Doctor Who review: The First Doctor Adventures: Volume Three brings back a very familiar face

Big Finish’s latest release in the successful Doctor Who audio series The First Doctor Adventures features history and legends. In more ways than one…

The First Doctor Adventures has been a very strong range from Big Finish. Despite featuring essentially new actors in key established roles in Doctor Who mythology, Big Finish have done an excellent job of bringing the original era back to life in a fresh way.

One thing I’ve really appreciated is just how brilliantly the new team have captured the very spirit of the original. Yes, these are new actors bringing their own interpretations to the characters. But they do it in such a way, and work together so well, that they really bring back the magic of that original team perfectly.

David Bradley is especially impressive as the First Doctor. He brings a strong sense of authority to the role, and he captures enough of Hartnell’s mannerisms without making it simply an impression.

However, as great as the cast is, I think the real stars of the series are Big Finish’s very talented writers. They know how to write perfectly for an era while also adding something fresh to it.

This is especially true of The First Doctor Adventures. These stories may feature a new cast, but the stories told with these characters would’ve fitted in perfectly with the original television episodes. A key reason for that is the writing and the way the stories are handled.

After two very strong volumes, are Big Finish able to continue the magic with the third? Do we get another pair of incredibly strong stories? Let’s take a look.

The first story in volume three of The First Doctor Adventures is The Phoenicians, a pure historical like many stories from the same period.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The Phoenicians

Volume three of The First Doctor Adventures opens with a pure historical: The Phoenicians. Set far into Earth’s distant past, the story explores the Phoenician civilization. When the TARDIS crew arrive and, naturally, get involved, will they simply be a part of history? Or will they, in fact, create legends?

I was really looking forward to this one, mainly because it was written by Marc Platt. When it comes to the First Doctor’s era on audio, Marc Platt is consistently one of the best writers for it. He knows the period inside and out, and knows how to write a pure historical as easily as hard science-fiction. Some of my favorite First Doctor audios have been written by him.

Maybe it’s because my expectations were so high as a result, but I must admit, The Phoenicians didn’t grab me. Not as much as I’d hoped for, anyway.

Oh, the story’s good, at least. We’ve got a great mix of warring royal families, themes of trust and betrayal, and the exploration of how easily history can become myth. The story explores quite a lot of interesting themes here.

Lower stakes?

But The Phoenicians somehow doesn’t rank quite so high as some of my favorites. A great example of a perfect historical would be The Flames of Cadiz, also written by Marc Platt. Despite having a relatively small-cast, it’s a truly thrilling adventure, one that has the TARDIS crew in constant peril, and with stakes that increase significantly with every episode.

Perhaps that was my problem with The Phoenicians: even with a king after them, the stakes never felt quite high enough for the TARDIS crew. There weren’t too many moments when I thought that even a single one of them was in danger. As a result, this story is a little less thrilling than other historicals.

The Phoenicians is far from a weak story, and it’s enjoyable in its own right. It’s just a little disappointing compared to other pure historicals that Big Finish’s audios have given us, especially those written by Marc Platt himself.

The TARDIS crew arrive on a very strange and creepy planet in Tick-Tock World.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Tick-Tock World

Wow. From your basic Doctor Who historical to something so completely different, Tick-Tock World is something very special. And that’s due to far more than some very interesting casting…

The First Doctor and his friends have arrived on a planet unlike any other. Time doesn’t act in the way that it’s supposed to here. There are ghosts and monsters on this world. And, worst of all, the TARDIS has been destroyed…

Just over a year ago, Guy Adams gave us the excellent The Great White Hurricane, a pure historical set during one of New York’s worst ever snow storms. This time, he’s gone for something so radically different. Like Hurricane, Tick-Tock World slots into the era so easily, due to it being more of a hard science-fiction story that the First Doctor’s era featured so regularly. But, at the same time, it also offers something new.

Old ideas with a fresh take

In fact, there’s a great balance between old and new that Guy Adams features in this story. For example, there are a lot of references to other stories and even other eras. But not only do they feel naturally placed, but some of them are even explored better than the original stories that they featured in.

The best example I can give for this is The Space Museum. The first episode is an absolutely amazing story in its own right. One that’s a little stranger than your usual Doctor Who, and features some very unsettling ideas. Then the rest of the story kicks in, and it doesn’t work so well.

Tick-Tock World uses some of the ideas of The Space Museum‘s first episode, but this time, reimagined as a full story. We get the same sense of time going wrong, but this time, it lasts for a full story. And it’s a story that works really well, too.

A familiar face

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One thing that’s really going to draw fans of the original series is an intriguing bit of casting. Carole Ann Ford – who played Susan in the original TV episodes – is cast here as “the Woman”. It’s a perfect piece of casting, especially due to the nature of this story.

The best aspect of Tick-Tock World though – better than strange timey-wimeyness and Ford’s casting – is how it explores the relationship between the First Doctor and Susan. Guy Adams really casts a light on these two characters and how close they were. However, he also makes it clear that things are changing between the two, and that Susan can’t stay forever. It’s a fantastic piece of exploration, one that wonderfully foreshadows what’s to come in The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

Overall, Tick-Tock World is an excellent story, and just might be my favorite serial in The First Doctor Adventures so far. While The Phoenicians is an enjoyable listen, it’s Tick-Tock World that really makes this latest volume an essential purchase.

Have you been enjoying The First Doctor Adventures so far? What’s been your favorite story? What do you think of David Bradley’s performance? Let us know in the comments below.