villain, he certainly gets plenty of humorous moments. Toby Longworth (who had previously played the character on audio in The Maltese Penguin) puts in a brilliant performance as the toad-like alien.

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Narvin’s also used really well in this story. At the beginning of Gallifrey, Narvin starts out as someone who’s purely out for himself, and no one else. Essentially, a typical Time Lord who was afraid of the wider universe. But over time, he grows more open-minded and even more courageous. He gains a stronger sense of morality, until he finally becomes a decent person.

This is not that Narvin.

This version of the character is almost explicitly before Gallifrey. As a result, he’s much more focused on putting Gallifrey’s interests over the rest of the universe. He’s also not afraid of taking extreme measures to fix the situation if he has to, no matter what the cost.

Not only is his antagonistic relationship with the Doctor fantastic to hear, giving us a lot of great banter between the two. It’s also fascinating hearing him meet Ace for the first time. The two got along quite well in Gallifrey, so it’s great to have a bit of foreshadowing of Ace’s fate later on.

Overall, The Quantum Possibility Engine is a really fun Doctor Who story by Guy Adams. While it does have a huge sense of scale, this is closer to humorous adventure than epic finale, one that’s almost reminiscent of Douglas Adams. And that’s certainly no bad thing. A very strong end to this year’s trilogy of Seventh Doctor stories.

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What are you excited about more? The return of Dogbolter from the comics? The appearance of Narvin from Gallifrey? The resolution to the current trilogy of audios? Let us know in the comments below.

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