Doctor Who: Stranded – Why I’m really excited about the Eighth Doctor’s new series
By James Aggas
This month, a new major arc of Doctor Who stories will begin for the Eighth Doctor. We take a look at Stranded, and why it looks set to be an exciting fresh start for Paul McGann’s Doctor.
As you probably know, we are massive fans of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audios. As well as expanding greatly on the universe presented in the TV series, they’ve also helped to flesh out the Doctors that didn’t get much of a chance on the small screen.
This is especially true of the Eighth Doctor, as played by Paul McGann. On television, he only had one movie (which recently celebrated its 24th anniversary) and a minisode, The Night of the Doctor. But he’s had an incredibly rich life in other media, especially in the audios. Not only has he enjoyed well over a hundred adventures across a variety of ranges, but the audios were even directly acknowledged in The Night of the Doctor.
In recent years, as well as exploring stories of the Eighth Doctor in the Time War, there has also been a focus on telling epic, multi-box set series for him, too. These series have included Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition, and more recently Ravenous, which ended with the multi-Master story Day of the Master.
However, his latest series, Stranded, looks set to be something different. Like his more recent series, it will be spread across four box sets of four episodes each. But it also looks set to be considerably more grounded than what we’ve seen before for his Doctor…
We’ve had a lot of epic stories for the Eighth Doctor in recent years – including his most recent series Ravenous. But could Stranded mark a fresh starting point?
Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions
Down to Earth
At the end of Ravenous, the TARDIS had been heavily damaged. In fact, she could only make one more trip. So, naturally, it took the Doctor to the closest thing he had to a home. Not to Gallifrey, but to Earth. And unfortunately, he and his friends are going to have to get used to living there.
The Doctor being stuck on modern-day Earth isn’t exactly a new idea. After all, a key part of the Third Doctor’s story was that he had been exiled to Earth by his own people, as punishment for interfering in the affairs of other planets.
But Stranded looks like it’ll be something different. For example, with the TARDIS damaged beyond repair, it doesn’t look like the Doctor will be making any trips off-world any time soon – something even his third incarnation got to do when the Time Lords wanted him to do something.
Another clear difference to his earlier exile is that – as of right now, at least – it doesn’t look like he’ll be helping out UNIT. Maybe this will change over the course of the series, but for now, the first box set looks like it’ll be more focused on seeing the Doctor and his friends get used to their new life.
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”
A fresh start
This setup allows for the biggest fresh start that the Eighth Doctor’s had in a long while. Doom Coalition began with a clear jumping-on point back in 2015, but Ravenous had to continue several major threads from that series – including bringing back major recurring villain the Eleven.
However, by the end of Ravenous, the story of the Eleven had been truly resolved, and everything is back to basics for this TARDIS team. There are no major threats and no supervillains that they have to deal with – at least, not yet. Right now, the only thing that they have to worry about is how to live an ordinary life.
And this is the most exciting aspect of Stranded. Finally having a series where the scale is massively reduced and we get to focus on something more personal. I enjoyed the earlier epics, and they definitely told excellent small-scale stories from time to time. (A Life in the Day and Absent Friends certainly stand out.)
But it’ll be refreshing to have a series that has that sense of personal, intimate focus on an ongoing basis. I’m sure Stranded‘s story will become bigger and larger scale over time. But for now, it’s exciting to see a clear, fresh starting point for the Eighth Doctor and his companions.
Oh, and Tom Baker is in this series, too.
Next. Ravenous – A saga of monsters, maniacs and Masters. dark
Have you been following the Eighth Doctor’s adventures on audio? Are you excited to listen to Stranded? Do you think it’ll be a challenge for the Doctor to live an ordinary life? Let us know in the comments below.