Big Finish Second Doctor Box Set, December 2010
The first story in this box set is a straightforward and daring (for its time, anyway) adventure to an Earth where Chairman Babs rules with an iron fist. Her fascination with The Doctor is a bit over the top and possibly her downfall but that’s just an odd plot point. Jamie and the Doctor head to the prison in space while Zoey is turned into a right-winged feminist, basically. There are definitely moments of the extreme where I just rolled my eyes and got through it. Stereotypes going completely in “the other direction” where women rule and men are inferiors, as they’re called. But those moments were thankfully few.
How quickly the Doctor and Jamie make an impact, too! While Zoey’s turned into an ultra-feminist, the Doctor and Jamie make a stand with the other men. This would’ve been a very interesting story in terms of impact if it had gone to air in the Troughton era! Fortunately for us, Frazer Hines found it in his garage when cleaning it out. The extras are mostly interesting for the behind the scenes information but nothing’s perfect, is it?
(4 jelloids)
The second story is a bit of a letdown as I really haven’t heard Sara Kingdom as the simpering woman character in any of the stories. She’s cold, dispassionate, and strong, going so far as to shoot her own brother in The 10th Planet so how this story works with her, I do not understand. I’ve heard the Companion Chronicles with Sara Kingdom as the house and even there, during her extra adventures with the Doctor, she is no shrinking violet. In this story, she gives Victoria Waterfield a run for her money in the simpering department! Not nearly as much screaming, just a lot of “please save me, you male heroes you.”
And the Doctor is not involved in this story at all, which leads me to wonder why this is in the 2nd Doctor box set instead of the 1st Doctor box set. This is clearly before Sara Kingdom dies and that’s with the 1st Doctor so it’s a bit confusing. And though the story is good, her whining really just makes me want to shake her and say “stop it! This isn’t YOU.”
Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Susan Brown
Writer: Prison in Space – Dic Sharples, adapted by Simon Guerrier, Dalek pilot by Terry Nation, adapted by Nicholas Briggs Director: Lisa Bowerman