Doctor Who review: The Sinestran Kill kicks off the new Fourth Doctor series with style!

It’s the start of a brand new Doctor Who audio series for the Fourth Doctor, and he even has a new companion! But he also has new enemies to face, too…

Earlier today, I wrote about how excited I was for the eighth series of Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures. With both a new companion and a new arc to look forward to, there’s a lot to be excited about. Of course, writing the opening story and setting the scene for such key elements can be a lot to handle for any writer.

Fortunately, Andrew Smith – a writer who’s not only written many stories for Big Finish, but even wrote for Tom Baker’s Doctor on television with Full Circle – is a consistently strong writer. So it’s no surprise that the opening story of The Syndicate Master Plan, The Sinestran Kill, kicks off the new series very nicely.

What helps is that Smith keeps the story relatively light. Yes, there are hints of a major arc going on and conspiracies to worry about. But he doesn’t begin the series with a hard sci-fi story, or anything too complicated. Which is just as well, as this opening story is only an hour long.

Instead, he tells a simple gangster story. Well, not too simple, as some of these gangsters are aliens. But the genre is something that we’re all very familiar with. So while the story unfolds nicely and gives us plenty of twists and turns, there’s still plenty of room to focus on the new companion: WPC Ann Kelso.

What adventures will Ann Kelso have with the Fourth Doctor?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The new companion

Based on just the first story, Ann is definitely a very likable character. As a police officer, she’s not easily frightened off. She seems to get on well with both her fellow officers and the community, and is able to think fast on her feet. She’s a really great match for the Fourth Doctor.

While this is the first appearance of Ann Kelso, this is far from Jane Slavin’s first role for Big Finish. In fact, this role was specifically made for her. A fantastic and versatile voice actress, it’s easy to see why she was given the major part of the new companion. Also, it’s clear to see that, even after working with Tom Baker for several years now, she’s still a huge fan at heart.

Speaking of fan actors, Frank Skinner also appears in this as DCI Scott Neilson. It’s funny to think that five years ago, a major British celebrity like Frank Skinner appearing in a Doctor Who audio would’ve seemed at least unlikely, if not incredibly far-fetched. Especially in a cameo role.

And yet, in 2014, that’s exactly what happened. Frank Skinner appeared in a very small part at the end of Dark Eyes 2. It turns out that he’s a huge fan of both Doctor Who and Big Finish.

Since then, along with appearing in the TV series itself in Mummy on the Orient Express, he’s appeared in several Big Finish productions. Along with being a huge fan, he’s also clearly a great voice actor. His character of Neilson is your classic no-nonsense copper, and knows enough about the Doctor to know that whenever he shows up, trouble’s never far away.

Overall, The Sinestran Kill is a great opening to the new series. It gets the arc off to a good start, it introduces the new companion very well, and it’s a good story in its own right. A great way to begin the series.

Are you a fan of The Fourth Doctor Adventures? Will you be listening to this year’s major new arc? What do you think of the Fourth Doctor travelling with a new companion? Let us know in the comments below.