Big Finish Main Range
This story was a bit confusing in the beginning because it begins in the middle of something that doesn’t involve the Doctor, though I expect he’ll show up sooner or later into this scenario. Now it definitely isn’t the ideal situation when and how he shows up, that’s for sure. But this audio is all about cleaning up what Thomas Brewster has managed to screw up! So there’s this strange coral reef place, a bubble in the space time continuum where the TARDIS is stranded along with the others that were stranded there previously.
Now, the strange thing is that it’s not clear how Brewster managed to get things out of the TARDIS to break it. The TARDIS seems to have a mind of its own sometimes but turned a blind eye when it came to Brewster. The Doctor somehow is “at fault” for allowing Brewster to wander off with his TARDIS and strand other beings in this bubble. How did he create the bubble in the first place is never explained and why the TARDIS’s circuits even allowed him to operate it (what happened to the telepathic circuits???). It’s just not satisfactory in that angle. But the adventure itself is pretty good.
There’s plenty of running around and the innocent dangerous creature that’s the enemy but not the enemy and the crazy lady living in a pot in a nearby wreck on the coral. But they interact well and everything just fits together nicely. I’m even reminded of the spooky Silence in the Library TV episode, series 4 as it’s known in the UK, as one of the characters is reliving the last moments of his death over and over again just outside of the bubble. Of course he holds the part the Doctor needs to make the TARDIS work. That’s assumed as soon as he is out of reach, that’s for sure! Overall this story isn’t impressive but it holds together well and the Doctor gets to show off his chops fixing the problems Thomas Brewster created.
Inadvertently, Thomas Brewster creates a perfect world in 2008. He stops by a bridge in London, meets a woman, chats with her at a coffee shop, and returns to the TARDIS to move along. And naturally, chaos follows in his wake! How the lady, Connie, wakes up in the perfect world instead of just being part of it is only partially explained. It’s a cute little tale but it just adds another story of Brewster’s meddling that the Doctor has to somehow clean up.
Meddling. Now that’s a familiar term! Brewster does this all accidentally while the Doctor stumbles on situations and chooses to meddle, though at what level depends on the Doctor involved. But perhaps the Doctor sees a bit of himself in Thomas Brewster, though a very young version who hasn’t thought through his action-reaction issues yet. Just a thought…
Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton
Writer; Marc Platt
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Release: September 2008