Doctor Who: The ten best stories of The Eighth Doctor Adventures with Lucie Miller
By James Aggas
We’ve had many great stories with the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller. But what are the very best stories featuring this brilliant pairing?
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
From 2006 to 2011, The Eighth Doctor Adventures gave us a huge number of great Doctor Who stories. We look at ten of the very best ones.
The Eighth Doctor Adventures was a very special range of Doctor Who stories from Big Finish, and not just because they featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. While epic series like Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition and The Time War also go under that banner, the original era featured a very special companion: Lucie Miller.
Played by the brilliant Sheridan Smith, Lucie was a key reason why The Eighth Doctor Adventures were so successful. She was bold and full of banter, but she also had her vulnerable side and had a lot of tough moments. Especially in her final season. Oh boy, did she go through some harsh times in her final episodes…
The latest Eighth Doctor box set The Further Adventures of Lucie Miller rewinds the clock back to some of her earlier adventures. When she and the Doctor have only just admitted to liking each other and are just having fun around the universe.
To celebrate the release of this box set, we’ve decided to look back on ten of the best stories from The Eighth Doctor Adventures that feature Lucie Miller. Ten stories that remind us why she was so brilliant.
Starting with…
The Eighth Doctor Adventures began very strongly with opening story Blood of the Daleks.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
10. Blood of the Daleks
The Eighth Doctor Adventures began brilliantly with its first story, Blood of the Daleks. In some ways, Steve Lyons’s first Dalek story is a bit of a basic one. A planet has suffered a disaster, the Daleks have come to rescue the inhabitants, the Doctor (and the audience) know that they’re up to something.
But the simplicity works very well for the story. For one thing, it instantly lets new listeners know that this is Doctor Who, regardless of the medium. Nothing says “Doctor Who” more than Daleks, so using them for an opening story is a simple but effective move. Lyons also channels the spirit of David Whittaker very nicely with his Dalek plot. There’s a nice feeling of build-up, especially the moment the Daleks arrive on the planet.
Having a simple plot – especially one told over two episodes – also allows for a lot of room in the story to explore and establish Lucie as a companion. What’s particularly effective is how she arrives on the TARDIS – rather than the Doctor choosing her as a companion or stumbling in by accident, she literally arrives out of nowhere while the TARDIS is still in flight! It’s a great way of setting up an intriguing mystery for the new companion, one where the audience is curious to learn more about the new girl.
More than that, the story also takes its time to establish the new relationship between the Doctor and his companion. And it doesn’t get off to a great start. In fact, they really don’t like each other, which is a very risky way to start the series. But the banter between them is consistent and fantastic, so it’s easy enough to listen to the two.
Blood of the Daleks gets The Eighth Doctor Adventures off to a strong start, with a promise of greater things to come.
The Eight Truths began a very strong finale for the third season of the series.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
9. The Eight Truths/Worldwide Web
The finale to the third series of The Eighth Doctor Adventures, The Eight Truths/Worldwide Web, was probably its best story.
One thing I particularly enjoyed about it was how effective it was at telling a story across multiple episodes. It sounds simple, but for each episode of the four-part story, (even if the first and second halves have different names, it’s definitely a four-parter,) there’s something that stands out about it.
After every cliffhanger, something changes to shake things up. Maybe it’s a time jump, maybe it’s the reveal of an old enemy, but it’s always something that adds a fresh angle to the story. Since these episodes were originally released weekly, it helps them to stand out that little bit more.
The story was also a nice commentary on cults and how quickly they can become popular. In some ways, the story feels even more relevant now than it did back then, at least in the age of “fake news”. Which, considering it was set in the near future of…2015, isn’t too surprising.
The story is a nice resolution to a key arc in the series, and it acts as a strong sequel to a classic Pertwee story. Overall, The Eight Truths/Worldwide Web is a very effective finale, as well as being an effective Doctor Who story in its own right.
Grand Theft Cosmos is a light story that’s also a LOT of fun.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
8. Grand Theft Cosmos
I love Grand Theft Cosmos. It’s just such a gloriously fun story. The idea of the Eighth Doctor and Lucie needing to steal something and get away with it is such a great idea.
Heist stories aren’t often explored in Doctor Who. TV-wise, Time Heist is the best example. But Grand Theft Cosmos is a lot more satisfying. For one thing, it’s lighter. I’m a big fan of some of the darker Doctor Who stories (as you’ll see later in this list), but for something like a heist story, you want it to be light. You want the main characters to be rogues, you want plenty of great dialogue, and of course, you want them to work to a really clever plan…that falls apart surprisingly quickly.
Along with featuring the Headhunter and Karen – two very different characters that work brilliantly as a double act – Grand Theft Cosmos also features an appearance by Christopher Benjamin as Tardelli. Benjamin has been consistently brilliant throughout Doctor Who, with his very best role being Henry Gordon Jago in both The Talons of Weng-Chiang and the spin-off series Jago & Litefoot, so it’s a joy to hear him in this.
Grand Theft Cosmos might not have the biggest impact on mythology, but it sure is a lot of fun.
It’s a family Christmas dinner unlike any other in Relative Dimensions…
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
7. Relative Dimensions
A Christmas family dinner…for the Doctor. Not even the New Series has used that for an entire story. True, we got glimpses of the Doctor joining in a family dinner at Christmas, such as Ten in The Christmas Invasion, but it’s never been the focus of an entire story.
It’s bold to tell something so small. But, at the same time, Relative Dimensions is also rather huge. Because it focuses on the Doctor’s family in a way that’s rarely seen, and thus gives us a rather different look at our favorite Time Lord.
The Doctor decides to celebrate Christmas with the family. This is partly as a promise to Lucie to make up for their previous Christmas (which we will cover later in this list). But it’s also to catch up with his family: specifically, his granddaughter Susan and his great-grandson Alex, who he’d previously met in An Earthly Child. (Which isn’t included in this list, as it’s technically separate from The Eighth Doctor Adventures, but it’s still an absolutely essential listen.)
It’s rather refreshing to hear the Doctor coping with the regular Christmas family drama. All the stress of making the perfect Christmas, and how easily these events can fall apart because of that stress. Tiny things that become fascinating to explore from the Doctor’s perspective.
It’s also rather nice to hear how easily Lucie fits in as a part of this family, too. She gets on well with both Susan and Alex, and shares great scenes with each of them.
Relative Dimensions is a bit of a low-key episode, but it’s also effective. It presents us with a rather different look at the Doctor, and explores how he is with his family in a way rarely seen, while also looking at his more alien side.
Oh, and there’s a plot point involving a giant time-jumping fish.
Human Resources features a strange mix of Doctor Who meets The Office – with an old enemy thrown in…
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
6. Human Resources
Human Resources is such a great Doctor Who story. It features a lot of key elements that make Eddie Robson’s stories so fantastic. There’s a lot of wit and humor, but there’s also a key idea of something normal and everyday that’s suddenly given a distinctive Doctor Who spin. In this case: offices.
The story begins intriguingly enough, with Lucie suddenly finding herself starting at her new workplace. Nothing wrong with that, especially as she had been interviewed for it. But she can’t remember how she got there. And she has no memory of travelling with the Doctor…
The first half of the Series One finale is basically Doctor Who meets The Office (UK version). Mixed in with the classic alien intrigue, mystery and battles on distant worlds are awkward office managers and plenty of cringe humor. It’s a surprisingly effective combination that works extremely well.
The second episode changes things up considerably, and brings back a very old enemy. We also get plenty of answers, not just to what’s going on, but to the most important question of all: out of Eight or Lucie, who actually admits that they like the other first?
Human Resources is a very strong finale. But perhaps not quite as strong as the next story in our list…
The series two finale shook things up for the Eighth Doctor and Lucie in a big way with The Vengeance of Morbius…
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
5. Sisters of the Flame/The Vengeance of Morbius
Sisters of the Flame is essentially a Doctor-lite story. At the beginning of the episode, the Doctor goes missing, and Lucie is held in custody. She has no idea what’s going or the danger that’s yet to come.
As such, this episode helps to give us a different side to explore with Lucie. Not only is she put into a very difficult situation, as she has no idea who to trust. But we also find out how much the Doctor really means for her. When they first met, they couldn’t stand each other, but by this point, she really misses him. It really shows us just how much her relationship with the Doctor has grown.
Things become a lot more epic in the second part of the finale, The Vengeance of Morbius. As you can probably guess, this is when the infamous Time Lord criminal Morbius, first introduced in Fourth Doctor story The Brain of Morbius, is brought back from the dead. And we find out just how dangerous he really is…
There’s a wonderfully epic quality to Vengeance. You get the strong sense that the stakes really are incredibly high, and Morbius comes across as a far greater threat than in his first appearance. Samuel West does a great job as the titular villain, and really gets to show us exactly why the Time Lord was so feared in the first place.
On top of that, we get an amazing cliffhanger ending that shakes things up in a big way. A cliffhanger that’s not easily resolved, and radically changes both the Doctor and his relationship with Lucie in a big way. Overall, it’s another solid finale.
The Zygon Who Fell to Earth includes a mix of humor and tragedy, as the Doctor helps to keep a terrible secret…
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
4. The Zygon Who Fell to Earth
The Zygon Who Fell to Earth by Paul Magrs is a major story for The Eighth Doctor Adventures. Essentially the middle story of a trilogy, the episode features the return of Pat, Lucie’s aunt who was first introduced in Series One story Horror of Glam Rock. While that episode was a lot of fun, it’s not quite as pivotal as Zygon. At least, not on the first listen.
In both episodes, Lucie meets a version of Auntie Pat from before Lucie was born. Lucie enjoys seeing her aunt again, but she’s surprised to meet her husband Trevor. Particularly as she’s never met him before, and her aunt never told Lucie that she had been married…
The Zygon Who Fell to Earth is something special. The plot is small, but it uses the Zygons in a very effective way, while avoiding to copy their previous (and at the time, only) TV appearance in Terror of the Zygons. Paul Magrs includes a lot of humor in the story with the creatures, although he makes sure never to take it too far.
Which is great, because the episode isn’t without tragedy. There’s a huge gut-punch towards the end, one that you don’t see coming. It’s very effective, and it sets up a lot for future episodes. In fact, it actually sets things up for the next episode in our list. An episode even more tragic and heartbreaking…
Secrets are revealed and lives are ruined in one of the darkest Christmas specials ever, Death in Blackpool.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
3. Death in Blackpool
One year before Relative Dimensions, another Christmas special was released for The Eighth Doctor Adventures. Unlike Relative Dimensions, however, Death in Blackpool was far from a light story. Released weeks before David Tennant said the immortal words “I don’t want to go”, we got one of the most depressing Doctor Who stories set at Christmas ever.
The story focuses on Lucie’s return home to Blackpool, to spend Christmas with her family. She’s more than happy to see her Auntie Pat once more. However, she doesn’t know about the secret that Pat’s keeping from her. Worse, that the Doctor’s keeping from her…
Death in Blackpool was a story which had a lot of buildup. Along with resolving some major threads in the series, the episode had also been advertised as Lucie Miller’s exit story. This wasn’t exactly true, but that didn’t stop it from featuring both a tragic story and a heartbreaking goodbye.
Despite knowing what comes later, nothing takes away from the impact of Death in Blackpool. Indeed, perhaps knowing what comes later only adds to the tragedy. Because the Doctor and Lucie are completely separated from each other for most of the fourth and final series of The Eighth Doctor Adventures. And it’s all because of what Lucie finds out in this episode.
Unsurprisingly, Sheridan Smith and Paul McGann give great performances in this one. Death in Blackpool is full of amazing drama, and they really throw themselves into it. One of my favorite moments has Eight giving one of his famous speeches, about how he isn’t a superhero – only for Lucie to say he’s wrong and point out why the Doctor is so special.
Death in Blackpool is a brilliant episode, and it’s such a fantastic exit story for Lucie. In fact, it was hard to imagine a more heartbreaking exit for a companion. Could you have her return without undoing the impact of this story?
The next story in our list answers that very easily…
The Resurrection of Mars sees the dramatic return of Lucie Miller, as well as the Ice Warriors at their very worst!
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
2. Deimos/The Resurrection of Mars
I’m not sure I can express how much I love this story. Especially The Resurrection of Mars, which has so much wonderful drama in it.
The first half, Deimos, is an incredibly strong first half. Focusing on an attack by the Ice Warriors, in many ways, this is a classic base under siege story, with echoes of some of the best Troughton stories. The fact that it uses the Ice Warriors is an instant plus for me, as I’m a huge fan of them. They also get to be the villains once more, and Jonathan Morris reminds us why they were so effective in the first place. He writes them to be as ruthless and terrifying as possible, and it’s an approach that works very well.
But it’s the second half that really makes this story stand out. The Resurrection of Mars features the long-awaited reunion between the Doctor and Lucie after the events of Death in Blackpool. Unsurprisingly, it’s a moment with a lot of impact and weight, and there are so many mixed feelings when it happens, both for them and for the audience.
But beyond that, The Resurrection of Mars gives us a very close and careful examination of the Doctor’s morality. Morris puts the Doctor in a situation where, despite the fact that he wants to do the right thing, he may not necessarily be right. There’s so much great drama and character exploration that’s built from this difficult situation, as the Doctor tries to explain why he is the way he is, while still finding himself at odds with others – including his current companion.
The Resurrection of Mars is honestly one of my favorite Doctor Who stories of all time. It’s dark, dramatic, thrilling and one of the very best explorations of the Doctor ever written. It came very, very close to reaching number one in our list.
So what story beat it?
They saved the best for last with To The Death, an explosive finale that leaves no one unscathed.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
1. Lucie Miller/To The Death
They really did save the best for last. Lucie Miller and To The Death mark the true ending of Lucie Miller’s run in The Eighth Doctor Adventures. But what an ending it is!
Make no mistake, this is far from easy listening. Lucie Miller makes that instantly clear. Another Doctor-lite story, Nicholas Briggs puts Lucie through hell in this episode. There are things so terrible that happen to her here that you could only do it at the end of a companion’s story.
Even then, you’re constantly expecting a big reset button to be pressed in the second half because things are that bad. But while Briggs has been as guilty of this as Moffat has with his stories, make no mistake: there are no resets with this one.
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After the brutal first half, things don’t get any easier in the second. In fact, To The Death lives up to its bold title in a big way. Many major characters get killed off, some while making a heroic sacrifice, others killed for no good reason at all. In some ways, the overall story’s tone feels closer to Briggs’s own spin-off series Dalek Empire than Doctor Who: a dark and gritty series that reminds us just how dangerous the Daleks really are.
Paul McGann gives us one of his greatest performances as the Doctor ever in this one. He really gets to show us sides of the Doctor that we’ve never seen before. Not only do we see the Doctor’s rage and his grief. By the end, we also see the Doctor broken. It’s a dark place to leave his Doctor on, and makes for an effective ending to the series.
But I think it’s perhaps Sheridan Smith who truly shines in these episodes. Across both episodes, she constantly reminds us why we all loved Lucie bleedin’ Miller in the first place. In a story that has Lucie at both her lowest points and her best, Smith portrays both of those and everything in between perfectly. For her, it’s the best exit story you could ask for. More than that: it’s one of the best Doctor Who stories ever made.
Next. The Eighth Doctor: The Further Adventures of Lucie Miller is out now!. dark
Are you a fan of Lucie Miller? Do you agree with our list? What are your favorite stories in the series? Let us know in the comments below.