In Review: Big Finish: Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation

Synopsis: Tom Baker and Sadie Miller return in Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation. The Big Finish team bring listeners two brand new tales.

In the first, the TARDIS lands in the city of Ongud during a rebellion. The world is suffering the wrath of Genghis Khan.

In the second, temporal disruption on Jersey leads to a new kind of time travel for the Doctor, Sarah and Harry. They soon find themselves on the island during its occupation by the Nazis.

Review: Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation offered fans two new historical stories. Both were written by women and placed women front and center.

Story

The authors crafted tales around themes of family, responsibility, and resistance. Along the way, they introduced characters that will resonate with listeners.

“Daughter of Destruction” by Katharine Armitage referred to two characters in the story. Armitage wrote Alakhai and Unegen as foils.

In the process, she crafted a tale that demonstrated how far Doctor Who has come since “Marco Polo.”  The characterizations were much more layered and the stakes were much more grave.

The story also showed how the Doctor’s compassion has been tempered since “The Myth Makers.” He clearly saw Unegen as Katarina through a glass darkly.

“A New Occupation” by Helen Goldwyn was a marvelous exercise in world building and character development. I appreciated the alien species that facilitated the plot.

I also liked that the aliens were operating at the edges of the story. This allowed the characters to shine. My favorite relationship was between Matilda Vautier and Kit.

As an added bonus, listeners got an absolutely wonderful subplot with UNIT and Harry. Between the guest characters and the regulars, the Nazis don’t last long.

Acting

As ever, the regulars were pitch perfect. However, this box set belonged to the guest cast.

For their parts, Susan Hingley and Rebecca Yeo committed to the fraught dynamic between Alakhai and Unegen. In their turns, Francesca Pim and Caroline Strong brought Kit and Matilda vividly to life.

Overall

Thanks, Big Finish. As an avid fan of the historical episodes, Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation put a huge grin on my face.

You can purchase Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation here.