Big Finish, Companion Chronicles
This is a fabulous story, especially with the little details that we discover about the First Doctor. Those details basically gave voice to my own suspicions and explained a few things about the irascible character that was the First Doctor. Carole Ann Ford gives the story life with her reading, especially her mysterious relationship with the even more mysterious First Mate character. There is also foreshadowing of a future for Susan without the Doctor AND perhaps she wasn’t just abandoned, as she implies in later stories.
The concept for the “crew” of the Earth Benchmarking Vessel Nevermore and the damage it does are very clever. Captain Rostrum is a force to be reckoned with though he does at least consider the other side of the “vandalism” his ship is wreaking. Why the First Mate remains so clearly in Susan’s memories isn’t quite clear to me but it adds a depth to the story that wouldn’t be there otherwise. A very well done story overall. Go Andy Lane!
Carole Ann Ford (Susan) and Stephen Hancock (The First Mate)
Writer: Andy Lane
Director: Lisa Bowerman
July 2008